Happy LG G5 Day! As expected, LG officially revealed the highly anticipated LG G5 early this morning (for those of us who are Stateside) in Barcelona. The event precedes Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016, which takes place this week from February 22-25.
The G5 brings a ton of remarkable changes to the table when compared to last year’s G4 – and LG isn’t messing around.
First and foremost, the G5 features a new upgraded full-metal unibody design, which is the same design that made the HTC One M7 so appealing nearly 3 years ago (where has the time gone?) and the premium design encasing the G5 is just the beginning. You know how they say not to judge a book by its cover? The G5 is an exception. The appealing design of the G5 is equally as beautiful as its features and specs.
Speaking of specs, here’s a list of the most important specs in the LG G5:
A lot of the internal specs are generally what you can expect to see out of this year’s flagships, but clearly that’s not what makes the G5 a flagship worth considering. Aside from being one of the only smartphones left on the market to feature both a microSD card slot and a removable battery, LG managed to go above and beyond with the addition of a modular slot for additional accessories.
The modular slot will allow users to expand on the features they care about most, such as camera, battery, and audio. Additional accessories that are aptly named “LG Friends” are meant to work with these modules, and are all a big part of the new “LG Playground” – an extended effort to bring excitement back into smartphones. Official "Friends" announced during the event were the LG Cam Plus, Hi-Fi Plus (a high-end portable Hi-Fi DAC and AMP), LG 360 Cam, LG 360 VR, and the LG Rolling Bot. All in all, this seems like an excellent first step towards the (quite plausible) future of modular smartphones, and is certainly an innovative addition to the mobile industry.
I’ll be honest and say that while LG has managed to pique my interest more over the past few years, I can’t remember the last time I was this impressed with a flagship. LG has really outdone themselves this year, and by announcing the G5 before MWC even begins (as opposed to months afterwards, which is what went down with the G4) I think they’re definitely in the running for – and it’s probably too early to say this, but color me impressed - “Best Smartphone of 2016”.
As for the release date and price, LG states that this information will be released during the last week of March, with a release sometime in early April. No other specifics have been mentioned.
Readers, what are your thoughts on the LG G5? More than you expected, less than you expected, or exactly what you’ve come to expect from LG? Will you be picking one up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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