LG had a very entertaining event today, at MWC 2016, finally unveiling the LG G5 flagship phone. It is indeed the very first modular phone on the market, available commercially and offering some very interesting concepts. First, it comes with a series of LG Friends companion devices and modules.
The handset packs a sleek aluminum chassis and a 5.3 inch Quad HD Quantum IPS display with 3D Arc Glass. The handset packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, that triggers Quick Charge 3.0 and support for Low Power Location Estimation and aptX HD 24 bit HiFi wireless audio. LG G5 measures 7.7 mm in thickness, weighs 159 grams and a brings 4 GB of LPDDR4, RAM, 32 GB of storage, a microSD card slot and a dual camera, with a 16 MP and 8 MP sensor.
The front cam is an 8 MP shooter and the battery has a 2800 mAh capacity, plus it’s removable via a special piece that detaches from the bottom. This model runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and also brings LTE and USB Type C connectivity, as well as a fingerprint scanner at the back. Coming in silver, titan, gold or pink, the phone adopts an Always on Display, that shows notifications using very little power and a third of the screen, dimly lit up.
At the back we find two cameras, one with a 78 degree lens and one with a 135 degree lens, achieving a view angle that’s 1.7 times wider than those of existing smartphone cameras. As we wrote, this is a modular phone, that can get attachments such as the LG Cam Plus. This is a camera module, that can be attached via the battery slot and improves grip and control over the camera.
It includes physical buttons for power, shutter, record and zoom, as well as LED indicator. There’s also an extra 1200 mAh battery in the module. Then there’s the LG Hi-Fi Plus With B&O Play, a portable HiFi Dac audio player, that can either be attached to the phone or used separately. It offers upsampling and 32 bit 384 KHz high def audio playback and premium sound.
And then came the companion devices, like the LG 360 VR, a VR goggle that connect to the G5 via a cable and simulates watching a 130 inch TV from 2 meters away. It’s a very stylish headset, that’s foldable and weighs just 118 grams. It also offers a 639 ppi density and shows 360 degree videos and Google Cardboadd content.
LG 360 Cam is another companion gadget, a compact 360 degree angle camera with two 13 MP sensors and 200 wide angle lens, plus a 1200 mAh battery and 4 GB of storage. This lets the user create 360 degree content and offers 2K video and 5.1 surround channel recording via 3 microphones. Street View support is here, so your content may reach Google. Finally, LG introduced the LG Rolling Bot, a toy robot shaped like a ball, with an 8 megapixel camera integrated.
It can keep an eye on your house when you’re away, interacts with smart appliances and even plays with pets using a small laser. There was also a drone controller showcased, the LG Smart Controller, using a joystick to navigate drones and the LG G5 as the viewfinder of the drone video feed. Other accessories for the LG G5 include the LG Tone Platinum Bluetooth headset with Harman Kardon tech and H3 by B&O, a set of high end earphones.
All of the products will be controlled from the Friends Manager, a hub app that lets you connect the G5 to all the companions in 3 simple steps.
