LG has officially unveiled their newest flagship Android handset, and in addition to high-end specs the G5 features a unique modular construction.

The LG G5

The G5 is powered by the new Snapdragon 820 SoC, and offers a 5.3-inch, 2560×1440 IPS display (making slightly smaller than the earlier G4, which was a 5.5-inch device with the same resolution). And while the G5 looks every bit a sleek Android flagship, there’s more going on here than the typical sealed handset. LG has implemented a modular design, where optional components can be added from a port on the bottom of the phone.

The LG Cam Plus (left) and Hi-Fi Plus (right)

The first of two announced modules is the LG Cam Plus, which is a camera grip that also adds 1200 mAh to the battery capacity (for a total of 4000 mAh). The second is the LG Hi-Fi Plus, which adds a high-resolution DAC and headphone amp to the phone. The headphone amp is “tuned by B&O”, and the DAC supports up to 32-bit / 384 kHz. The Hi-Fi Plus can also be used as a standalone USB device.

(Image via Android Police)

One of the features that had leaked ahead of the announcement was an always-on display, leading to speculation about the use of an OLED panel. But this is LG we are talking about, and they have implemented a high-DPI (554) IPS display instead. So how does this always-on display feature avoid aggressively draining your battery? The post from ComputerBase offers this analysis:

“Instead, the company opted for an optimization of display drivers and power management in order to realize the permanent display of notifications, time, date and other information on the large main screen. The adjustments for example it is possible to limit the backlight to a part of the screen. According to LG, the activated always-on function consumes thanks to the optimizations per hour 0.8 percent of the battery charge.”

Specs via Android Central:

  • Display: 5.3-inch IPS quad-HD quantum display (2560×1440, 554 dpi)
  • Processor: Snapdragon 820
  • Storage: 32GB UFS ROM, microSD up to 2TB
  • RAM: 4GB LPDDR4
  • Rear camera: 16MP main, 8MP wide-angle (135 degrees)
  • Front camera: 8MP
  • Battery: 2800 mAh removable
  • Modules: LG Cam Plus (camera grip with 1100 mAh), LG Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play
  • Dimensions: 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7mm
  • Weight: 159 grams
  • Networks: LTE/3G/2G
  • Connectivity: Wifi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, USB Type C, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2
  • Colors: Silver/Titan/Gold/Pink
  • Operating system: Android 6.0.1

There were three additional accessories announced with the phone: The 360 VR (a VR headset) 360 CAM (for creating 360-degree movies and photos) and something called the Rolling Bot (a Wi-Fi connected sphere equipped with a camera, mic, and speaker).

Ryan had hands-on time with the G5 from LG's booth at MWC 2016:

No specific pricing or release date have been announced yet, but we should know more next month when LG is expected to provide more release details.