With Mobile World Congress less than a week away, we thought it would be a good idea to give you a run down of everything we know about LG’s still unannounced new flagship smartphone, the LG G5, ahead of the mobile industry’s biggest event of the year.
Despite what have likely been LG’s best efforts, G5 leaks have been appearing online at a brisk pace. While last year’s G4 was a unique, relatively well-received smartphone, it failed to gain traction against stiff competition. As a result of this, it looks like the conglomerate has taken a decidedly different approach with its newest device.
From plastic to metal
Thanks to LG’s recent dancing robot press conference invite, we know that the company’s new smartphone will, as expected, officially be called the LG G5. Furthermore, while the G4 was built of curved plastic, the G5 will reportedly feature a metallic, flat unibody design.
Also, in an unprecedented twist, the G5 might actually be smaller than the G4, though its specific size dimensions are still unknown. The company’s recently launched V10 smartphone, which didn’t make its way to Canada, features a massive 5.9-inch screen and secondary ticker display. Making the LG G5 slightly smaller than its 5.5-inch predecessor — most rumours point to it being 5.3-inches — helps differentiate the device from the V10.
It’s also possible LG could implement the V10’s ticker display in the G5, though that specific rumour has tapered out as we’ve moved closer to the start date of Mobile World Congress.
Dual-lens camera and fingerprint sensor
Speculation also indicates that the G5 will come equipped with a rear fingerprint scanner, similar to what is featured in the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.
It appears the smartphone’s volume rockers have also been shifted to the side of the device, making its button setup more in-line with other smartphones on the market. It also looks like the G5’s power button has been relocated from the back of the smartphone to its right side.
In terms of the G5’s camera, things start to get more interesting. Speculation sourced from a number of reliable mobile leakers indicate the G5 will feature a dual-lens setup, seemingly giving users the option to switch between wide angle optics and what looks like a more narrow 35mm equivalent lens.
Hardware upgrades galore
According to leaks sourced from Venture Beat’s often-reliable Evan Blass (@evleaks), the LG G5’s main screen will feature a secondary 160 by 1040 pixel ticker display on top of it. The device is also set to retain the Quad HD 2,560 by 1,440 pixel resolution of its predecessor, but with a low-battery usage always-on display.
The LG G5 is rumoured to come equipped with Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 820 processor that’s based on the component manufacturer’s smaller, more efficient Kryo CPU cores. The phone is also said to pack 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a microSD card slot.
On the downside, the G5’s battery will supposedly measure in at 2,800mAh, slightly smaller than the G4’s 3,000mAh power source, likely because the phone is set to be slightly smaller than last year’s G4.
Finally, LG’s G5 is rumoured to feature a modular design with a slide off cap located at its base, allowing access to the battery and microSD card slot found on the inside of the device. It’s also rumoured that other accessories might be able to be inserted into this “magic slot,” such as larger batteries, potentially creating a vibrant third-party ecosystem for the smartphone.
In fact, Phandroid is reporting that LG plans to show off a module called the LG Cam Plus, an accessory that connects to the phone, providing hardware buttons for the G5’s camera, allowing it to functional like a full fledged point and shoot.
What we don’t know
There is still a significant amount we don’t know about the G5, namely its Canadian price tag, as well as which Canadian carriers will offer the phone to their customers.
LG is announcing its new flagship smartphone on February 21 in Barcelona, Spain, the same day Samsung, the company’s biggest rival in the Android OEM space, is poised to show off the Galaxy S7.
We’ll be on the show floor at Mobile World Congress next week bringing you content directly from the event.
Related reading: Galaxy S7 rumour roundup: Here’s everything we know so far
Image credit: Cnet Korea, Reddit
