It's about to get crazy in the smartphone industry. Not only do we have the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge scheduled to be announced in the coming weeks but we also have the LG G5 expected to be announced as well. In previous years, LG flagship smartphones were announced towards the midway point of the year, give or take. So it's kind of different to see them announce their upcoming flagship smartphone so soon in the year.
So let's talk about what we can expect the device to feature and let's go ahead and start with the design. The design is going to be unlike any other LG G device. We can expect to see a metal unibody design which will make the LG G5 the company's first metal smartphone. This poses as a problem for most hardcore techies because usually a metal build construction doesn't allow for a 1) removable battery and 2) microSD card slot for expandable storage. This is why LG has come up with a new modular design, which actually allows for the bottom portion of the device to detach and allow access to the battery.
There are some renders of how it works but little is still known about this feature. We should of course find out more details when the device becomes official but it does look very promising. With that all said, I do expect LG to feature a dual SIM card and microSD card slot somewhere on the side of the device to still allow access to expandable storage. But along with the new design, we can expect the rear-facing home button and volume keys to be moved to the side of the device and be replaced with a fingerprint scanner, which will be on the rear. There will also be an IR blaster up top and a USB Type-C port on the bottom.
So what's interesting is that some rumors point to a 4K display embedded in the LG G5. It's said to feature 5.6-inch True HD IPS display with a flexible touchscreen and a 3840x2160 resolution which is of course, 4K. The reason I think there is some merit to this report is that LG was (if you remember) one of the first smartphone manufacturers to pioneer the 2K QHD display on the G3-- before the competition so they might be trying to do the same with the LG G5 by bringing 4K res panels to the masses.
At the same time, there are other reports indicating a more simple 5.3-inch QHD 2K resolution display which honestly I'd be totally fine with. The most recent report that just came out not too long ago indicates that the G5 will feature an Always On display. It won't feature a secondary display like on the LG V10 but instead, the entire display will act as a second display employing the same technology found in the second display on the LG V10.
As for power, the LG G5 is expected to be equipped with the Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM and Android 6.0 Marshmallow running on the software side of things with an LG skin running on top of that. In addition to the microSD card slot for expandable storage, there should be plenty of native on board storage to run the software and allow for plenty of apps. We can expect to see about 32GB of internal storage for the base model.
We don't know too much about LG's software for the LG G5. It should resemble the software running on the V10 and G4. But in my opinion, it shouldn't. It needs to be further optimized to remove any signs of lag, increase the frame rate I would say to help it resemble a more buttery stock Android experience. What's always neat about custom skins is that many manufacturers can add their own features to a device. Some of which, may actually be innovative. Such new features for the LG G5 actually may include an iris scanner which can be used to unlock screens and authenticate Android or LG Pay transactions so yes, you heard that right. LG should also announce their own mobile payment platform dubbed LG Pay.
The camera on the LG G5 should also be radically improved. The LG G4 featured a stellar camera. It still is stellar but it can only get better, right? We can expect to see two new camera sensors-- a 135-degree wide-angle camera sensor and a 20MP camera sensor from Sony that will have a width of half an inch, allowing it to take excellent low-light photos. There will also be a dual LED flash and a laser autofocus and RGB sensor present as well. Upfront, we can expect to see an 8MP camera sensor like on the LG G4. I don't expect to see two front-facing camera sensors like on the V10. It's just not that necessary.
Many rumors are pointing to a 4,000 mAh battery powering the LG G5. I think this would make sense if the handset is shipped with a 4K resolution display otherwise, I'm assuming it'll probably ship with a 3,200 mAh battery give or take a little bit. It will also feature Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 technology which will actually allow the battery to be charged up to 85 percent in only 30 minutes, which will be awesome. But with the rumors pointing to a 4,000 mAh battery, it would back up the claim of the device featuring a 4K resolution display which would be exciting.
So with the possible iris scanner, the removable battery, the metal build construction, and all around updated specifications, the LG G5 should make for a very tempting upgrade. And I think the device will hold its own against the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. The LG G5 will be made official on February 21st, the same day the S7 and S7 edge becomes official.