If you have been getting a little fed up of Android phones that are all the same with a little bit of this or a little bit of that extra, wait till you see the LG G5, just launched at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) at Barcelona.
Long before MWC there have been speculations about what the next "G" will be like. LG gets a little less credit than it deserves for its bold and innovative features, none of which unfortunately have been helping it financially. Mobile phone sales for LG have in fact fallen 2 per cent over 2015.
All the same, LG's G5 may just be the phone that's most talked about when MWC is done for the year.
To begin with, the G5 is a modular phone. Google was working on a modular phone within the ambit of its 'Project Aara' but it looks like LG has gone ahead and acted on the idea. Never mind the usual specs, there are other radical things about this phone. It has a few "Friends," accessories and plug-in modules that will give the handset more capabilities. At the base of the phone, you have a section that can be pulled out. You can slip the battery out and attach it to an add-on. For example, one of the plug-ins is a Bang & Olufsen module which changes the playback to high resolution (detailed) sound when connected to speakers or headphones. So you don't get a compromised playback because the phone is a small device.
The idea is to have a whole ecosystem of modules and accessories. This will of course have the effect of lengthening the life cycle of the device, but perhaps LG hopes to profit by making add-one. Another is a camera related module which adds a set of controls and lets users take a one-handed photo. The best is it adds to the battery life rather than take away from it.
The G5's main cameras are a set of two 16MP cameras. One is regular and the other allows for a 135-degree field of view. The camera app will let a user slide to expand the field of view. The front camera is 8MP.
The handset, which looks a bit like a smaller Nexus 6P, has an always-on display from which you can see the time and notifications. At the same time it only sips battery from being on. Very courteously though, it does go off when put into a pocket.
Since we're accustomed to specs though, the G5 is a 5.3-inch screened phone with 2560x1440 IPS display (which reviewers are saying is nice and bright in sunlight), a Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM, 32GB storage with MicroSD slot, a fingerprint scanner, Android 6.0, and a USB-C connector.
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
