LG just held an outrageously amazing press launch of its new flagship smartphone, the LG G5. But LG didn’t stop there. It then went and launched add on modules for the LG G5 and then carried on with a range of LG Friends accessories.

This was a big day for LG.

LG are trying to stray away from just showing off the specs are consequently only reveal the specs as –

– Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 820 Processor
– Display: 5.3-inch Quad HD IPS Quantum Display (2560 x 1440 / 554ppi)
– Memory: 4GB LPDDR4 RAM / 32GB UFS ROM / microSD (up to 2TB)
– Camera: Rear: Standard 16MP, Wide 8MP / Front: 8MP
– Battery: 2,800mAh (removable)
– OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow
-Size: 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7mm
– Weight: 159g
– Network: LTE / 3G / 2G
– Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / USB Type-C / NFC / Bluetooth 4.2
– Colours: Silver / Titan / Gold / Pink

However, rest assured this is a beast of a phone. So now I am going to highlight the extra bits about the phone that caught my attention as worth pointing out.

– The G5 has an always on display which uses just 0.8% of battery per hour
– The screen is still an IPS display and not amoled. It is able to crank the brightness up to a stonking 850 nits
– The infra red blaster is still present on the G5
– The app drawer has been removed
– QSlide apps and Dual Screen mode has been removed to simplify the UX
– The new LG UX launcher is much lighter and looks so much better than previous versions
– Cameras – 8MP front camera for selfies, rear camera has a standard 78-degree 16MP lens and a 135-degree wide-angle 8MP lens. This can work in conjunction or separately to each other.
– The camera app has loads of extra features and modes – truly brilliant
– Naturally the rear camera is similar to that found on the G4 and V10, but it does perform better due to the processor and a few extra tweak. Actually a lot of extra tweaks.
– The Snapdragon 820 processor has a Adreno 530 graphics and lower-power Qualcomm® HexagonTM DSP as well as Qualcomm Spectra™ 14-bit dual image signal processors (ISPs) The processor also has an integrated X12 LTE modem that supports Category 12 download speeds of up to 600 Mbps and LTE Category 13 uplink speeds of up to 150 Mbps.
– Micro SD card – adoptable storage is not available
– Slot in modules available
– Quick Charge 3 support
– USB-C
– APT-X is included but with the new High Definition APT-X, APT-X HD. This is the end of wires for headphones and likely how/why Apple will remove the headphone socket from the next iPhone.

The LG G5 has a number of modules and friends. See below.

LG focused on two slot in modules. These simply slot in to the bottom of the G5.

– CAM Plus adds more grip and width to the device, for better usability while taking photos. It has physical buttons for power, camera shutter, video recording, zoom, and an LED indicator. It also functions as an external 1200mAh battery.

– Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play is a portable Hi-Fi DAC audio player with 32-bit 384KHz high-definition audio playback. As it has a USB-C port it can also be used independently of the G5, ie. with PCs and other smartphones.

But LG want you to have fun with the G5, so have a range of LG Friends that connect seamlessly to the G5.

These include a LG Rolling Bot that is a companion device that rolls like a ball while capturing images and videos with its embedded 8MP camera. Not just a toy, the LG Rolling Bot can be used as a monitoring system for the home, pet care companion as well as a remote controller for compatible home appliances. With an IP camera connectable via Wi-Fi, users can remotely monitor the interior of their homes with the LG G5 via live streaming.

LG also announced as Friends, the LG 360 VR, LG 360 Cam, LG Smart Controller, LG Tone Platinum (it is the world’s first Bluetooth headset equipped with aptX™ HDcodec, delivering lossless 24-bit audio for sound that is unrivaled in a wireless device).

To see more of all of the above, watch the official 4 minute video from LG. And don’t forget, I will be reviewing the LG G5, the modules and friends. The G5 is expected to launch early April 2016.

Sources – LG / AndroidPolice / LGPR