Unless you’ve been living under a rock you knew this day was coming. LG took the stage today to unveil the G5 and a whole slew of other devices. The most important being the G5 and the rest referred to as it’s friends. While the presentation itself was pretty cheesy. They made up for it by having a bunch of really exciting devices.
First up was the main star of the show the G5. Many rumors were confirmed it is indeed an all aluminum unibody design with a magic slot at the bottom. This allows you to remove and replace the battery, but not only that. It also allows you to extend the possibilities of what your phone can do.
The specs on the G5 are top of the line it’s packing a Snapdragon 820 SoC, 5.3 inch Quad HD Quantum LCD display, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, microSD card slot that supports up to 2TB, 16MP standard and 8MP wide rear dual cameras, 8MP front facing camera, and 2800mAh replaceable battery. As well as a USB-C port with USB 3.0 speeds and Qualcomm 3.0 quick charging. Laser focus and fingerprint scanner are also on the back. The dual cameras consist of the 16MP standard with a 78 degree field of view. While the 8MP wide has 135 degrees field of view. Which is wider than what the human eye sees at 120 degrees.
It also has an always on display showing the time and notifications. Which only lights up 1/3rd of the screen, and uses only 0.8% battery power per hour. You can also disable that in the settings if you care more about your battery life than an always on display. Which with a decrease in battery capacity from 3000mAh on the G4 to 2800mAh on the G5, you might want to disable that. It comes with Android 6 Marshmallow with LG’s skin on top which has dropped the app drawer. Something I am not a fan of, but thankfully this is Android and I can replace that launcher if I am so inclined. I’ve never been a fan of LG’s skin but this one is cleaned up considerably. Still it’s not quite my style and I don’t like the kaleidoscope on the lock screen. The G5 will launch in four colors Silver, Gold, Titan, and Pink.
Launching with two modules or “friends” as they are called. The CAM Plus which gives the G5 some dedicated buttons for controlling the camera. Such as a shutter button, dial, and video button. It also adds 30% more battery and gives you a big thicker grip for handling when taking photos. The second is the HiFi Plus DAC from Bang and Olufsen. Which supports 32-bit 384KHz high-definition audio playback.
The rest of the G5’s friends connect without the slot. The 360 VR for example connects via the USB cable. It has it’s own display which simulates a 130 inch TV and has 639PPI. This makes their VR headset much lighter and compact than others which are just a holder for your phone. The 360 VR is compatible with all Google Cardboard content as well as LG’s new 360 CAM.
The 360 CAM is another one of the G5’s new friends. It has a pair of 13MP 200 degree wide angle lenses, 3 microphones, 4GB of internal memory, microSD slot, and a 1200mAh battery. This is LG’s venture into creating VR content, and you can even share the content right from your G5. They’ve also teamed up with the Google Street View team, to allow you to share full resolution photos of your favorite places. You can also take 2K videos and share them to Youtube 360.
One of the G5’s funnest little friends and my personal favorite is the Rolling Bot. This little Sphero like ball houses a 8MP camera, speaker, microphone, and IR blaster. It’s connected via WiFi and can be controlled by your phone even when you’re away from home. This makes it much more than just a toy. As you can use it to monitor your home and control your TV. Not only that but it has a built in laser so you can play with your pets as well as check up on them.
Source: LG MWC Presentation & Android Police
