It’s an undeniably sleeker phone than the G4 (that we never got our hands on), not to mention a better-feeling one in the hand. Rather than plastic, LG has opted for metal for the 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm, 159 gram body, cooking up its own “Microdizing” process which effectively paints the shell to cover the necessary plastic antenna patches on the rear. On the front, a sheet of slightly curved toughened glass covers a 5.3-inch Quad HD Quantum IPS LCD touchscreen, with an always-on portion showing time and notifications.

That’s fairly easy to do on an AMOLED panel, where you can selectively power up a section of the screen, but traditionally far too wasteful of power to do on an LCD. LG, though, borrowed from the process of local dimming on its TVs, and now can partially light up a chunk of the G5’s panel. It automatically adjusts brightness, but only consumes what LG says is around 0.8-percent of the total battery capacity per hour: less, so the argument goes, than you’d waste turning the display on and off multiple times through the day just to check the time and for missed notifications.

[frame src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DbbyGbLD4DTYk90JnWCBPbJ-G0APQJ2gORzjbK7xrrU6WLMjU4SN7i-XUXXamT93ebi8-Yr-Rfcx04uRdvuHP_XxyY1sUIRcWq9Uu8vPsNXq7fMVegwP08RrqDPTNAeRnoYZGl5y5kK3DFqyhwI1jstHMk5bgIO3fTaIBP1jKgwarjwDm17KjM90lWGG3_r2urnwZqDRz7RSfOxUdtVmPkXN6XyLhwYHgATlxW17octB6a6MP7KRLG42cdxRuWr9Vhsnp5P4gE8NmbIWr862jI2GDe8jRD9LsFwrIPv-efs-7DoNZnIpAD8avtyFdXd8vvk8lX1LAg0vOhr9oN1_wRWEJYvLtszjLCReITHgC6kouAFV9x1ArNWX8icvHCR52uI6-rd4f-TY9UAgmZxCvUzfpKrd0ucu_8XcyvOXHzU1ZyO8SXspj8Xm4aW5iQu_WoFtA10LKZLtRp5_ni7y6ZRfHNhcq6mwYhDYtV0EUyEhuKofckiGe8Mh6_axuycUE25mggd8bNqCVsiKpwAFgSzrBSnP3btPHaU3r2hkBDp2xESg30YSn2mbwayMVpCdqgH3rFJJnQWUOMYagrDlSJMKCIP_qiE=w687-h667-no” link=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DbbyGbLD4DTYk90JnWCBPbJ-G0APQJ2gORzjbK7xrrU6WLMjU4SN7i-XUXXamT93ebi8-Yr-Rfcx04uRdvuHP_XxyY1sUIRcWq9Uu8vPsNXq7fMVegwP08RrqDPTNAeRnoYZGl5y5kK3DFqyhwI1jstHMk5bgIO3fTaIBP1jKgwarjwDm17KjM90lWGG3_r2urnwZqDRz7RSfOxUdtVmPkXN6XyLhwYHgATlxW17octB6a6MP7KRLG42cdxRuWr9Vhsnp5P4gE8NmbIWr862jI2GDe8jRD9LsFwrIPv-efs-7DoNZnIpAD8avtyFdXd8vvk8lX1LAg0vOhr9oN1_wRWEJYvLtszjLCReITHgC6kouAFV9x1ArNWX8icvHCR52uI6-rd4f-TY9UAgmZxCvUzfpKrd0ucu_8XcyvOXHzU1ZyO8SXspj8Xm4aW5iQu_WoFtA10LKZLtRp5_ni7y6ZRfHNhcq6mwYhDYtV0EUyEhuKofckiGe8Mh6_axuycUE25mggd8bNqCVsiKpwAFgSzrBSnP3btPHaU3r2hkBDp2xESg30YSn2mbwayMVpCdqgH3rFJJnQWUOMYagrDlSJMKCIP_qiE=w687-h667-no” target=”_self” width=”300″ height=”300″ alt=”Premium WordPress Themes” align=”left” prettyphoto=”false”]

[quote_left] LG refuses to give up on removable storage or user-swappable batteries[/quote_left]

Inside, there’s Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, paired with 4GB of LPDDR memory and 32GB of storage. LG refuses to give up on removable storage or user-swappable batteries – increasingly a rarity in the smartphone space – and the G5 offers both, with the ability to slot in up to a 200GB microSD card. On the bottom edge there’s a USB-C port, while on the back there’s a circular power/lock button with an integrated fingerprint sensor. Rather than flank it with the volume keys, LG has moved those to the edge of the phone.

[frame src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d9LPh637eY6dIbZr017H5_Oh9FPur_5auha-iaV1NqKydtWCSOcsbZz_dotVGy5NS6NoiC0cm8haTZojKgkxeZbQiBvuQx4Rsm-8jFSzX4RbarljySfqjE-GNv2vEy8j5jbXtsQwpUTx8QXZ3XhzKXxCS1QMk36HdXJLNFf_UnaLoFdX7eokInYgmptlJiwO86DPfvN1K04ds-t6SmfHGbLHqTJ5X5NGucC7tREGnKFPpHawlKgfLM9sGrs1xipwo7dlSdwGXHvF1la9-JCmdtvTgoVqBv23DOUdqYOLcUkJpmvcVsX5N_nQVeAOJXvtdCdXVm5Xb_zleKSB3MBgN9j_cQVNPcYCv-imO0csXWz1rzGk1L0CdZwLxDWa36T1F4ON7tFdIwaClpeYDr8pA9yef7LC7op6zVrzQqIf0t2E2rtlyZABQo28qKTQ-Zl4jJyN3LRvHPm4z965fvzD4h3zdIyQkQWeh4sPWMJYHENWXFzwWWPiS_AOL-FZzA7lLl-ZLjALYdmrUb0OI_ygj3YqDlRizN0kZ9W7gdvGwjYUmZdvWFPQM8iJoTTxjs81-liVQ1Y-wQRTbGfwIYHt1njY5Wmy3Vw=w1266-h623-no” link=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d9LPh637eY6dIbZr017H5_Oh9FPur_5auha-iaV1NqKydtWCSOcsbZz_dotVGy5NS6NoiC0cm8haTZojKgkxeZbQiBvuQx4Rsm-8jFSzX4RbarljySfqjE-GNv2vEy8j5jbXtsQwpUTx8QXZ3XhzKXxCS1QMk36HdXJLNFf_UnaLoFdX7eokInYgmptlJiwO86DPfvN1K04ds-t6SmfHGbLHqTJ5X5NGucC7tREGnKFPpHawlKgfLM9sGrs1xipwo7dlSdwGXHvF1la9-JCmdtvTgoVqBv23DOUdqYOLcUkJpmvcVsX5N_nQVeAOJXvtdCdXVm5Xb_zleKSB3MBgN9j_cQVNPcYCv-imO0csXWz1rzGk1L0CdZwLxDWa36T1F4ON7tFdIwaClpeYDr8pA9yef7LC7op6zVrzQqIf0t2E2rtlyZABQo28qKTQ-Zl4jJyN3LRvHPm4z965fvzD4h3zdIyQkQWeh4sPWMJYHENWXFzwWWPiS_AOL-FZzA7lLl-ZLjALYdmrUb0OI_ygj3YqDlRizN0kZ9W7gdvGwjYUmZdvWFPQM8iJoTTxjs81-liVQ1Y-wQRTbGfwIYHt1njY5Wmy3Vw=w1266-h623-no” target=”_self” width=”” height=”” alt=”Premium WordPress Themes” align=”center” prettyphoto=”false”]

Twin cameras are on the rear, a 16-megapixel sensor with a 70-degree lens, and an 8-megapixel camera with a wide-angle 135-degree lens. The revamped camera app automatically switches between them as you zoom in and out, or you can do more creative shots by combining the images from both. An 8-megapixel camera on the front handles selfies.

What makes the G5 particularly interesting is its modularity. Press a button on the bottom left edge of the phone and you can snap off the lower panel, which draws out complete with the 2,800 mAh battery. In its place, you can slot a variety of different pieces – LG calls them “Friends of G5” and gives them, for reasons unclear, a cat-wearing-sunglasses logo – bringing alternative functionality. These add-ons will be made available later in the next month. 

[frame src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/WrNkqcPQpV_HrHBAIhZIhBTppKGGf977CZkA4FBMuYJwIlKFW64STw0g9vXOJydN_ABccVhR5jzshV9gBFB1_50ItH3HTfr12kF3dAOnidmKRIjTX_L2mck33yY0W8rqSufW9MwhFY_A4BPlUZuKhLXxbPHw2p98Gjg41DEUV2u0AIhSOkIT_j1QTzKC45i8M3GV8lvtP1TO4olS2FnLfY7j6zNSMtjdJnUA7nBYxlbl5GuhCpdVjkp_hFd8mHTeer0eKhD2uV3JVADHCpMPXo85u5MDDQtbca7cws4hE9HKFZnb3tuSX7PQ30-fK3TtSPZOf2DRmsMXRIGFlcILmT0UPOGUt5b_eOx_nBp37JGx4MzRUSFlo3ds6B1MBh5Ymdw1iSeXi0esX2FZc-bhowTFo8nOti0RlWw81xxrsD8jiRl5-SNuDtP-s2lmD4_8fH9oBo-3WbVqUvV_kd5A9seufP5hdNcNJPkiGQ6qgTO5FneCrXV2Z5zm1wCDwmc1dkAtFOwdnqHzrm6VvehSIdOng9ea2vSGp-DK7IGAS7R9TkJGaJcYOwGoDcylYwe01cSOxGIWVi2bijHBVvAl_hQa56HkUic=w1325-h623-no” link=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/WrNkqcPQpV_HrHBAIhZIhBTppKGGf977CZkA4FBMuYJwIlKFW64STw0g9vXOJydN_ABccVhR5jzshV9gBFB1_50ItH3HTfr12kF3dAOnidmKRIjTX_L2mck33yY0W8rqSufW9MwhFY_A4BPlUZuKhLXxbPHw2p98Gjg41DEUV2u0AIhSOkIT_j1QTzKC45i8M3GV8lvtP1TO4olS2FnLfY7j6zNSMtjdJnUA7nBYxlbl5GuhCpdVjkp_hFd8mHTeer0eKhD2uV3JVADHCpMPXo85u5MDDQtbca7cws4hE9HKFZnb3tuSX7PQ30-fK3TtSPZOf2DRmsMXRIGFlcILmT0UPOGUt5b_eOx_nBp37JGx4MzRUSFlo3ds6B1MBh5Ymdw1iSeXi0esX2FZc-bhowTFo8nOti0RlWw81xxrsD8jiRl5-SNuDtP-s2lmD4_8fH9oBo-3WbVqUvV_kd5A9seufP5hdNcNJPkiGQ6qgTO5FneCrXV2Z5zm1wCDwmc1dkAtFOwdnqHzrm6VvehSIdOng9ea2vSGp-DK7IGAS7R9TkJGaJcYOwGoDcylYwe01cSOxGIWVi2bijHBVvAl_hQa56HkUic=w1325-h623-no” target=”_self” width=”” height=”” alt=”Premium WordPress Themes” align=”center” prettyphoto=”false”]

Now, while it’s not as wide-ranging in its interchangeability as, say, Google’s Project Ara, the G5 does have the advantage of actually being market-ready.

As devices go, though, the G5 has a lot to recommend it off the bat. There are a couple of points which are likely to be mildly controversial – there’s no wireless charging, for instance, and LG’s UX 5.0 has done away with the app drawer – but for the most part fans of the company’s phones are likely to appreciate the better-quality feel and swifter components.

The G5 is offered in four finishes – titan gray, silver, gold, and pink – with pricing for it, and the “friends” accessories that it can be paired with, to be released later in June. You can purchase the LG G5 for R11 799 at major retailers. 

The G4 Stylus is simply a budget option with a stylus, specifically LG’s own brand of “Rubberdium” Stylus that is simply its own take on the stubby capacitive poking instrument. The G4 Stylus is a phablet compared to the G4 itself, no doubt about that. But don’t go looking for QHD or even Full HD here. That 5.7-inch screen can only boast of HD resolutions.

The LG G4 Stylus is driven by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor in LTE variants, while 3G-only ones will get a faster 1.3 GHz octa-core. RAM is capped at 1 GB and storage at 8 GB, the latter expandable with a microSD card. Thankfully like the flagship, the 3,000 mAh battery is removable. The 13 megapixel rear camera (for the LTE version, the 3G model only has 8 MP) is at least interesting thanks to the Laser Autofocus system that LG debuted in the LG G3. The 5 megapixels on the front camera will surely appeal to selfie lovers. Android 5.0 comes out of the box, along with a host of LG’s custom User Experience features. It is available come this weekend, at approximately R3999 at leading retailers and network providers.

Both Vodacom and MTN announced last week that it would start selling the G4 on June 5th Metallic Gray and Leather Black. They’re mum on their prices. What does opening up your wallet to any of these carriers get you? On top of the aforementioned expandable storage, there’s great battery life, a 5.5-inch vibrant IPS Quantum display, capable 16-megapixel camera and more.

Besides, several Korean publications already revealed that LG will launch the G4 by the end of April. Some of those publications also claimed that the phone will have a 5-inch curved Quad HD display, but there’s probably no use speculating if that’s true or not when we’re this near to seeing the real thing. The South Korean company will hold an event in New York and other locations around the globe (New York, London, Seoul, Singapore and Istanbul), and, God willingly the PR will be on our side, we’ll be live tweeting from the event. Heck, we might even live stream it here.