LG is one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world. This Korea-based company has introduced their new flagship, the LG G5, during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona last month. LG was actually joined by Samsung and Xiaomi, as those two companies have also rolled out their new flagship offerings. As you all know, the LG G5 is expected to go on sale in the US tomorrow, but it is already available for purchase in LG’s homeland, South Korea.
LG has opted to release their all-new flagship in Korea one day before it launches in the States. The LG G5 costs 836,000 won ($730) in South Korea (contract free), which is actually a price comparable to Samsung’s Galaxy S7 handset in South Korea. The device is now available through SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus in Korea. Now, interestingly enough, LG’s flagships were usually somewhat more affordable than Samsung’s, but this time around LG has decided to level the playing field in the price department. The company is also selling ‘LG Friends’, which are actually the LG G5 modules which were announced alongside the device. If you’re interested in purchasing either of these modules, you’ll have to spend around $100 for each of them, they’re similarly priced, at least in Korea. Various on-contract plans are available through Korea’s carriers as well, of course, so you can essentially lower LG G5’s price to 530,000 won ($460) if you sign a two-year contract. So, the device is now available in South Korea, it will be available in the US tomorrow, but what about other markets? Well, according to LG’s spokesman, the device will be available in other markets by the end of April.
The LG G5 features a 5.3-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) IPS LCD display, along with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable internal storage. The device is fueled by the Snapdragon 820 64-bit quad-core processor, along with the Adreno 530 GPU. The 16+8MP setup is available on the back of the device, and below the two camera sensors you’ll notice the power / lock key which doubles as a fingerprint scanner. The 2,800mAh battery is also a part of this package, and Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow comes out of the box with LG’s UX 5.0 UI. The G5 measures 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7mm, while it weighs 159 grams.
