Is LG Using A Wrong Strategy to Sell the G5?

[Laserbutt]

I've been doing a lot of G5 research trying to decide whether its a better option for me than the S7e..

It seems to me they should have sold the G5 as an all metal phone with a removable battery. I mean obviously they are but it appears that the seemingly pre-mature implentation of the modular aspects have dulled the fact that its an all metal G series device.. I wish I could watch a UI speedtest between the G5 and the S7/S7e

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[Stwutter]

I've been doing a lot of G5 research trying to decide whether its a better option for me than the S7e..

It seems to me they should have sold the G5 as an all metal phone with a removable battery. I mean obviously they are but it appears that the seemingly pre-mature implentation of the modular aspects have dulled the fact that its an all metal G series device.. I wish I could watch a UI speedtest between the G5 and the S7/S7e

Posted via the Android Central App

Obviously full reviews are only a short time away, but, from what's already out there, although the G5 is all metal, people are saying that it doesn't offer a premium feel, like a n HTC, Nexus and so on. The modular aspect is, rightly, being pushed as it's the real thing that makes the G5 different.

Personally, I think it'll flop, but LG were always going to make a big deal about the bits that other OEM's don't yet offer.

 

[Aquila]

All of the best devices of 2015 except for the G4 and V10 had sealed batteries. An immensely tiny portion of the market is letting removable batteries impact their purchase decisions, so I think focusing on the battery would be a mistake. LG is looking to satisfy the spec requirements (which most people don't care about) and to put something out there as differentiation. Otherwise, what's the value proposition over the iPhone, S7 Edge, Nexus 6P, etc?

The 6P is more secure, has better software, probably still has a better camera, will likely retain better battery life, have a more accurate screen, etc.
The S7e leads the pack on camera, has very good battery life and that weird edge thing that apparently people like

etc, etc.

So what does the G5 do that the other leaders do not? How does it make up for its shortcomings? Modules?

 

[Stwutter]

How does it make up for its shortcomings? Modules?

That's what they hope to do, yes. But I doubt it'll work. How many people are going to bother swapping in the camera lump or the B&O sound module, let alone part with the cash in the first place? Just a tiny percentage, outside of Geeksville, where many of us live. With that in mind, a rather bland looking LG phone doesn't stand much chance sitting next to the S7/Edge or the iPhone in the shop.

Sony had the same issue, and their tack was a 4K display (that only about 10-20% of outside content can use anyway) - again, who, generally, cares? The vast majority of people take pictures of their dogs, videos of their cats, and put them on Instagram.

 

[Laserbutt]

All of the best devices of 2015 except for the G4 and V10 had sealed batteries. An immensely tiny portion of the market is letting removable batteries impact their purchase decisions, so I think focusing on the battery would be a mistake. LG is looking to satisfy the spec requirements (which most people don't care about) and to put something out there as differentiation. Otherwise, what's the value proposition over the iPhone, S7 Edge, Nexus 6P, etc?

The 6P is more secure, has better software, probably still has a better camera, will likely retain better battery life, have a more accurate screen, etc.
The S7e leads the pack on camera, has very good battery life and that weird edge thing that apparently people like

etc, etc.

So what does the G5 do that the other leaders do not? How does it make up for its shortcomings? Modules?

From my time in the forums many people were disappointed with the 2015 'S' and 'Note' series due to the absence of the removable battery, IR blaster, and/or SD card. You may be correct in assuming that the majority doesn't view these features as a deciding factor in their purchasing decision, but for a lot of us power users this is the very reason the Note 5 was disappointing to a lot of Note fans.

The trend seems to be increase build quality and lose removable battery. The fact that LG has increased (IMO) build quality and kept the removable battery is quite attractive to me and I would assume many others.

I also coveted the IR blaster so perhaps I am not of the majority. lol

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[Aquila]

From my time in the forums many people were disappointed with the 2015 'S' and 'Note' series due to the absence of the removable battery, IR blaster, and/or SD card. You may be correct in assuming that the majority doesn't view these features as a deciding factor in their purchasing decision, but for a lot of us power users this is the very reason the Note 5 was disappointing to a lot of Note fans.

The trend seems to be increase build quality and lose removable battery. The fact that LG has increased (IMO) build quality and kept the removable battery is quite attractive to me and I would assume many others.

I also coveted the IR blaster so perhaps I am not of the majority. lol

Posted via the Android Central App

Yeah, the forums have a selection bias - only the ubernerds that spend time in forums actually spend time in forums And even then, the S7 Edge is getting a fantastic response in the forums, despite lacking the removable battery - and they put a huge one in it. One downside of LG's approach is that they're actually decreasing the battery size, which for people who care about specs (battery size instead of battery life) that's going to make LG a non-starter, removable or not. But among the ubernerds, the S7 Edge and the Nexus 6P are currently the best phones money can buy - neither one has the features that the forums would make us believe are more important than things like camera, screen quality, build quality, etc (which are the things I think are most important). LG's doing a good job but they're going to need to push something about their device out in front of the masses and make people want it. There are definitely tradeoffs in any decision, and generally I think LG makes a good product - but the competition isn't slacking either.

 

[RadiantDuck]

I think the G5 will sell reasonably well, but the S7 would always sell far better, like the g4 and the s6. Mostly due to marketing. The general, non mobile-nerd public only tend to know two brands, apple and Samsung. Most of the time iPhone fans criticise android, they're mostly criticising Samsung. But the G5 will do quite well because it has very similar specs and quite a bit cheaper. In the UK at least. I actually cancelled the s7 edge in favour of the G5. I got a much better deal and the G5 has more what I want.

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[Aquila]

I think the G5 will sell reasonably well, but the S7 would always sell far better, like the g4 and the s6. Mostly due to marketing. The general, non mobile-nerd public only tend to know two brands, apple and Samsung. Most of the time iPhone fans criticise android, they're mostly criticising Samsung. But the G5 will do quite well because it has very similar specs and quite a bit cheaper. In the UK at least. I actually cancelled the s7 edge in favour of the G5. I got a much better deal and the G5 has more what I want.

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So you hit on value - is there anything else you think LG should be pointing out int heir marketing?

 

[RadiantDuck]

A lot of the more recent reviews point out how enjoyable the wide angle lens is. And for me the long life it potential represents, replacement batteries when the old one starts to age, and lcd screen that has a longer life and little more resilient than amoled (though I agree that these points are not very important to the vast majority of consumers)

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[SupraLB]

Swapping batteries wouldn't be as bad if they had a small internal battery that would keep power on while swapping. The whole rebooting process turns off most people to think of it as a benefit, rather than just including a proper sized battery inside. Encrypted phone reboot is paid fully slow.

 

[RadiantDuck]

My last phone with a removable battery was a Motorola atrix, which took best part of 20 minutes to reboot towards the end! Hopefully they've improved since then. But I agree, a small internal battery to allow better hot swapping would have been awesome.

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[DSLAM]

Swapping batteries wouldn't be as bad if they had a small internal battery that would keep power on while swapping.

I had the same idea. You just need a small internal battery to stay alive for the 30 seconds (maybe one whole minute) to put a new battery in, seems like a no brainer.

 

[anon(9408097)]

I'm still trying so hard to like the LG G5. But I can't.

They have such good partnership with Google. They should come out with a Google Play edition of this phone. I think this is the only way to get people to buy this phone.

Don't get me wrong it's a very good phone. But that's it. Its a very good phone.

I think HTC will make a comeback this year. I have a hunch they will! This year might belong to Samsung HTC and Google Nexus. I think this year's nexus will be an amazing phone as well.

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[Aquila]

They have such good partnership with Google. They should come out with a Google Play edition of this phone. I think this is the only way to get people to buy this phone.

Seal up the battery and use that extra space to make the audio module permanent without adding any bulk to the default profile? Deal.

 

[griff7774]

Almost every major phone manufacturer has stopped offering the feature of the removal of the battery .The modular design helps LG expand the range of features they offer their customers, but at the same time they don't want to lose the value they have for the existing customers. Offering something different but yet the same.

I do like the G5. Even if you ignore its modular "Friends", the phone itself has a neat, sensible design that’s received a lot of attention and yet still offers the ability to swap batteries and expand storage.

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[anon(5630457)]

If you go to GSM Arena and check-out the LG G5's battery, it's got a terrible endurance rating of 60 hours, 50 hours with the always-on display turned on: LG G5 - Full phone specifications

The S7 edge, meanwhile, has an endurance rating of 98 hours: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - Full phone specifications

LG needs to make the battery on the G5 removable because the battery won't last all day, unlike the S7 edge.

 

[barondebxl]

I've been doing a lot of G5 research trying to decide whether its a better option for me than the S7e..

It seems to me they should have sold the G5 as an all metal phone with a removable battery. I mean obviously they are but it appears that the seemingly pre-mature implentation of the modular aspects have dulled the fact that its an all metal G series device.. I wish I could watch a UI speedtest between the G5 and the S7/S7e

Posted via the Android Central App

Here's UI speed test

https://youtu.be/7PhWfTkJiug

 

[barondebxl]

Almost every major phone manufacturer has stopped offering the feature of the removal of the battery .The modular design helps LG expand the range of features they offer their customers, but at the same time they don't want to lose the value they have for the existing customers. Offering something different but yet the same.

I do like the G5. Even if you ignore its modular "Friends", the phone itself has a neat, sensible design that’s received a lot of attention and yet still offers the ability to swap batteries and expand storage.

Posted via the Android Central App

The design has indeed received a lot of attention, but not for the positive to be honest. When the leaks surfaced, the majority of people called it ugly.

 

[pwaikon]

If you go to GSM Arena and check-out the LG G5's battery, it's got a terrible endurance rating of 60 hours, 50 hours with the always-on display turned on: LG G5 - Full phone specifications

The S7 edge, meanwhile, has an endurance rating of 98 hours: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - Full phone specifications

LG needs to make the battery on the G5 removable because the battery won't last all day, unlike the S7 edge.

Excuse me but are you serious? Of course the S7edge gets a better battery life rating when it has BIGGER battery by +800mAh. You can't compare the two. If you wanna compare G5 to the S7, compare using the normal S7 with 3000mAh battery!
And FYI: the battery of the G5 already is removable.

 

[Stwutter]

Excuse me but are you serious? Of course the S7edge gets a better battery life rating when it has BIGGER battery by +800mAh. You can't compare the two. If you wanna compare G5 to the S7, compare using the normal S7 with 3000mAh battery!
And FYI: the battery of the G5 already is removable.

How big the battery is is missing the point.

The point is that LG decided to put a small battery in, whilst Samsung realised he error of their ways, and didn't. You wouldn't say a 500mah battery was amazing in a modern day smartphone if it lasted 5 hours and multiplied it by 6 to get 30hrs. It wouldn't last long, as it's tiny, regardless of how efficient it is.

And I think the poster knows the G5 battery IS removable. I don't think it was a suggestion. He was making a statement that they had to make make it removable as it's likely to be rubbish if you use it moderately to heavily.