LG G5: What’s the story so far?

The LG G5 is the flagship smartphone set to succeed the South Korean company’s G4 handset that was released in April 2015.

The LG G4 came with the choice of a premium leather finish and stunning f/1.8 16-megapixel camera. Despite the strong praise it received however, it didn’t quite find the favour that LG perhaps wanted. The G5 therefore has a lot to prove and it looks like it might do it, with LG seemingly throwing everything into its next flagship smartphone.

Rumours are now in full swing for the LG G5 with a better processor, battery, metal build and iris scanner just a few of the speculated upgrades. We’ve rounded up everything there is to know about the LG G5 based on the rumours and speculation and as usual, we will update this feature as we hear more.

LG

LG G5 release date 

LG has scheduled an event for 21 February in Barcelona, which is the Sunday before Mobile World Congress kicks off and the same day rumoured to see the arrival of Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. 

Journalists were invited to attend the unveiling of its “next flagship smartphone”, with LG sending out the usual “save the date” notice, along with an image of a green music box and a “Play Begins” teaser.

Following the save the date, LG officially confirmed it would unveil the LG G5 at the show. On 3 February, LG posted images on Twitter that showed people gesturing as if they were holding a smartphone.

The images also reference the number “5” several times and are captioned with “#LGG5” as well as the date of the company’s upcoming event and “#MWC2016”. If that isn’t enough proof for you though, LG Korea’s Social site also published the above GIF that specifically states LG G5 Day is “coming soon” on 21 February.

Dubizzle

LG G5 design

LG is expected to go full premium for the G5. This follows Samsung’s move to a premium metal and glass unibody for the Galaxy S6 range.

A report out of Korea suggests the LG G5 will come with full metal unibody design. A source that claims to have seen the G5 said the design has “taken a major step forward”, something echoed by a source talking to Venture Beat, who says the phone borrows from the recently launched LG V10. On the rear should be a fingerprint reader and it should accommodate a second ticker display, as seen on that aforementioned device.

There have also been a few renders emerge based on eye-witness accounts of the new LG G5. Apparently the device will be modular to accommodate a removable battery in the all metal design. It has also been claimed the LG G5 will have a flat rear rather than rounded like its predecessors.

Android Authority has produced a sketch of what the LG G5 might look like based on insider information, and also concurs that there could be a removable section to give access to the battery. The measurements of the handset are said to be 149.4 x 73.9 x 8.2mm, with the volume controls moving from the rear back to a more conventional side position.

A new device then appeared in a protective case. Thought to be the LG G5, a fingerprint scanner can be seen on the rear, below a dramatic camera array. The casing disguises the rest of the handset, but it’s not uncommon for engineering samples to be tested in these sorts of covert conditions.

LG itself has revealed the G5 behind the touch-enabled Quick Cover case but as the images only present the front of the handset, the design speculation regarding the rear of the device can’t be confirmed as yet.

There have been some images republished by PhoneArena however that do show what appears to be a dual-camera setup with a fingerprint sensor below, supporting the rumours. The images were taken from an e-commerce site in Dubai that is selling what it is claiming to be a “brand new LG G5”. The device is going for 2,500 dirhams, which is around £470 and apparently comes with a valid IMEI.

LG

LG G5 display

The G4 sported a Quad HD resolution so it would be reasonable to expect that in the LG G5. There is a chance LG may go down the same path as Sony did with the Z5 Premium and cram in a 4K display but we’re not holding our breath. According to Weibo leakster Zealer, the G5 will feature a 5.6-inch 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution display.

The above GIF was officially outed by LG on its Facebook page. The rumour is that the G5 will use similar dual layer LCD screens to the V10, meaning an Always On display that doesn’t consume much battery life. This was then further supported by the unveiling of the touch-enabled Quick Cover case by LG, which from the images released appears to work in tandem with the always-on display.

Venture Beat adds further information regarding the sizes, claiming an anonymous source has confirmed the G5 will feature a main display at 5.3-inch 2560 x 1440 resolution and a second smaller 160 x 1040 display on top, as seen on the LG V10.

CNET Korea also claims the LG G5 will have two displays, one of which will be a 5.3-inch 2560 x 1440 screen. It’s not clear so far exactly what size LG will settle for. The G4 is 5.5 inches, the V10 is 5.7 inches.

Android Authority

LG G5 camera

The LG G4 set the bar very high with its f/1.8 16-megapixel camera. With Samsung showing off its low-light specialist Britecell camera, LG is going to have to innovate again.

According to Weibo, LG may opt to use a 21-megapixel sensor. We expect plenty of LG extras added to that (likely) Sony sensor to give it a unique sell. LG also used an 8-megapixel front-facing selfie camera in the G4. The Weibo leakster says to expect that to be at least as high in resolution for the G5.

The anonymous source of Venture Beat says the rear snapper will actually be a lower 16-megapixel sensor however, but it will apparently feature dual lenses capable of 135-degree wide-angle shots. This also supports the 8-megapixel selfie camera claim. According to Droid Life, the LG G5 will support dual rear camera of 16-megapixel and 8-megapixel resolution and it appears there are dual rear cameras based on the leaked device images.

Droid Life

LG G5 hardware specs

The LG G5 is expected, according to an anonymous source of Venture Beat, to ship with a Snapdragon 820 CPU with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage. That’s an entirely possible load-out, and we suspect that LG will stick to offering a microSD card slot for expansion.

A new feature called Magic Slot will allow for hardware upgrades, claims the same source. It should allow the rear camera to shoot 360-degree photos, allow for the attachment of a physical QWERTY keyboard, audio amplifier and more. This accessory function might explain the “play” angle of the invite, making for a device that will do more than your average smartphone.

CNET Korea claims the Snapdragon 820 will be on board but it says there will be 4GB of RAM compared to the 3GB claimed by Venture Beat. LG has released different devices in different territories, so it’s entirely possible that Korea and US markets could get 4GB, with other regions getting 3GB.

It’s also thought that the LG G5 will offer USB Type-C, based on shots revealing that latest connection type.

CNET Korea

LG G5 battery

According to the Venture Beat source, the battery will be 2800mAh making it smaller than the G4, but with a more efficient chip and Android 6.0 OS that should not be an issue.

However, there are rumours that the LG G5 will have a removable bottom section, meaning you can slide the battery out of the all-metal body. In the report, initially from CNET Korea, there’s no mention of the battery capacity, but LG has been one of the last companies to abandon changeable batteries: perhaps the LG G5 will continue that trend.

LG G5 iris scanner

According to Korean reports and a Weibo leak the LG G5 may feature an iris scanner for security authentication.

The company developing the tech is called Irience. The algorithm is still being worked on but the hardware is ready and able to recognise an individual iris up to 50cm away.

The iris security feature is expected to be good enough for use with banking apps as it is, apparently, superior to fingerprint recognition.

LG G5 software

Little has been said about software features to expect from the LG G5, but a user agent report details that the phone will launch with Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

LG’s invite, however, points to play, which could mean that there are a range of entertainment features to be expected.

What to know more?

Keep you eyes on our LG hub, as well as on your MWC 2016 home page, where we’ll be covering off everything the launches at the Barcelona show.