LG G4 Vs LG G5 Comparison - Tech Advisor

Prior to the LG G5’s launch at MWC, the rumour mill went into overdrive and produced some scarcely believable rumblings about add-on accessories which would upgrade the flagship phone in various ways. Amazingly virtually every rumour turned out to be true, which makes for a very interesting phone indeed. But how does it compare to its predecessor, the widely acclaimed LG G4? Here’s what you need to know. For more, see our LG G5 review.

See also: Samsung Galaxy S7 release date, price, specs

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LG G4 vs LG G5: Key specifications and features

Both phones are a similar size, yet the G5’s screen is slightly smaller – 5.3in vs 5.5in. There is of course an upgraded processor and GPU, plus an extra gigabyte of RAM. There’s also now a USB-C connector and dual rear cameras.

The slightly smaller battery is a concern: the G5 will be faster than the G4 but may not last as long between charges. LG appears to be countering this with a secondary battery in certain plug-in accessories such as the camera grip which brings the total to 4000mAh. We’ll wait until we have properly tested the G5 before giving our verdict on the new phone though.

One thing’s for sure: the G5 is one of the most exciting new phones of 2016.

LG G5 (H850)	LG G4 (H815)
Operating system (at launch)	Android 6.0 Marshmallow with UX 5.0	Android 5.1 Lollipop with UX 4.0
Screen	5.3in Quad HD IPS screen (1440×2560, 554ppi)	5.5in Quad HD IPS screen (1440×2560, 538ppi)
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, quad-core	Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, octa-core
GPU	Adreno 530	Adreno 418
RAM	4GB	3GB
Storage	32GB	32GB
Expansion	Micro-SD card slot (up to 200GB)	Micro-SD card slot (up to 128GB)
Main camera	Dual-rear cameras (16Mp 78 degree and 8Mp 135 degree) with OIS and laser auto focus	16Mp with OIS and laser auto focus
Front camera	8Mp front camera	8Mp
Wi-Fi	802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi	802.1111ac dual-band Wi-Fi
Other connectivity	Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC, Infrared	Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, NFC, Infrared
Extras	Fingerprint scanner, accessory slot	FM radio
Mobile	Cat 9 4G LTE	Cat 6 4G LTE
SIM	TBC	Micro-SIM
Battery	2800mAh removable	3000mAh removable
Charge/sync	USB Type-C	MicroUSB (SlimPort 4K), QuickCharge 2.0, Qi wireless charging
Dimensions	149x74x7.7mm, 159g	149x76x6.3-9.8mm, 155g

LG G4 vs LG G5: Accessory slot

The highlight is of course the new accessory slot. This is a good forward step towards a fully modular phone, something which Google has been working on with Project Ara, as has Phonebloks

This allows you to upgrade the G5 with better audio, a camera grip (which adds camera-specific controls and an extra battery) or a DAC – a digital to analogue convertor which improves the sound quality out of the headphone jack. There’s sure to be more accessories launching over the next few months, too.

While the G4 has a removable battery and a microSD slot, it has nothing like the G5’s accessory slot.

LG G4 vs LG G5: Cameras

On the G5, it has a 16Mp rear camera like the G4. But in addition it has an 8Mp, 135 degree wide-angle lens. This gives a fisheye view similar to a GoPro action cam that captures more of the scene when you can’t physically move further back.

The dual cameras also let you take a standard and wide-angle photo at the same time. You can then combine these with various effects afterwards, if you want to.

LG G4 vs LG G5: Screen

On paper, it looks like LG has just reduced the G4’s screen by 0.2 inches and kept the same Quad-HD resolution of 2560×1440. However, the changes go a lot deeper.

For a start, a portion of it is always on. Despite being an IPS screen rather than AMOLED, LG has developed new screen tech so that it can run a segment of the backlight at a low level which allows the time, date and notifications to be shown on screen all the time so you don’t have to wake the phone.

If you buy LG’s official cover (or one of the expected third-party options with a hole in the right place) you’ll be able to see this info even when the screen is covered up.

The backlight is also capable – LG says – of 800 nits. This is great for framing photos (or simply reading an email) when it’s bright and sunny outdoors.

LG G4 vs LG G5: Fingerprint scanner

Gone is the G4’s unusual power and volume button arrangement from the back of the phone. In its place on the G5 is a fingerprint reader. This may seem an odd location, but we’ve used this on several Huawei phones and know that it’s actually very ergonomic. And, just for the sake of clarity, the G4 didn’t have a fingerprint scanner:

The volume buttons are on the side, as you’d expect, and the headphone jack is on the top edge.

LG G4 vs LG G5: Metal body

The G5’s design is also quite a departure from the G4’s which was very similar to the G3. Instead of a removable rear cover, the G5 has a metal unibody. But unlike most unibody phones, the battery is removable: it slides out of the bottom when the lower panel is removed.

The battery itself has dropped in capacity by 200mAh. While that may be a disappointment to some, the better efficiency of the Snapdragon 820 should negate this and mean the G5 lasts as long as the G4. However, we’ll have to wait until we can run our battery tests before we can say this for sure.

LG G4 vs LG G5: Software

It goes without saying that the G5 gets the latest version of Android: Marshmallow. The G4 shipped with Lollipop but an upgrade to Marshmallow is on the cards if not available to install already.

The G5 gets a unique app, the Friends manager. This is a hub where you can manage accessories for the ‘magic slot’ plus those which connect wirelessly such as the 360 camera and those you connect via a wire – a USB cable in the case of the 360 VR headset.