LG phones often play it safe, but this modular G5, which lets you swap
out some parts, is all risk. I love the innovation -- no other company
has gotten this far with a modular phone -- but unfortunately the device
falls short on execution.
Swapping out parts means you turn
off your smartphone each time, and there just aren't enough modules
right now to make this truly captivating. (LG is selling two components,
but they don't pique my interest all that much.) Maybe if there were
more inspired modules, and more partners on board lining up cooler
add-ons -- I love the idea of a swappable camera lens, for example -- I
could be more excited about the G5, or at least more forgiving of its
growing pains.
But it's not all bad news. Forget the modules
and the device is the best handset with a removable battery, which is
becoming a rarity in the phone world. Its aluminium build looks and
feels great, and the two cameras on its back are a pleasure to use.
Overall, the G5 still isn't as good as Samsung's Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
when it comes to processing speed and battery life, but it'll work very
well for all the things you really need to do: take photos, browse the
internet, and watch videos throughout the day.
Design: This is not your modular fantasy
When LG first
showed off the G5, it made a big deal of it being the first phone with
modular capabilities. This ability to swap out and customize certain
hardware parts has been a longtime fantasy for mobile users. Like
building a personal computer, you can upgrade certain components that
are important to you or fit a certain need. If you're going somewhere
where you're going to take a variety of photos, for example, you might
want to swap out your handset's stock lens for a fisheye or macro lens.
To use the feature, you'll need to push the small button on the
device's left edge. The bottom of the G5 will pop out, allowing you to
yank the attachment off the battery, clip the battery into the new
module and push it all back together. Because the battery is attached to
the bezel, the handset powers down every time you swap something out.
This isn't a huge deal, but it takes time to fire up the phone after a
switch, and if you swap parts often throughout the day it can be a power
drain.
Google attempted to make a modular handset with its Project Ara,
but development on that stalled. The fact that LG got this off the
ground is a win, but the feature is limited for now because there are
only two accessories (so far) that take advantage of it.
One is called the Cam Plus.
It's a camera grip that has a physical shutter button to record and
capture video, and a zooming wheel. It also has a built-in battery,
which you can use on top of the phone's battery for extra juice. The
other accessory is the Hi-Fi Plus,
a portable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that boosts audio playback
for high-definition sound files. Because the Hi-Fi Plus includes an
audio grill, a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack, you can leave it attached to your G5 and use it all the time.
Swapping out the bottom bezel was a bit difficult at first. The
pieces fit tightly, and the unlock button that lets you to detach the
chin lies flush with the surface of the device, so I had to dig my nail
in to press it. After a while, I got the hang of it and got faster at
swapping the parts out. That doesn't mean I ever got to the point where
I could walk around, stop and switch out the bezel casually. There's
still some wrangling involved, and due to the sheer fear that I'd
accidentally fling the top part of the handset across the room when I
pulled out the chin, I felt compelled to find a place to sit down to
switch out the parts.
With these two official add-ons and no plans to make more, LG will
need to rely on third-party developers to expand the usefulness of the
phone's current modular features. As a top-tier handset in and of
itself, the G5 is a great device. But solely in terms of modularity, it
has a ways to go.
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