LG unveils G5 smartphone with expandability
LG has announced the G5. The new flagship of the South Korean manufacturer has a Snapdragon 820-soc and has a removable battery. Removing the battery also frees up space to connect extensions.
The LG G5 runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and has a 5.3″ IPS screen with 2560×1440 pixels. The screen uses always-on technology with which it constantly shows the time and date. Despite the fact that LG does not use an OLED screen, it says The Snapdragon 820-soc has four cores of Qualcomm’s own Kyro design and is assisted by an Adreno 530 GPU and 4GB lpddr4 RAM.There is 32GB UFS flash memory, which can be used extended with a micro sd card.
The device is equipped with two cameras on the back. A regular camera with 16 megapixels and a wide-angle camera with a resolution of 8 megapixels. The wide-angle camera provides an image of 135 degrees, 1.7 times wider than regular smartphone cameras. At the front is a front camera with 8 megapixels. The device weighs 159 grams and is equipped with a USB type-c connector with USB 3.0 specifications. LG brings the G5 on the market in the colors silver, titan, gold and pink.
LG has not yet announced when and at what price the G5 will be for sale in the Benelux.
The LG G5 has a uni-body metal housing, but the bottom of the device can be removed so that the battery, which has a capacity of 2800mAh, can be exchanged. This mechanism can also be used to connect extensions that LG announces as Friends. LG initially comes with the CAM Plus and HiFi Plus: the former provides more grip and adds physical buttons for taking photos and zooming. This accessory is also good for 1200mAh extra battery capacity. The HiFi Plus module with B&O Play is a digital audio converter that should provide better sound quality and support for high-res audio. The module can also be used in combination with other smartphones and PCs according to LG.
In addition to the ‘friends’ that are connected via the physical lock, LG also announces a number of other accessories that can be connected to the G5 wirelessly or with a cable. For example, the brand presents the LG 360 VR, virtual reality glasses that weigh 118 grams and are connected with a USB-c cable. The small VR glasses use 1.88″ LCDs with a resolution of 960×720 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 639 ppi. According to LG, the VR glasses show an image comparable to a 130″ TV.
There is also the LG 360 CAM, a 360-degree camera equipped with two 13-megapixel cameras and wide-angle lenses with a field of view of 200 degrees. This allows the camera to take photos in ‘2k resolution’ according to LG. Three integrated microphones should be able to record 5.1 surround sound. The 360 CAM contains a 1200mAh battery and 4GB of storage space. Created 360-degree videos can be uploaded to Street View, YouTube, or viewed with the VR glasses.
LG also comes with the Rolling Bot. This is a device that rolls like a ball and simultaneously takes photos and videos with an 8-megapixel camera. According to LG, the ball can be used as a home security system or to keep an eye on pets. The ball can be controlled and controlled from a distance.
LG provides the G5 with a Friends Manager app, with which the accessories can be detected and a connection can be made in three steps. LG has not yet given exact details about the expansions, nor have prices been announced yet.