Over the years LG has been making steady progress in the improvement of their flagship handsets, to the point where along with Samsung, they are some of the few companies that are worth looking forward to at MWC every year. That being said, this year LG is expected to announce the LG G5, so let’s take a look at what we might be able to expect later this month.
Table of Contents
Design
LG has done a pretty good job of keeping its design a secret. So far there have been numerous leaks, but none of them actually shows off the design in full. However according to the rumors, LG is expected to offer up a pretty different design from the LG G5’s predecessors, so that might be worth looking forward to.
Display
The rumors are claiming that LG will offer up a 5.6-inch display for the LG G5. It will be 0.1-inches bigger than the LG G4’s 5.5-inch display. Will users be able to tell the difference? It seems unlikely unless you’re particularly observant. However there are also claims that the display could be of the 5.3-inch variety which will make it smaller than the LG G4. LG is also expected to maintain the QHD display, so if you’re hoping for a 4K display you might be disappointed.
However given that Sony’s Xperia Z5 Premium wasn’t exactly a hot seller even with its 4K display, we guess the demand for such high resolution displays aren’t in demand yet. Not to mention such displays would require more battery, and with battery life being a concern for smartphone buyers, we suppose sticking to QHD isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
There has also been talks about LG potentially making the switch to OLED screens. However there are also reports that claim that this isn’t true.
Hardware
There have been talks about LG turning to the use of their own chipsets, but so far we haven’t really seen anything from the company yet. This means that for the LG G5, it is expected that LG will stick to Qualcomm’s products. Unsurprisingly this means that we can look forward to the Snapdragon 820 chipset, which is what flagship phones of 2016 are expected to pack anyway.
As for its RAM, LG is rumored to use 3GB of RAM in the LG G5. This is the same as last year’s handset, which is a bit disappointing as companies like Samsung are expected to offer up 4GB of RAM (or maybe even more) with their 2016 flagship. However unless you are a power user, you might not be able to feel the difference. Hopefully LG will surprise us with 4GB of RAM, but if they don’t, you shouldn’t really be surprised.
Camera
This is where it gets interesting. While HTC might have been one of the early companies to launch handsets with dual camera setups, LG could be trying to bring it back this year. Recent leaked cases of the LG G5 along with photos have revealed that the phone could pack dual rear-facing cameras.
We have heard that the resolution is of the 21MP variety, but we’re not sure if this is for both the cameras, or just one of them. The front facing camera is said to be of the 8MP variety.
So why dual cameras? Assuming they’re trying to emulate what HTC has done, dual cameras will allow the camera to capture photos at different settings, which in turn could allow the user to adjust the photo even further, like changing focus and so on. It is possible that LG might have other plans so we’ll have to wait and see.
Features
Based on the leaked photos and renderings of the LG G5 we’ve seen so far, it seems that there could be a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone, unless they decide to include the scanner on the front. Fingerprint sensors are pretty ubiquitous on high-end smartphones these days, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that LG would include such a feature as well.
There has also been talks about the LG G5 sporting a slide out battery. According to the rumors, this is said to be one of the phone’s key features, or at least one of its selling points. We’re not sure why this would be a selling feature, but at the very least it suggests interchangeable batteries which means you can swap out a battery losing its charge for a new one.
LG has also recently teased that the phone will have an always on display. This is said to be similar to Motorola’s Active Notifications, where you will have very basic information shown on the screen of the phone at all times, like time, date, and notifications.
Release Date, Pricing & Availability
Pricing of the LG G5 is unknown at this point, but it is a flagship device meaning that we can expect it to be priced accordingly. Carriers in the US will most probably offer it on some kind of 24-month installment plan, so if you’d rather not pay outright for the phone, this is a possibility.
There has not been any word as to when the phone will be available for purchase, but LG has pretty much confirmed that the phone will be launched on the 21st of February, which is next Sunday, and is expected to be available within 4-6 wks, depending on geography and carriers.
Conclusion
It sounds like the LG G5 could be a pretty standard flagship. So far we haven’t really read about any of its features that would make it a killer flagship, but it does sound like it would at least be a very capable device, but do check back with us on the 21st of February for all the details.
