LG’s flagships smartphones have always shied away from employing “premium” build materials, with their recent LG G4 offered in plastic with a variety of customisable options including a leather back. Now though, rumour has it that LG have finally decided to go with the flow and follow other major manufacturers with a metal unibody for their upcoming LG G5, and we all know what a metal unibody probably means: no removable battery.
While initially seeming adamant to stay away from metal bodies, LG finally caved with the LG V10, which features a ‘DuraGuard’ stainless steel frame, designed to better protect the phone’s internals on impact. It seems that the success of its competitors and the demand for premium metal builds was too tempting to give up and so recent rumours suggest that we could see a premium feeling metal LG G5 coming next year.
However, switching over to a metal unibody would probably mean that LG are ditching the removable back and battery that have been present in most of their recent smartphones, including the LG G3, G4, and even the “extra-premium” LG V10. Many of the big players in the smartphone industry have moved away from phones with removable backs and removable batteries, leaving LG as the only relatively well-known smartphone manufacturer to have this feature.
Ditching one of their, frankly key, features could cause users who prioritise this feature to now have to look elsewhere, which is something LG would rather avoid, considering their already small market share.
Rumours also indicate that we could see it as early as Q1 of 2016, around the same time as Samsung’s Galaxy S7. Reports suggest that availability of the G5 should come not long after its announcement.
Since we’re on the topic of rumours, the G5 was also rumoured to feature a brand new 20-megapixel Sony camera sensor designed specifically for LG, touting a half inch diagonal sensor. It is also rumoured to come powered by Qualcomm’s latest and greatest processor, likely the Snapdragon 820.
Although the G5’s build material is based off of one report and at this point could still be up in the air, it doesn’t seem too implausible or unreasonable considering the success of other smartphone giants and their premium flagships.
