LG G5 review: inferior to Galaxy S7 in almost every way; modular design and accessories, wide-angle camera feel more like gimmicks than useful features
LG G5 Review: A Bit Of A Mess, Frankly — LG is a company whose smartphone products have gone from bottom of the barrel to highly competitive in under four years.
Context & Ripple Effects
LG came into the G5 on a hot streak: the G4 had already delivered a powerful camera, all-day battery, and a great display, capping a run that took the company from bottom of the barrel to highly competitive in under four years. February's launch doubled down on differentiation — an always-on QHD display, a secondary ultra-wide rear camera, and an expansion slot for plug-in modules.
This review is the verdict on that bet, and it lands badly: the G5 reads as inferior to Samsung's Galaxy S7 in almost every way, with the modular accessories and wide-angle camera dismissed as gimmicks rather than useful features. It matters because it marks the moment LG's momentum collided with its own design ambition.
First-order effects
- Samsung's Galaxy S7 becomes the default premium Android pick by direct comparison, while LG's module-and-accessory ecosystem is undercut at launch by the very coverage meant to sell it.
- The G5's headline specs — always-on display, ultra-wide second camera, swappable modules — fail to convert into purchase reasons against a rival that simply executes better.
Second-order effects
- LG reverses course within a year: the G6 abandons the modular direction and even the removable battery in favor of water resistance and one-handed ergonomics.
- Value-focused rivals gain an opening — the Moto G5 Plus wins budget praise for premium feel and solid performance despite its own camera and update shortcomings, competing on price where LG's flagship stumbles on polish.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, flagship differentiation shifts from bolt-on hardware novelties back to execution refinement — a trajectory LG itself completes with the V30, which reviewers call the phone the G6 should have been.
- The episode suggests reviewer tolerance for complex new form factors is thin: a single poorly received experiment can force a full design reset within one product cycle.
The trend: Smartphone flagships are learning that hardware gimmicks lose to refined execution, with LG's arc from the G4 through the V30 tracing the correction.