LG G5: Redefined Flagship Device?
With more power and possibly with new biometric tricks in its bag, the LG G5 could be the next big attraction in the market.
LG, with the release of its flagship handset, the LG G5 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this February, seems to be taking a lot of punts.
The LG G series has up to now worked on standard designs that each model has carried forward with minor changes — every model has been only an upgrade to its predecessor. But with LG G5, the company seems to be working on changing a lot.
Clearly LG wants to hit the market with a hot product, and make a lasting impression across price bands.
The primary question is, how will the LG G5 make a difference?
The speculations are that the LG G5 model will look entirely different from the outgoing LG G4, and even the ones before that.
The company is seemingly going for a complete design overhaul. The most prominent of this is the replacement of the removable back cover with a sliding panel for the battery. Most phones up to now feature either a removable back cover or a non-removable back cover, but the phone battery has mostly been inside the back of the phone.
A slide-out panel for battery is not only curious in terms of its design, but also in terms of its functionality.
The signature rear-mounted volume buttons are also being moved to the side. Other than these design changes, there is also speculated an upgrade in the processor.
With the G4, the company initially went with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. They had to later replace it with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 because of the 810’s overheating issues. Speculation now points to the company enabling the G5 with the upgraded Qualcomm processor — the Snapdragon 820.
Qualcomm, has said that the 820 version of Snapdragon is about 40% faster than the 810 version! This would mean that the phone would be a lot faster than its predecessor. It would also place the phone amongst the range of upcoming phones that use the most advanced of processors, like the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S7.
LG in the past has not really worked with biometrics in its devices. It ventured into the use of biometrics with finger-scanning in its late-2015 release of the LG V10.
Apparently the G5 will feature biometric scanning features too, though the what cannot yet be confirmed. Hopes are set on LG working with eye scanning now, which would be a step up from the finger-scanning in the V10, and a new venture for the company.
In the market, Samsung has worked with face recognition technology, which did not yield very successful results for the company. The Microsoft Lumia 950 brought eye scanning to the front recently.
Successfully pulling off the eye-scanning technology would put the phone a step up from its predecessor, and its competitors.
The LG G5 will also be getting an upgrade in terms of its camera. Blessed with a 21 megapixel camera instead of the 16 megapixel one that the G4 version featured, and a front camera with an 8 megapixel image sensor, are both good news. This comes with the possibility of LG adorning the phone with a selfie lens.
With Samsung releasing its Galaxy S7 at the MWC as well, the G5 stands in direct competition to the flagship Samsung device. The Samsung handset is expected in varying specs, multiple options for various performance needs.
The question at the centre for now is will the LG G5 be able to give the all-encompassing Samsung and its new flagship device a competition? With the releases so close to each other, the face off is unavoidable.
With a fresh design, completely different from the standard G series, with more power and possibly with new biometric tricks in its bag, the LG G5 could be the next big attraction in the market.
Originally published at Chip-Monks.
