LG tries to change the smartphone game with its modular offering, the G5, which also boasts of dual rear cameras. But will this be enough for LG to challenge the Galaxy lineup? We find out.
The LG brand might not inspire many takers when it comes to smartphones, but with the G5, the South Korean company has genuinely tried to make a difference. Sure, this is the first LG phone to have a metal body and while the competition has moved on to an inbuilt battery design, LG has decided to go with a removable one. But can LG hold a candle against the leading brands? We find out.
Even though G5 competes against the Galaxys, iPhones and now Pixels, it somehow lacks the wow factor when it comes to design, which a buyer is looking for, especially in that segment. Sadly, even though the body is all metal, the paint finish gives it a plastic look and feel, which is sacrilege. One has to painfully move beyond these little niggles.
Our compliments to LG for not getting sucked into making bigger display screens. The 5.3-inch screen is big enough and ensures the phone is ergonomically friendly and fits easily in hand. And the display has a Quad HD resolution, which is fine for your daily use. The pixel density of 554ppi does a decent job, but when you compare it with the other Korean offerings, the G5 looks pale. The SuperAMOLED screen in the Galaxy range offers such rich colours that even if you look at the LG’s display screen from an angle, it appears to be quite dim and less vibrant.
Our first impressions of the G5 might be fairly average, but what lies beneath, we mean the software, is what matters. Powered by the still very powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, the G5 is fast in juggling the social media and the gaming world. No lag was felt and neither did it heat up, which is impressive.
Coming to the USP of the G5, this smartphone has a dual rear camera – 16 megapixel and 8 megapixel wide. Even though the former with f/1.8 aperture is the primary camera, the smaller lens with f/2.4 aperture manages to make the photograph look a lot bigger. We promise you, it will make you want to take more snaps with the 8 MP lens. The 16MP captures crisp and clear photos and manages to retain the natural light. In low light, it does a decent job, but it tends to overexpose the highlights, which in turn leads to noise reduction. You can easily switch the cameras and the G5 also gives you an option to combine the effects, blur or vignette of the two with Popout mode. The G5 comes with lots of pre-set modes, but if you really want to find out what the cameras are capable of then you must switch to manual mode and play around with settings for white balance, ISO and shutter speed. It’s worth trying as it completely changes the composition of the photos.
The G5 is a modular smartphone, which allows third party gadgets to connect with the phone. At the moment, LG has LG Cam Plus and LG Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play. Basically, these additional devices enhance the phone features. Therefore, you can customise the phone as per your needs.
All-in-all the G5 is a pretty impressive phone. The display could have been better, but it’s not too bad. The dual cameras are excellent and the 8 MP selfie lens provide crystal clear snaps. The 2,800mAh battery might not be the best as most flagship models come with a 3,000mAh one, but it’s still very capable. What is good news for all tech savvy lot is that the G5 also gets the new 7.0 Nougat Android OS upgrade. The lack of modular options kind of kill this path breaking idea, but even minus this, the G5 is certainly a good phone to buy. Unfortunately, there are so many other options in this segment that this LG phone will go unnoticed.
