Early LG G5 impressions praise removable battery, and good camera, criticize battery life and design

The LG G5 has finally made its way worldwide, and, as with all high-end Android smartphones, there is both good and bad to say about it. One site in particular, namely The Washington Post, took time to publish its own early impressions of the device. For the site, the LG G5 should be commended for its removable battery, alongside of the 32GB of onboard storage on the device, its strong camera performance with a dual-camera setup (2 cameras), as well as its Always On Display that lets you see the time and email notifications without turning your phone on and off constantly.

As for the cons, the site points out that, in addition to the company’s decision to add a fingerprint scanner on the back (which seems unintuitive), and the fact that it’s “a tad less comfortable to hold than its curvier competitors,” it has a plastic feel despite being made of premium metal. Additionally, the LG G5 can’t get you through the day on a single charge — which means that you’ll be plugging your device in at least once, if not twice, a day.

A number of tech reviewers are praising the LG G5 because of its modular design that allows you to connect various modules to the device and use it in manifold ways. At the same time, however, the company is pricing these modules ridiculously (the 360 VR headset is $200, while Samsung’s own Gear VR is $99), which leads many people to choose LG’s Korean rival smartphones over the LG G5. After all, why buy the LG G5 if you have to buy $200 modules to enjoy the device? You can buy a Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge and enjoy the device — all of it — without having to buy additional accessories.

We’re still waiting to see what many detailed reviews will say, as early reviews are more about previewing the device than giving any sort of technical analysis about how the device performs. One thing that seems to be running through these reviews about the LG G5 is that the device can’t hold up on a single charge through an entire day. The reason why is simple: whereas the LG G2, LG G3, and G4 all packed 3,000mAh batteries, the LG G5 only packs a 2,800mAh battery. When you consider that this smaller battery has to power the same Quad HD displays as phones past, you understand why the LG G5 may have smaller battery life than any of its predecessors.

The LG G5 features a 5.3-inch, Quad HD display with a 2,560 x 1,440p screen resolution, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 32GB of storage, 8MP front camera, 16MP back camera, and a 2,800mAh battery. You can pick up the LG G5 for about $624 outright, $26 a month for 24 months, and, in many cases, can get a free VR camera, headset, or even additional removable battery.

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