LG G5

LG has announced that its flagship device, the modular LG G5, will go on pre-bookings starting May 21 in India.

The pre-bookings will go from May 21 till May 30. Customers eager to buy the phone will be able to pre-book from retail outlets, LG branded stores, and online exclusively through Flipkart.

As a bonus, LG is giving away a LG CAM Plus - a camera grip for the G5 that gives you a better grip as well as physical buttons for the camera, and also includes a built-in battery to extend the battery life of your phone - to everyone who is pre-booking the G5 in India.

Let's check out all the LG G5's features.

Key features

• 5.3" IPS LCD display, Quad HD resolution (554ppi); Always-On option
• Snapdragon 820 chip: quad-core Kryo processor (up to 2.15GHz), Adreno 530 GPU, 4GB of RAM
• 16MP (f/1.8) + 8 MP (f/2.4) main camera setup; 3-axis OIS; laser autofocus; LED flash, 2160p video capture, 8MP selfie camera
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Optimus UI 5.0
• 32GB built-in storage plus microSD card slot
• Fingerprint sensor
• Cat. 9 LTE (450Mbps); Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; GPS/GLONASS; NFC; USB Type-C port; FM radio; IR blaster
• Removable 2,800mAh battery; Quick Charge 3.0
• Innovative Magic Slot for add-on modules

Main disadvantages

• No water proofing
• No wireless charging
• No 1080p video recording at 60fps
• Latin America gets the LG G5 with a Snapdragon 652 and not the top-of-the-line S820 chipset

Now, the first thing that got scrapped right at the drawing board must've been water proofing. If it ever was on the cards to begin with - after all, LG isn't known for water-tight flagships, is it? Anyway, the Magic Slot pushed it off the agenda altogether.

As for the Magic Slot itself, what good it is to you depends on how much you're willing to spend on add-ons. Even if it's only for the access to the battery, it's good enough by our books. Yet, we can see how some users may be alienated by the idea of detachable bits exposing the innards. Habit is a big thing and the industry has gone a long way now in exactly the opposite direction.

The metal chassis, on the other hand, stands in the way of wireless charging - but probably hasn't ruled it out entirely. It may as well be another use of the Magic Slot down the road.