The LG G5 may soon land in the hands of the lucky few who managed to pre-order it, even though it isn’t officially supposed to be on sale until April 1st. That’s because reports online suggest that AT&T has already started to ship out the devices, which are expected to reach their destinations as early as Wednesday, March 30th. The report also claims that customers who have pre-ordered the device on AT&T should start seeing shipping notifications soon, if they haven’t already. What all that means is that the first few unboxing and hands-on reviews of the retail boxed units will quite possibly be available online sooner rather than later.
AT&T started taking pre-orders for the LG G5 last week at its retail stores as well as on its website. The pre-order period will remain open until Thursday, March 31st, while general availability is expected to start on the 1st of next month in the US. The carrier is also offering a BOGO (Buy One Get One) deal to all its subscribers who choose to buy the handset. Those wanting to take the carrier up on its offer can order two units of the LG G5 and get overall bill credits worth up to $689 over a 24-month period, making the second device free for all practical purposes. The scheme, however is only valid for those on AT&T Next 24 with qualified data plans like Mobile Share Value. What’s more, AT&T has said that its customers will also be able to watch television programs on the LG G5 through the DirecTV app.
The LG G5 was introduced by the South Korean consumer electronics company at the Mobile World Congress trade show last month in Barcelona, Spain. The device is the very first modular smartphone from a mainstream manufacturer, and comes with high-end hardware. What’s important to note, however is that it comes in two different versions – while the U.S.-spec model is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset and carries 4 GB of RAM, the variant meant for Latin America and China is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 SoC and carries just 3 GB of RAM. Both versions, however, feature 5.3-inch QHD display panels and sport dual cameras on the back.