LG G5 Review - Battery life and verdict Review

LG G5 – Battery Life

2,800mAh (removable), Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, USB Type-C

The battery life on the LG G5 is good. Not phablet good, but it managed to easily last the day with about 10% remaining when I plugged it in before bed.

The 2,800mAh battery isn’t the biggest on the market; it’s beaten by the Galaxy S7 and the HTC 10, which both boast 3,000mAh units. It is removable, however, so you could throw a spare into your bag to double your running time.

Over the course of a week I managed about three hours screen-on time per day, which is about the same as the HTC 10. Sixty minutes of streaming Spotify takes about 4-5%, while watching an hour-long HD TV episode on either Netflix or BBC iPlayer with auto-brightness enabled chews through 8-10%.

Standby time is fantastic – leaving the phone unplugged overnight only saw a drop of around 3%.

The G5 is Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0-enabled too; the S7 is stuck on Quick Charge 2.0. However, LG doesn’t supply a charger to take advantage of this boost – it includes only a regular 2.0 one.

Regardless, the battery powers up pretty swiftly. You’ll get a full charge in about an hour, and 60% in half that. One I’ve used Quick Charge tech, I struggle to go back to a phone without it.

LG is also using a USB Type-C port, rather than the more standard micro-USB. It’s reversible, meaning it’s possible to plug in the cable either way – which is the future.

Once it’s more widely adopted, it will allow you to power your laptop, phone and tablet, meaning you’ll need only one cable for all your devices.

Should I buy the LG G5?

The LG G5 is a really good phone, but in a year of really great phones it can’t quite match the impressive standard set the by the HTC 10 and Samsung Galaxy S7.

It shares many of the same components – fantastic screen and high-end internals, plus a camera that tries to do something a little different. Then there the “mostly”exciting prospect of the modular Friends, too.

However, the G5 feels a little cheap compared to other flagship handsets and LG’s software remains on the “less attractive side”.

There are questions, too, over how well these modules will actually work and whether anyone will bother making them. A greater number of modules on the market will make this a more enticing phone, but whether or not third-party companies will take the step to produce “Friends” for the G5 remains up in the air.

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Verdict

LG hasn’t done enough with the G5 to increase my desire for a modular phone. Combine this with the disappointing build and you have a phone that isgreat in many areas, but misses the mark overall.

Trusted Score