What’s different about LG G5

Appearance design

As we all know, LG Electronics has advantages in the field of display technology. As the latest flagship model in 2016, the LG G5 body uses a 5.3-inch IPS LCD screen. The resolution of this screen reaches 2K (2560×1440), and the G5’s screen-to-body ratio also reaches 70.15.

Like Samsung’s Galaxy S7 series, the LG G5 also has the Always On Display function. With this function, the clock function can be displayed more intuitively even when the phone is in the screen off state. In addition, the LG G5 In the Always On Display state, it can also display missed calls, text messages, notifications, emails, etc. According to the test data of foreign media (PhoneArena), the Always On Display function of LG G5 consumes about 0.65% of power per hour. This power consumption is considerable, but if you are very concerned about battery life, it is recommended to turn off this function. That's great.

There is also a 2.5D curved glass on the front of the LG G5. Unlike ordinary curved screen mobile phones, the glass on the top of the LG G5 has a curved screen design. It looks like The front of the entire fuselage is more distinctive and highlights its personality. In the actual experience, I also discovered a small detail, that is, the upper curved surface of the entire glass is particularly prone to scratches. After carefully reading the above picture, the tails will know what the lesson of naked blood is...

This design also means that the design of LG G5 will prevent peripheral manufacturers from producing perfect full-coverage glass film products for it, so if you are more concerned about screen scratches but do not want to put a protective film on the screen , then when using LG G5, you need to pay attention to the protection of the screen surface and avoid placing the screen surface directly on the desktop.

According to LG’s official introduction, the maximum brightness of the LG G5’s screen can reach 850 nits. This maximum brightness data is really terrifying, and it can be regarded as the top high-brightness among current mobile phone products. In actual experience, it is still difficult to fully see the content of the screen under the scorching sun at two o'clock in the afternoon, and the LG G5 will only turn on the highest brightness under extreme circumstances, otherwise the high brightness of 850 nits will This greatly reduces the battery life of the entire machine.

In terms of body material selection, LG G5 uses a metal body like the current mainstream flagship models. However, many people mistakenly think that it is made of plastic material. In fact, in order to create an integrated vision Therefore, the LG G5 uses a similar method to the previous Meizu Metal. It sprays primer on the base of the metal body to cover the antenna and metal panel under the primer. The disadvantage of this solution is that it reduces the cost of the entire machine. The advantage of the metal texture is that it can create a more integrated visual effect on the back body.

In order to let everyone understand the antenna layout on the back of the LG G5, the above picture is specially used to indicate the area where the antenna is located. In fact, if you carefully observe the LG G5 body under sufficient light, you can still Find some clues about the antenna layout. There are bright metal strips on the edge of the fuselage as embellishments. In addition to being more likely to harbor dirt, if you observe carefully, you can also find fractures in some details of the fuselage. It is said that this is to not affect the transmission of signals from the fuselage. And specially designed.

Because it uses a relatively special modular design and the battery can be replaced, the body size of the LG G5 is not much thicker than that of ordinary mobile phones. In terms of volume, the G5 is 149.4 × 73.9 × 7.7mm, the thickness is only 7.7mm, but it is slightly thicker than the iPhone 6’s 6.8 mm thickness.

All side buttons of the LG G5 are concentrated on the left side of the fuselage facing the display screen. The volume adjustment button is on the top, and the switch for removing the module component is below. Press this switch to plug in and out the module component. However, You need to pay attention to turning off the power of the fuselage before plugging and unplugging the module.

The Chinese version of LG G5 I experienced this time supports dual-SIM dual standby and can realize full network communication. There is a SIM card tray slot on the left side of the fuselage. The card tray of the LG G5 supports Micro SD card expansion of up to 2TB storage capacity, which is the current mainstream three-select-two card slot design. From the bottom of the fuselage, you can see that the LG G5 uses a Type-C USB data port. There are noise reduction holes and speaker holes on both sides of the data port.

The photo above shows the LG G5 with the screen off. The overall design on the front feels relatively simple, and the LG LOGO below does not give people a superfluous visual effect.

Like previous LG flagship models, the LG G5 still follows the design of on-screen virtual buttons, but these virtual buttons support custom placement and ordering, which can take into account the operation of both left-handed and right-handed users. Get used to it, this is a very considerate design, and there is no need to have unnecessary disputes over whether the return button of an Android phone should be placed on the left or the right.

As a flagship mobile phone, in terms of configuration, the LG G5 is equipped with Qualcomm’s flagship processor Snapdragon 820 and Adreno(TM) 530 graphics processor. The built-in X12 LTE modem is significantly higher than the previous generation product. It has been upgraded and supports domestic three networks. In addition, it is supplemented by 3GB of running memory and 32GB of body storage. This configuration can basically meet the needs of most consumers.

Compared with domestic mobile phone brands, mobile phones of international brands including LG often lack localized content infrastructure after entering the country. In order to make up for the shortcomings of the mobile phone software market, LG has built-in Domestic "Anzhi Application Market", but the content of this market is too messy. In addition to the market being filled with various advertisements, it will even push various advertisements to you irregularly. The user experience is really lacking. good.

Infrared transmission is still the command transmission method for home appliance remote controls. In order to transform the mobile phone into a remote control for home appliances, the LG G5 body supports the infrared transmission function. In the APP that comes with the LG G5 You can choose from a variety of infrared devices with different characteristics, allowing users to manage their home appliances more conveniently, eliminating the awkward situation of looking for various remote controls everywhere. However, compared to apps such as Xiaomi Universal Remote Control that integrate remote control code libraries for various brands of products, the infrared APP that comes with the LG G5 is really a bit crude.

In addition to the modular design, LG G5 is also equipped with a dual rear camera solution, and both cameras operate independently. The first camera is an 8-megapixel 135-degree wide-angle lens, F2. 4 aperture, and the second rear camera is 16 million pixels with F1.8 aperture. Unfortunately, both cameras use the older 1/2.6-inch Sony IMX234 f/1.8 sensor.

In actual experience, we can find that the camera adjustment of LG G5 has made great progress compared with the previous two generations of products. We will provide several LG G5 camera samples at the bottom of the following article. .

Rear camera sample

The camera interface that comes with the LG G5 has many rich functions. What is particularly special is that it provides four types of fisheye, black and white, vignetting and blur. Photo border and background effects are available for users to choose, but the most interesting thing is the dual camera design on the back of the phone.

The above photos are all samples taken directly from the LG G5 rear camera without any post-processing.

It can be seen that the photo distortion taken by the LG G5's 8-megapixel 135-degree wide-angle lens is quite serious, but the effect is indeed shocking. Since the older Sony IMX234 sensor is used, it can be seen that the performance is average in night scenes, the overall photo smear is also relatively strong, and the detail retention is not rich enough. However, thanks to the addition of a wide-angle lens, the LG G5 is still a very suitable model for photography enthusiasts.

Battery life and charging performance

Because of the modular design, the battery of the LG G5 is only 2800 mAh, which is considered to be the largest battery capacity among current Android flagship phones. It is relatively low, but it supports fast charging technology. In order to let everyone check the charging speed of this model more intuitively, I specially did a charging time test this time.

Using the LG G5’s standard fast charging adapter with two charging specifications of 5V 1.8A and 9V 1.8A for charging testing, it can be concluded that the charging of the LG G5 takes 1 hour and 20 minutes. This means that the battery can be charged from zero to 92% in one hour. The 20 minutes saved are the trickle charging stage of the body battery. This is the only advantage of the 2800 mAh body battery.

In terms of battery life, according to the data given by Android Authority, the LG G5 starts to play a 5-minute video in a loop when fully charged, the screen brightness is 50, and it is adjusted to airplane mode to prevent data connection In terms of power consumption, it can be concluded that the LG G5 scored 10 hours and 2 minutes. This result is slightly better than the Google Nexus 6 but worse than the Samsung Galaxy S7. After all, the LG G5’s battery is only 2800 mAh.

Is modularity a gimmick?

Modular design is a major feature of LG G5, but compared to Google’s Project Ara modular mobile phone, which is still in the development stage, it can realize display, processor, speakers, Modular components such as front/rear cameras, flashes, SIM card slots, batteries, and even wireless charging modules can be replaced. However, actual use will reveal that the LG G5 can only replace the LG CAM Plus (extended camera handle of the mobile phone), LG Hi-Fi Plus (music module that improves sound quality) is the only two external module components, and the expandable space is very limited. Therefore, in front of the Google Project Ara mobile phone, the so-called "pseudo-modular" design of the LG G5 is like A small witch meets a big witch.

However, Project Ara is still far away from being officially launched. Although the modular design of LG G5 is a bit of a hype concept, at least LG G5 is already a product on sale and we can get it easily.

Although the modular concept design of LG G5 is as childish as that of a newborn baby compared to Google Project Ara, in actual use you will find that this design will indeed increase The playability of the entire product and the removable battery design also allow the LG G5 to take a differentiated route in this era where built-in battery designs are the mainstream. After all, it is better to quickly replace a battery with sufficient power for the mobile phone than to drag around a bulky one. The huge mobile power supply is more chic.

In terms of hardware configuration, the LG G5 is undoubtedly designed according to flagship-level standards. The gimmick modular design and a 135-degree switchable ultra-wide viewing angle lens give this model Higher playability. Compared with the same flagship model, I think the LG G5 is a very "fun" phone, especially its 135-degree wide-angle lens, which allows you to take enough photos. Shocking and interesting wide-angle visual photos.