MWC 2016: LG G5 Reinvents the Flagship Smartphone

Samsung might have impressed with power by flexing its flagship muscles with the new Galaxy S7 range but LG might have just won the Mobile World Congress with charm and ingenuity. The ‘other’ South Korean manufacturer has just announced a truly unique addition to the premium Android smartphone market – a modular mobile featuring interchangeable parts which was unveiled as the new LG G5.

Let’s start with the handset itself – we’ll get to the gimmicks in a moment. The LG G5 features a generous 5.3” LCD 1440 x 2560 554ppi multi-touch display and comes running Android OS 6.0 Marshmallow with finger print to unlock. A quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 system-on-chip handles processing with an Adreno 530 GPU managing the graphics. The LG G5 also includes 4GB of RAM, comparable to Samsung’s Galaxy S7 with 32GB of fixed internal storage but is expandable with micro SD support up to a hefty 200GB.

The LG G5 features a respectable 16-megapixel rear camera which captures high definition still shots and videos with LED flash and autofocus, usual extras such as geotagging and face detection are included and the main shooter is bolstered by an extra 135-degree lens and backed up by an 8-megapixel front facing camera. Connectivity on hand comes in the form of 3G/4G/LTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with NFC available too and the handset comes on a removable Li-Ion 2800 mAh battery which offers a full charge in about 45 minutes.

The removable battery brings us to those interchangeable add-ons which provide the handset with ‘modular functionality’. The standard compartment slides out from the bottom of the LG G5 handset and allows the battery to be popped out and this also allows either an audio adapter developed by Bang & Olufsen or a camera control panel to be slotted in for advanced audio or one-handed photo snapping respectively.

We’re intrigued but do wonder if this innovative approach brings LG the long term success it needs or whether it’ll be a fad that fades through the coming year. First impressions from the MWC are good and we look forward to seeing how the LG G5 fares against the other top mobile models of 2016.

The LG G5 comes out in April and will be available with a metal body in Gold, Silver, Titan and Pink. There are also some neat accessories to check out including the Rolling Bot, the 360 Cam and the 360 VR, a camera and headset duo used for capturing and immersing in 360 degree photo dioramas.

Source: LG