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LG G5 Unveiled: 5.3" QHD Display, Snapdragon 820, Modular Magic Slot Expansion (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: Rather than just bring another smartphone update with the typical yearly iterative tweaks, the folks at LG have really done something transformative with their next generation G5 flagship smartphone. The aluminum unibody construction of the G5 brings with it a 5.3-inch QHD display, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor that is paired with 4GB of RAM. 32GB of internal storage is standard but there is a microSD card slot to allow for up to 2TB of expanded storage. On the rear, you'll find a fingerprint scanner and two cameras, a standard 16MP sensor and a 135-degree wide angle 8MP sensor. In addition, LG has included a USB-C port and removable 2800mAh battery. That's all rather routine stuff; what's truly innovative about the G5 is its Magic Slot, which brings a new modular twist to the Android platform. Pressing a key on the side of the G5 will eject its bottom section, which will also allow you to remove the battery. Then you can proceed to attach new modules, like the LG Cam Plus. The LG Cam Plus adds a camera grip to your G5 along with a dedicated camera button and a jog wheel for zooming. The module also boosts the battery capacity from 2800mAh to 4000mAh. The second module is the LG Hi-Plus, which brings with it an external 32-bit DAC and amplifier. This particular module was developed in conjunction with Bang and Olufsen and comes with a pair of H3 headphones that support native (Direct Stream Digital) DSD playback.
Yes, it's why I bought the LG G4 when my Galaxy S3 died. I won't buy a phone without a removable battery and microSD slot, it's planned obsolescence. FWIW, the G4 also supports a 2TB expansion slot.
I don't replace my phone every 1.5 years, having a removable battery is a very important feature to me.
The one I'm using now cost $30. I don't mean "$30 plus a two year contract", I mean that was the contractless cost of it. That's roughly what I paid for my last featurephone.
One thing I've learned from the experience is that a cheap phone is generally going to be better than a hipster phone. The cheap phone will have buttons on it, something hipsters demand be removed on your $300-600 models because they, uh, destroy the fine lines of the phone or something? The cheap phone will have an SD card slot because it knows it doesn't come with enough memory, the hipster phone will assume 16Gb is enough for anyone. The cheap phone will have a long life removable battery because they're trying to sell to people with "You'll find this useful, and it's cheap!" rather than "This is the most exotic thing you will buy for three months, after which you'll throw it away and spend $300-600 on the next model."
Weird, and not what I was expecting. And yeah, I like it and think it was totally worth $30.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.