Flashback: LG G5 tried to impress the crowd with its magic slot machine, but failed

A few years ago, we reviewed the best LG phones and called the LG G5 “the most ambitious LG phone ever”. We’re sticking with that – the phone brought some features that made a big impact on the market and some it didn’t, not even on LG’s own range.

The G5 was the first phone with a proper dual camera, at least as we understand it today – not one 3D camera like the Optimus 3D, no depth sensor, but two camera modules with different focal lengths.

The LG G5 was a bold and innovative phone that failed to catch on in the market.

You could say the LG V10 had a combo of wide and ultra-wide cameras the year before and that. However, they were up front, which made them less useful – more about the V10 in its own Flashback.

The LG G5 had a 16MP primary camera with a 26mm lens (1/2.6″ sensor). This module featured optical image stabilization (OIS) and was aided by the focus system automatic laser, something LG was pushing heavily at the time.

The ultrawide was stunning – its 9mm lens is wider than most ultrawide smartphone cameras you’ll still find today. The 8MP resolution (1/3.6″ sensor) wasn’t enough to cover the 135° field of view (FoV), but it was definitely one of the standout cameras of 2016. Even today , some phones only go up to 105° and it’s noticeable.

Here is a comparison of the FoV of the main and ultrawide cameras.

As for the front camera, it was a single 8-megapixel unit on the top bezel – LG didn’t repeat the crazy dual-camera, second-screen design of the V10 from a few months earlier.

The company also ditched its signature design quirk of placing the volume rocker on the back, something it had done since the G2. However, LG was still trying to shake up the world of smartphone design, which was settling into a boring routine.

The LG G5 was actually a modular phone. It didn’t have the goofy patchwork design of Google’s Project Ara, but instead took a more hands-on approach. The bottom was removable (which also removed the battery, making it easy to replace). It was the so-called magic slot machine.

The idea was that this lower segment could be replaced by various modules. At launch, these included the LG Cam Plus, a camera grip with an additional 1200mAh battery, and hardware camera controls (shutter key, camcorder button, zoom and an on/off toggle).

LG Cam Plus module for the LG G5

Another module increased the already good audio capabilities of the phone. The LG Hi-Fi Plus was branded “B&O Play” because it had a Bang & Olufsen DAC, as well as a more powerful speaker. What’s cool is that it could also work as a standard USB DAC and AMP for PCs and other Android phones.

LG Hi-Fi Plus for the LG G5 (and other phones too)

For more details, see our LG G5 Friends article from the era. LG was also experimenting with 360° cameras and VR headsets, it was a fun time in smartphone history.

The Magic Slot design meant the G5 was not water resistant like other flagships of the time and the relatively small 2800mAh battery only offered average endurance. On the plus side, it supports 18W fast charging and, of course, you can carry a spare battery. Or there could have been a drum module, something with a little more juice than the Cam Plus accessory (no such module was ever released though).

Modularity aside, the LG G5 represented a game changer for the company. The G5 ditched the large 5.5-inch screen of the G3 and G4 and went with a smaller 5.3-inch panel. The phone’s body was made from an aluminum alloy, although the so-called “microdizing” process left the exterior with an odd finish that didn’t feel like metal.

LG G5 flanked by Galaxy S7 and LG G4

A few months after unveiling its flagship at MWC, LG launched a cheaper version for South America and China dubbed the LG G5 SE.

The original G5 was powered by the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm’s flagship chip at the time. The SE moved to the Snapdragon 652, an older 28mm part. LG also trimmed a GB of RAM, leaving the SE with 3GB, and the 32GB UFS 2.0 storage was replaced with an eMMC 5.1 drive of the same capacity.

The cameras have also been changed, the 16MP main module has an even narrower lens (29mm vs. 26mm), the ultrawide has also become narrower (at 12mm it was still quite wide even according to the current standards, but still).

For what it’s worth, the G5 SE also featured the Magic Slot design, LG was trying to build a modular ecosystem around it. Well, he didn’t try too hard, there was no Magic Slot on the V20 which was launched later the same year and none on the LG G6 either. In addition, the company has given up on launching new modules.

As innovative as the LG G5 is, its legacy isn’t stellar. If you’ve followed the smartphone market over the past few years, you know the struggles of the business. In the quarter after the G5 launched, LG had to lower its shipment target from 16.5 million to 15 million phones and the underperforming G5 was blamed for that. Estimates for the flagship were initially 3–3.5 million units, which were revised down to 2.5 million.

LG was already on a downward trajectory, the previous year’s LG G4 also underperformed, so it fell short of the ambitious 12 million sales target. LG also posted a loss in the second quarter of 2015, with the blame falling on the G4.

The company spent years and millions of dollars trying to regain popularity, but despite bold and innovative designs, sales continued to decline and losses continued to mount. Eventually, it exited the smartphone market in 2021.