Flashback: LG G5 tried to wow the crowd with its Magic Slot, but failed

12 March 2023
The LG G5 was a unique modular phone that featured the first ultra wide camera pointed backwards, yet consumers largely ignored it.

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  • 13 Mar 2023

Anonymous, 12 Mar 2023S6 had heat issues tooS6's UI is definitely the best Samsung had so far. Only One UI's creators can dream about it lol

    Anonymous, 13 Mar 2023What ultimately ruined the G5 were the massive disapproval ... moreThat's why I have completely stopped watching and following popular sponsored sellouts on YouTube and all other social sites, particularly the likes of MKBHD and Mrwhosetheboss. I really can't take their so-called "credibility" seriously when other non-sponsored indie creators make way more thoroughly professional reviews than them. For them, it's rubbish if it isn't Samsung or Apple. I eventually learned the hard lesson that millions of subs don't equal great content.

      It's cool that GSMArena finally featured LG G5 for a flashback article. I still stand by my statement that the LG G5 is liks the PS Vita and Dreamcast of cell phones. Or maybe like the Sega Saturn. It's definitely no Atari Jaguar. Completely misunderstood. Too ahead of its time for people back then to fully understand. OEMs did copy the wide-angle camera that the G5 started like they copied webOS.

      It had a modular design that's easy to fix but we ended up with phones that are expensive to repair. Apple recently raised battery replacements by $20. Too bad the G5 itself wasn't that great and Snapdragon 820 started to show its age by 2019-2020. My G5 is still in mint condition and I got a free Spigen case from Amazon as I got a refund by canceling it before they shipped it but they still sent me the case.

      At this point if you still own an LG G5 like I do and can't get rid of it or don't want to give it away or recycle it, they still make good multimedia devices. Good speaker. MicroSD slot. Headphone jack although my Apple earpods couldn't fit in them. Can use it as a security camera. My previous Sprint variant had FM radio while my unlocked RS988 model doesn't have it. Can use it for emulation up to Dreamcast. I still used my G5 to change the channels for TVs in motel rooms.

      I'll probably still keep mines although I barely used it during the last 3 years. It's kept like a souvenir and a reminder of all the features we got from flagships a decade ago like removable battery, headphone jack, microSD slot, IR blaster, and FM radio.

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        • Anonymous
        • IBn
        • 13 Mar 2023

        What ultimately ruined the G5 were the massive disapproval of tech influencers reviewing it. They made fun of the finger print scanner being in the back, they made fun of it for having the ultrawide camera instead of a telephoto. And also they kept on saying it felt cheap because LG decided to put several coats of paint on the metal body.

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          • Rafal
          • uN{
          • 13 Mar 2023

          One of best phones i owned, I was faithful to LG and had G2, G3 and then G5 and V50. All purchased second hand, never had single issue. Same never had issue with Samsung or iphone. Maybe I'm lucky:)

            • J
            • JC
            • X9p
            • 13 Mar 2023

            This phone was easy to repair and the removable battery meant you could keep it running very easily after the capacity of the original battery begins to conk out. The major issues were that it wasn't as sleek nor was it waterproof/ water resistant.

              PhoneFreak45, 12 Mar 2023As I type this on my V60, I really do miss LG. It's a ... moreSince I still value the ever-relevant headphone jack and microSD card support, Sony is the only smartphone brand I look at after LG has exited the smartphone market. They might go conservative with the design, but that is still fine by me as I always prefer bezel over notch and punch hole. Even the camera performance gets my vote, especially the Xperia Pro-I. I'm daily driving a V50 right now, but I know what my next phone brand will be if I decide to replace it.

                Anonymous, 12 Mar 2023I'm typing this from my LG V30. Still going strong.If you know how to flash custom ROM, the V30 now gets an official Android 13-based LineageOS 20 build.

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                  • Anonymous
                  • gqb
                  • 13 Mar 2023

                  AnonD-731363, 12 Mar 2023Man rollable phone just like flip and fold are nothing but ... moreI don't see rollable phone as a useless gimmick as you can easily combine smartphone, foldable, and tablet resolution all in one screen. Existing foldable phones can only dream about it.

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                    • Anonymous
                    • ntJ
                    • 13 Mar 2023

                    blue, 12 Mar 2023Rollable phone is a pipedream. Where would you pack all the... moreI don't see any problem with thick phones. If you can forgive it for folable phones, then why not the more practical rollable phones.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • ntJ
                      • 13 Mar 2023

                      Anonymous, 12 Mar 2023it was a cool idea but i think the biggest problem was that... moreMotorola made a mistake by not making a larger version of the Moto Z. If they make a 6.7"+ Moto Z2/Z3/Z4, that'd be a huge seller.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • gqb
                        • 13 Mar 2023

                        Anonymous, 12 Mar 2023LG was really cool. But their software was a joke with many... moreYou still talk about the bootloop when other phones also experience it? 🤦🤦

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                          • Anonymous
                          • gqb
                          • 13 Mar 2023

                          Anonymous, 13 Mar 2023Iphones Iphone 4 : signal issues Iphone 6+ : bendgate ... moreI love people keep using the G3/G4 bootloop issue to claim that LG phones are terrible when Huawei Nexus 6P had a much worse bootloop problem, especially when updating to Oreo.

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                            • Anonymous
                            • gqb
                            • 13 Mar 2023

                            YUKI93, 12 Mar 2023The G5 came out in the same year as the Apple iPhone 7, two... moreWhat was ironic about the smartphone camera race was that LG would eventually be the first brand to put a triple wide/telephoto/ultrawide setup with the V40.

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                              • Anonymous
                              • 8N3
                              • 13 Mar 2023

                              Anonymous, 13 Mar 2023Samsung have had devices explode but managed to survive 🤔Iphones

                              Iphone 4 : signal issues
                              Iphone 6+ : bendgate
                              Iphone 6s : touch disease
                              Iphone X : face ID bypassed by " similar faces"
                              Ipad pro 2018 : bending issues
                              Ipad air 2020: bending issues
                              Ipad mini 2021: jelly screen
                              Ipad pro 12,9" 2021 : miniLed blooming issues

                              Still popular. Ppl need to stop using g3/g4 bootloop, g5 ugliness, v20 cam glass cracking , v30 green tint screen as excuse to why LG had to quit.

                                Anonymous, 12 Mar 2023A good time for Samsung while LG and HTC were dying. What d... moreI had the Galaxy Note 4 and was ecstatic over the initial reviews of the Galaxy Note 7(only the 32 GB model of the Note 5 was sold in my country. It had no SD card slot. My 32 GB Note 4 had a128 GB card in it). Then the bad news arrived..... about 2 weeks before I planned to get my Note 7

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                                  • Joe
                                  • ask
                                  • 13 Mar 2023

                                  Anonymous, 12 Mar 2023it was a cool idea but i think the biggest problem was that... moreNot to mention that LG offered a very restrictive agreement for those who wanted to create modules for the G5. I think what ultimately killed the ecosystem is that LG wanted total control over any module released. Moto did this better and actually supported the mods for 4 generations so I guess they must've sold well enough or they manufactured too many mods and had to sell them :D

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 39x
                                    • 13 Mar 2023

                                    Anonymous, 12 Mar 2023LG was really cool. But their software was a joke with many... moreSamsung have had devices explode but managed to survive 🤔

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 8N3
                                      • 12 Mar 2023

                                      Tech media when LG G3 phone has motherboard issue : 🤬

                                      Tech media when xiaomi mi11 has motherboard issue: 🤫

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 6wN
                                        • 12 Mar 2023

                                        LG was really cool. But their software was a joke with many issues like bootloop.