LG G5 initial impressions

[Soundtallica]

deleted

 

[anasz3z3]

So if you want a new phone , will you get it , or another type ?

 

[gendo667]

I like the G5. It's perfect in nearly every way for me, the design is gorgeous, and I especially like that they retained the removable battery and IR blaster. The only things that are missing would be the S7's waterproofing and a bigger battery, but hopefully the more efficient processor and further software optimizations can take care of the latter.

You're not wrong, I myself switch between Action Launcher 3 and Google Now Launcher. But most people don't use/don't know about launchers. Some folks actually like LG's skin. (I know, it's ugly) I'm mostly concerned about software jank. But the Android Authority video made it look pretty fluid. Here's hoping the carrier don't mess it up with to much bloat.

 

[ibmbc]

People complained about the plastic design on the previous G series, but somehow they still looked better than the G5. Great thats it is metal I suppose (the plastic never bothered me) but the metal looks very boring.
Ridiculous that they went with a smaller batter. G4 and my V10 battery is at best acceptable with the only redeeming feature that you can swap it. Yeah I can swap the G5 but I'll have to do it sooner now, and way to not learn a lesson from Samsung S6 getting slammed by most users. The majority of users don;t want to have to swap batteries, they want decent battery to begin with. I don;t mind swapping batteries as I'm a power user, but this was a silly move going down in battery size.
I'm on board with most of the other things, I'm sure the camera will be spectacular. Not a huge fan of no app drawer, guess I would just sue a customer launcher. Either way it isn;t nearly compelling enough for me to switch from my V10 so thats disappointing.

 

[ibmbc]

Yes you can install a 3rd party launcher, but not everyone wants to do that, and the point the OP was making is that it was in their opinion a bad design choice and I agree.

 

[Kevin Hill2]

Oh come on, you can say it, we are all thinking it, LG blew it on the G5, from the back it looks like some strange little robot with beady eyes, the software is junk, and come on snap in Mod's that nobody is going to buy, they should have named it the Lego phone. I have never been so disappointed in the release of a new phone, from anyone as I am with this one. Big step backward for the G series.

 

[gendo667]

Phonearena is saying the the G5 keeps QSlide. Not sure if that correct, but for those wanting this feature, cheers!

 

[littlenoodles]

To me, the G5 seems like a cute experiment - like the G-Flex and V10 were. Interesting stuff to show off LG's experimentalist chops, but not really mainstream. It shouldn't be LG's sole flagship this year. I hope they come out with another phone styled more or less like the G5 (I think it looks pretty good), but without the module thingy and a bigger battery instead. Price it right, and they've got a hit. Go with front-facing speakers (to justify the big bottom bezel), and it's a home run.

 

[gendo667]

To me, the G5 seems like a cute experiment - like the G-Flex and V10 were. Interesting stuff to show off LG's experimentalist chops, but not really mainstream..

Nothing's mainstream until it hits. That's why company's try things. That being said, you're right. The high res audio is interesting, but I'll stay away from the mods all together most likely.

 

[srkmagnus]

The great thing about Android is that it is full of options and customizations. Yes, a third-party launcher works for most people reading Android Central or reading this forum. However, I would take a wild guess that the average consumer, those who comprise the bulk of device sales numbers, may not know that a third-party launcher is available – at least not initially.

On a side note, let’s keep it peaceful in this thread and respect one another. No need for name calling (indirectly or directly). Let’s keep this discussion going in a positive direction – Thank you.

 

[gendo667]

.

On a side note, let’s keep it peaceful in this thread and respect one another. No need for name calling (indirectly or directly). Let’s keep this discussion going in a positive direction – Thank you.

Thank you. I feel the same way. At least it's not a comments thread on an article. Those are the worst.

 

[Hdima010]

Phonearena is saying the the G5 keeps QSlide. Not sure if that correct, but for those wanting this feature, cheers!

where did u see that?

 

[gendo667]

where did u see that?

http://www.phonearena.com/news/LG-G5-vs-LG-G4-first-look_id78650

 

[blackdogAC]

I know you can't make everyone happy, but for a FLAGSHIP phone? there's not a single thing visually that distinguishes this from the several hundred smartphones beeping and blinking around the globe. The one LG feature that was completely an icon, the back button, disappears. WHY? the screen is SMALLER! WHY? Taller and narrower...exactly what made me give up "HTC and go for the G3. When you reduce the width of a display, you seriously reduce it's ability to display webpages and other pages of text. The smallest reduction in width has a very significant effect on readability.

Wireless charging? Not seeing that....once again...unless I'm missing the review somewhere.
After all the screaming about HTC's huge top and bottom bezel panels, LG puts this on the menu.

And still... no front-facing speakers. We're still stuck with 32 gB internal...and the battery got smaller. Smaller! I run out of battery constantly on the G3 by end of day, and the battery is now smaller. Nice touch. Yeah- OK, USB C is going to be welcome, but honestly, there's nothing here that's making me move away from the G3...and that's what I said about the G4 last year. It seems to me any average two dudes in a dorm room could have designed a better phone... between classes. I'm going to look at Samsung again. I thought I'd never say that.

 

[gendo667]

I know you can't make everyone happy, but for a FLAGSHIP phone? there's not a single thing visually that distinguishes this from the several hundred smartphones beeping and blinking around the globe. The one LG feature that was completely an icon, the back button, disappears. WHY? the screen is SMALLER! WHY? Taller and narrower...exactly what made me give up "HTC and go for the G3. When you reduce the width of a display, you seriously reduce it's ability to display webpages and other pages of text. The smallest reduction in width has a very significant effect on readability.

Wireless charging? Not seeing that....once again...unless I'm missing the review somewhere.
After all the screaming about HTC's huge top and bottom bezel panels, LG puts this on the menu.

And still... no front-facing speakers. We're still stuck with 32 gB internal...and the battery got smaller. Smaller! I run out of battery constantly on the G3 by end of day, and the battery is now smaller. Nice touch. Yeah- OK, USB C is going to be welcome, but honestly, there's nothing here that's making me move away from the G3...and that's what I said about the G4 last year. It seems to me any average two dudes in a dorm room could have designed a better phone... between classes. I'm going to look at Samsung again. I thought I'd never say that.

Okay, the power button is still back there. I know the screen is smaller but your webpages will look fine. Do you think LG is just gonna release a phone that doesn't display webpages well. If their competing with the GS7 the smaller screen kinda makes sense with their 5.1 inch display, not counting the edge variant. And there's expandable storage. Just some talking points.

 

[gendo667]

I know I'm posting a lot, my wife and I are traveling and she's driving.

Food for thought, I kinda wish LG would steal away some of Samsung's marketing folks. With the mods and LG's track record for commercials, the ads for this phone are gonna be horrible. Kinda scared to see them after the presentation at MWC.

 

[ss1plus]

Don't forget that the presentation video that LG released for the G5 was far better than the presentation video Samsung released for the GS7. The problem with the G5 is that the phone's features and add-ons are weak compared to the GS7. LG certainly has the ability to professionally market their product. I think their marketing team is going to be frustrated that they have a product that just isn't measuring up in actual wow factor in areas that matter most to consumers AND critics

 

[gendo667]

Don't forget that the presentation video that LG released for the G5 was far better than the presentation video Samsung released for the GS7. The problem with the G5 is that the phone's features and add-ons are weak compared to the GS7. LG certainly has the ability to professionally market their product. I think their marketing team is going to be frustrated that they have a product that just isn't measuring up in actual wow factor in areas that matter most to consumers AND critics

My problem isn't so much the mods and their existence, I just feel like LG isn't gonna let the phone speak for itself. The mods are gonna be thrown in everybody's face and people won't see the phone. All their gonna see is the gimmick.

 

[anon(782252)]

If I liked the screen size, battery size, bezel size and side buttons (which I don't), I would be interested in the phone. I like somewhat modular design but my problem with the mods is there is no guarantee they last past the G5 (at least the ones that attach to the phone). Will LG keep the design of the phone similar enough next year to allow the mods to carry-over to the G6? Will the mods work with this year's version of the V10? I don't even think LG knows the answer to those questions. But if they could come out and say yes, we plan to keep adding mods and they will work with next year's device, then I think they are on to something.

From a profit standpoint for LG, mods/accessories are a good deal because they usually carry a much better margin than the device.

 

[icu]

You're not wrong, I myself switch between Action Launcher 3 and Google Now Launcher. But most people don't use/don't know about launchers. Some folks actually like LG's skin. (I know, it's ugly) I'm mostly concerned about software jank. But the Android Authority video made it look pretty fluid. Here's hoping the carrier don't mess it up with to much bloat.

Not a surprise to me tbh, but the G5 comes with an LG launcher version WITH the app drawer restored: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWM7TieWpY8

My initial thought was always "This is easily fixed with a 3rd party launcher" which I'd use anyways "and - why wouldn't LG just make it an toggle/option to have an app drawer?". Well they did - it's in the options. It's an odd trend, but their research must show that the average "normal" user doesn't like the app drawer. As long as it's an option it's not worth worrying about.

Overall - as a happy G3 owner I think it looks like a real nice phone. A few things I'd like changed, but there's never been a phone that ticked every box - this one ticks most of them so I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure.