- May 14, 2011
- 238
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What was LG thinking? The build quality of this phone is awful - it feels like a cheap $99 plastic phone. The removable module at the bottom of the phone is unevenly lined up with the main part of the phone, leaving a noticeably uneven gap. The chamfer/edges of the phone feel sharp, not polished like they should be, almost like they could cut your hand (though they won't). The G5 feels cheap in hand, and it looks cheap. My expectations about the build quality were already lowered from videos I've watched the last couple of days, but the bar still wasn't low enough.
The other awful decision - the launcher! They removed the app drawers, in favor of an iPhone-like launcher experience. Yuck. And for the apps that you can't disable, the only way to "hide" them is to place them into a folder on one of the home screens. Not a great solution. There is an "easy home" option, which gives you back the app drawers, but doesn't allow you to add widgets or otherwise customize the home screens. I don't know what they were thinking, but you have to install something like Nova Launcher to get anything close to a true Android UI experience. Bottom line, their launcher is dumbed down, and I don't know why.
That said, there are some things I like about the phone - the screen is nice. Good color and sharpness. The cameras are nice (took a couple of photos at normal angle and wide angle), though not really any better than the S7 Edge and iPhone 6s Plus. I like the always-on display a little better than the S7/S7 Edge implementation. And the performance seems good, with the UI being very smooth with no lag.
After using it for a few hours, two main thoughts come to mind - "disappointment" and "compromise". The build quality and UI design are very disappointing, and inexcusable in 2016, when there are so many phones (even cheaper mid-range selections) with much better build quality. Even LG's own V10 has a much better build quality. I feel like they compromised the phone by focusing on the modular "friends" aspect of the G5, instead of the making sure the basics of the phone itself are polished. How many people are really going to buy a G5, and then purchase any of the modular add-ons? And from what I've read, depending on what country you are in, you may not be able to get some of the modules anyway.
I apologize that this post comes across as so very negative. I'm just hoping to add another point-of-view backing up some of the YouTube reviews we've all seen. Additionally, I've owned a number of different phones over the years, and this ranks as one of the worst I've ever used. I just hope that LG is working on the V20, and doesn't handicap that phone with useless gimmicks that compromise the basics of the phone, as they've done with the G5.
As for my G5... I will be returning it to Verizon. The things I like about it (screen, camera) aren't enough to overcome my dislike of the general build quality and questionable UI decisions made by LG.
The other awful decision - the launcher! They removed the app drawers, in favor of an iPhone-like launcher experience. Yuck. And for the apps that you can't disable, the only way to "hide" them is to place them into a folder on one of the home screens. Not a great solution. There is an "easy home" option, which gives you back the app drawers, but doesn't allow you to add widgets or otherwise customize the home screens. I don't know what they were thinking, but you have to install something like Nova Launcher to get anything close to a true Android UI experience. Bottom line, their launcher is dumbed down, and I don't know why.
That said, there are some things I like about the phone - the screen is nice. Good color and sharpness. The cameras are nice (took a couple of photos at normal angle and wide angle), though not really any better than the S7 Edge and iPhone 6s Plus. I like the always-on display a little better than the S7/S7 Edge implementation. And the performance seems good, with the UI being very smooth with no lag.
After using it for a few hours, two main thoughts come to mind - "disappointment" and "compromise". The build quality and UI design are very disappointing, and inexcusable in 2016, when there are so many phones (even cheaper mid-range selections) with much better build quality. Even LG's own V10 has a much better build quality. I feel like they compromised the phone by focusing on the modular "friends" aspect of the G5, instead of the making sure the basics of the phone itself are polished. How many people are really going to buy a G5, and then purchase any of the modular add-ons? And from what I've read, depending on what country you are in, you may not be able to get some of the modules anyway.
I apologize that this post comes across as so very negative. I'm just hoping to add another point-of-view backing up some of the YouTube reviews we've all seen. Additionally, I've owned a number of different phones over the years, and this ranks as one of the worst I've ever used. I just hope that LG is working on the V20, and doesn't handicap that phone with useless gimmicks that compromise the basics of the phone, as they've done with the G5.
As for my G5... I will be returning it to Verizon. The things I like about it (screen, camera) aren't enough to overcome my dislike of the general build quality and questionable UI decisions made by LG.
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