Overall, if you spend more money then you will get the experience of a better and powerful phone, great camera quality, design and look.
Today we will review the new addition to the list of flagship smartphones, the LG G5 priced at Rs 52,990. This smartphone claims to have everything that a user expects from a flagship smartphone. The phone has many new features. With a completely modular design, the LG G5 has introduced something new in the flagship category. Know why to buy this flagship modular smartphone.
Look and design
The LG G5 has a metal body with a distinct frame and rear shell. However, the first time we held the phone we did not like it. The phone felt more like a mid-range plastic phone than a flagship metal device. But the G5 did get a little better in the end but it doesn’t feel like the stuff we’ve seen in many other devices reviewed recently at the same price point.
The metal shell is curved nicely at the edges but the phone doesn’t always feel great to hold due to the distinct frame. Also, the G5 feels bulky despite having a 5.3-inch screen. Another problem is the removable modular base which doesn’t seem to fit perfectly and looks awkward.
There is a dual camera setup on the rear, along with laser autofocus window, flash and color sensor. The power button also works as a fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor unlocks the phone very accurately and quickly. And unlike other devices, you can unlock the phone by just touching the power button with your fingers even if the phone is not active.
The screen occupies 70 percent of the front of the phone. The glass on the front looks pretty good in our opinion. But it does not have any special function. Its most special feature is the modular and removable display at the bottom of the phone. Its appearance from the front looks very attractive. It looks like a removable unit and this reminds you that you have a phone with a better approach in your hands.
The hybrid-dual SIM slot is on the right side and the volume and module rocker buttons are on the left side. The 3.5mm socket and infrared blaster are on the top. The standard module that comes with the phone is a simple phone base equipped with a USB Type-C port, microphone and speaker. Removing the rear cover of the phone will reveal the removable battery.
LG has announced two optional modules for the G5. The LG Cam Plus priced at Rs 6,500 is a camera grip with separate shutter, camera on/off and dial buttons for video recording and zoom. It also has a 1200mAh battery, taking the total battery capacity of the phone to 4000mAh.
Another option is Hi-Fi Plus. This is a DAC module made by Bang & Olufsen. The device is claimed to improve the audio output from headphones or wired speakers. However, we did not get a chance to use either of these modules. During our review, we could only test the standard module and we did not get any benefit from any additional features.
LG G5 has a 5.3 inch IPS LCD screen of 1440×2560 pixels with a density of 554 ppi. Due to this, the screen is quite sharp and gives a pleasant feeling while viewing pictures, videos, games or surfing. The colors on the screen appear quite vibrant and with detailing.
Specification
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor is being used in many devices these days. But the LG G5 is the second smartphone in India to come with this processor after the Xiaomi Mi 5 (Review). This is Qualcomm’s flagship processor these days and is also one of the most powerful processors available in the market today.
LG G5 has 4 GB RAM, 32 GB inbuilt storage (expandable up to 200 GB with microSD card support), Wi-Fi A/B/G/N/AC and 4G connectivity support on both bands (TDD Band 40 and FDD Band 3). Along with this, USB 3.0 with Type-C connector and 2800 mAh battery have been provided. Many sensors like compass, barometer and color spectrum sensor have also been provided. Talking about audio, this device also has A2DP and ATEX HD support along with Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity.
The weakest specification we found was the 32GB inbuilt storage. Nowadays, most devices in this category come with 64GB storage. Although the phone has microSD card support, it is a hybrid SIM phone. This means that the user will have to choose between two SIMs or one SIM and one microSD card.
Software
The LG G5 runs Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 with LG’s Optimus UI 5.0 on top. It is a single layered UI. Most Chinese smartphone companies offer similar UI in their devices. However, you can switch to the traditional dual-layered user interface in the LG G5 as per your convenience. The software is designed very well and gives it a clean, clear look.
The G5 has a handy screen called Smart Bulletin which can be activated by going into the Settings app. This allows users to access the calendar, health tracker, Quick Remote app and other apps directly from the home screen. Apart from this, you can also download other additional features to use this feature.
From the Settings app, you can control a number of things, from SIM handling to Android soft key layout to quick launch gestures for the camera. The Quick Settings menu can also be customized.
LG has provided an always-on display in the G5, which keeps the screen active even when the phone is in standby mode. The phone comes with a number of LG apps pre-installed, including Backup, Friends Manager, Health, Quick Remote and Smart World. The LG G5 also comes pre-loaded with Evernote, which cannot be uninstalled.
Camera
Talking about the camera of LG G5, it has a dual rear camera setup on the rear. The phone has a 16 megapixel main and 8 megapixel support sensor. Along with this, the phone has an 8 megapixel front camera. The rear camera can shoot videos up to 2160 pixels at 30 frames per second, while the front camera can record videos up to 10080 pixels at 30 frames per second. The rear camera has a slow motion mode which records at 60 frames per second at full-HD resolution. Apart from this, optical image stabilization, laser autofocus and color spectrum sensor are also present.
The camera software is well designed and the layout is very convenient. The layout has all the necessary buttons. Recording videos is a one-step process with a dedicated button on the camera’s viewfinder screen. There is also a button to quickly exit the app. Apart from this, there is a standard toggle for flash, camera switching and shooting mode. The detail settings menu controls resolution, HDR settings, self-timer and other things. Apart from this, there is a special toggle through which one can quickly switch between normal and wide angle lens.
The camera focuses easily, whether you are using autofocus or manually selecting the focal area. And with the help of the laser system, good close-up shots can be taken. Photos taken indoors are excellent. But this does not mean that good pictures cannot be taken with the G5 in natural light. Shots taken with the phone come out detailed and clear, with focus.
Photos taken in low light are also good, especially when it comes to colour and detailing. Wide angle shots are a lot of fun, especially when you’re capturing natural landscapes. Most photos taken with the G5 are good. The front camera is also decent and takes great selfies.
Optical image stabilization works wonders when you are shooting videos on the go or in a vehicle. It is good to have a 4K video option in the phone but due to the large file size, you will hardly be able to use it. Videos are excellent even at full-HD.
Performance
LG G5 runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. This is one of the most powerful processors available in the market right now. With 4 GB RAM, LG G5 is one of the best performing smartphones. The phone works great from booting to opening apps, running games and heavy apps, opening multiple tabs in the web browser simultaneously. Multitasking is also good and you can work on multiple apps at once without any problem.
The LG G5 scored very well in the benchmarking test. If you are looking for a powerful smartphone then the G5 is one of the most powerful smartphones available in the market.
The phone gets a little hot when playing games or during heavy usage but it remains comfortable to use. In our video loop test, the battery lasted for 13 hours and 6 minutes. During normal use, the phone easily lasts a full day. This phone comes with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 technology and charges quickly.
Network connectivity is also good and works well not only on 4G networks but also on weak Wi-Fi signals. The single speaker gives good sound quality but the sound quality from headphones is much better.
Our verdict
LG’s G series smartphones are either always a hit or a dud. Last year’s G4 smartphone disappointed in many features, especially in terms of battery life and software. Also, the laser autofocus was not up to our expectations. All those problems have been fixed in the LG G5. But all that aside, it seems like there’s finally a smartphone in the market to challenge Samsung’s dominance.
The most attractive feature of the LG G5 is the Cam Plus module that allows you to add additional features and functions to the phone. Currently, only the Cam Plus module is available but we hope that LG will make other modules available in the future. Good software, strong battery life, excellent performance and better cameras make this phone a true flagship smartphone.
However, the build quality of the phone could have been better. Although LG has given this phone an all-metal body, it does not feel like many other flagship smartphones. The alignment between the body and module of the G5 makes the design of the phone feel a bit bad. Apart from this, there is hardly any other drawback of LG G5 apart from the high price. We would recommend LG G5 to every user who wants to buy a premium flagship Android smartphone.
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