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LG G5 smartphone: CNET Editors react
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We’ve long expected LG’s latest flagship phone would be making the rounds in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress. But here’s something we didn’t expect: The G5 modular, so you can pop the battery out of a compartment on the bottom end and slot in accessories.
LG’s G5 goes modular
Josh Miller/CNET
Tuck the Cam Plus into the bottom of LG’s G5, and you’ll outfit the phone with a dedicated shutter button, and a wheel that offers granular control while you’re zooming. Audiophiles might be more keen on the LG Hi-Fi Plus, a dedicated digital-to-analog audio converter designed in partnership with Bang and Olufsen.
The Hi-Fi Plus promises to soup up your listening experience by pumping out upsampled 24-bit/384kHz audio through the phone’s headphone jack and speaker. For the uninitiated, that means better sound than the MP3s you may be used to. There’s currently no word on a price for either one of these accessories.
A slightly different take on virtual reality
Sarah Tew/CNET
LG is getting in on the virtual reality game too. But the LG 360 VR headset is a bit different from mobile VR peers such as Google Cardboard or Samsung’s Gear VR. It’s all in the phone: Instead of tucking your device into a headset, you’ll just plug it in via USB-C. The downside, of course, is that you’ve got a cable to manage. But it also means that the headset packs its own displays, and can be exceptionally light and sleek. Better still, while the headset currently only works with the G5, it could potentially be opened up to support more USB-C devices in the future. This could give it a huge advantage over devices like the Gear VR, which can physically only accommodate select Samsung devices.
Rolling robots
Josh Miller/CNET
But never mind phones and phone accessories. Let’s talk robots, specifically, the pet-spooking, home monitoring LG Rolling Bot. You’ll use your phone to drive the robot, and it’ll scoot around your home feeding you audio and video of whatever it sees. Duck into pet mode, and you can chat through speakers and fire a laser pointer to keep your pets (or roommates) entertained. There are potentially hours of fun to be had here — and I imagine the security benefits could be useful, too.
And there’s more
- LG’s Tone Platinum headphones promise souped up audio
- LG’s new Universal Controller lets you fly Parrot Drones
- LG’s 360 Cam serves up spherical photos and video
