Review of the LG G5 SE smartphone: a “friendly” transformer. Review of the LG G5 SE smartphone: “friendly” transformer Housing and painting

Specifications LG G5 SE

• Case materials: plastic, metal, glass
• Operating system: Android 6.0, LG UX 5.0
• Network: GSM/EDGE, WCDMA, LTE (nanoSIM)
• Screen: IPS LCD, 5.3”, capacitive, 2560x1440 pixels (QuadHD), 554 ppi, automatic backlight level adjustment, Gorilla Glass 4
• Platform: Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 (MSM8992)
• Processor: Quad-core 1.2 GHz (Cortex-A53) and dual-core 1.8 GHz (Cortex-A72)
• Graphics system: Adreno 510
• RAM: 3 GB
• Storage memory: 32 GB, microSD card slot
• Main camera: 16 MP, f/1.8 and 8 MP, f/2.4 (wide-angle), laser focusing, three-axis optical image stabilization (OIS), LED flash
• Front camera: 8 MP, f/2.0
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n/ac) Dual-Band, Bluetooth 4.2 (A2DP, LE, Apt-X), USB Type-C connector (USB 2.0) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm for headset , NFC, IR port
• Navigation: GPS/GLONASS (A-GPS support)
• Additionally: FM radio, fingerprint scanner, fast charging (Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0), Always-on display technology
• Sensors: accelerometer, position sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, barometer
• Battery: removable, Li-Ion, capacity 2800 mAh
• Dimensions: 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.3 mm
• Weight: 156 grams

South Korean LG is one of the few companies in the smartphone manufacturing market that is not afraid to experiment in the upper price segment, in other words, constantly inventing something new for its flagships. Usually the situation is the opposite - companies try to keep top-end devices identical to each other for as long as possible from year to year, tightening up the characteristics and occasionally refreshing the design. There are plenty of examples - from Apple, Samsung and HTC to the most striking - Sony, where the design of devices in the upper price range has remained almost unchanged since the Xperia Z1, released in 2013.

For LG, flagships are a field of experimentation. In the LG G2 smartphone, the company tested a solution with control buttons located on the “back” of the body and made the frames as thin as possible. LG G3 took the path of increasing the screen diagonal for the flagship (5.5” versus 5.2” in LG G2), redesigned the camera and decided to “play” with the metallic texture of the plastic, giving the smartphone a more expensive look. The next flagship - LG G4 - was in many ways an improved version of the G3, but completely changed in appearance: they abandoned the “metal-like” plastic, came up with replaceable covers made of genuine leather, and made a display slightly curved inside the body to protect it from damage when dropped. For my taste, in terms of design and ergonomics, the LG G4 was not a role model; in other respects it was comparable to its competitors, but in one thing it was ahead of literally everyone - photo quality. This smartphone still takes the best photos in low light and at night (we’re not talking about the speed of photography, but about the quality), surpassing both the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and devices from Apple in this regard.

The next flagship - LG G5 - has again become an object for experimentation. The company again completely redesigned the design, moved some of the keys from the “back” to the ends, added a scanner, came up with a system of replaceable modules and a slightly simplified version of the device - the LG G5 SE on a simpler platform. Otherwise the devices are identical. In this review, I will tell you about all the features of the LG G5 using the example of a simplified version - the LG G5 SE. Go.

Design

There are practically no external similarities between the LG G4 and LG G5; the company has once again “overhauled” the design. The smartphone turned out to be more strict and, at the same time, simpler and calmer than its predecessor. For some, the lack of bright details is a plus. For some it’s a minus; it’s a matter of personal preference.

The front panel with a protective glass curved at the top, the two-camera module on the back, and the bottom end with a system of replaceable modules attract attention, but in general the new LG G5 looks simple. Perhaps this is the case when I don’t have much to write about the design, it’s so simple here.

The smartphone is available in four colors: silver, gold, pink and gray. In any variation, these are shades of the indicated colors; the body remains approximately monochromatic and dim. Again, some will like this, some will not.

Housing materials

There is an interesting feature associated with materials in the LG G5 SE. The fact is that at all presentations and on the official website the device is called a smartphone in a metal case. At the same time, when you take the device in your hands, the metal is not felt at all. Moreover, if the smartphone is accidentally scratched or falls and gets chipped, then you will most likely see characteristic traces of peeling paint and plastic underneath on the back side. And yet – the body is really made of metal.

I don’t know why LG decided to use this solution, there is no visible benefit from it, but it is what it is. The base of the case in the LG G5 SE is made of aluminum, in particular, the entire “bath” in which the electronic filling is located, and the ribs. However, on the outside, the case is covered with a thick layer of plastic, on top of which a “metal-like” coating is applied. This explains the fact that if you take scissors and scrape along the lid, then, having erased the primary layer, you will most likely decide that the case is made of plastic. To get to the metal base, you literally need to pick apart several layers of the lid.

Painted plastic over metal causes another problem (besides not feeling like you're holding an expensive device). Along the edge of the case there is a chrome-like color, and in these places the paint begins to peel off the fastest, so that after a month or two, gaps in the plastic will appear on the device. It's not too noticeable if you don't pay attention, but it's still annoying.

The front panel is made of specially curved Gorilla Glass 4. Unlike the now fashionable 2.5D glass, in the LG G5 it curves at the top, creating a smooth platform for conveniently calling up the notification shade. When you need to open it, your finger does not cling to the end, but comfortably slides down. The solution turned out to be not only beautiful (like simple glass with a 2.5D effect), but also useful from a practical point of view.

Assembly

There are almost no complaints about the assembly of the device. With the exception of the lower replacement element created for installing modules. When you take the device out of the box and just use it, there are no problems, the base module with the battery sits securely in its place, there is no play, and so on. But judging by the LG G5 SE samples that have been in use for more than one month, after some time and after frequent module changes, the mount may become loose. Let me rephrase, maybe it will come loose, maybe not, everything will depend on the specific usage scenarios, frequency of changing modules and other things.

Dimensions

In terms of size, the new LG G5 is almost exactly the same as last year's model. Due to its smooth curves and rounded edges, the device fits comfortably in your hand and is comfortable to hold and use. At the same time, calling a smartphone small, of course, will not work. With a diagonal of 5.3"", the device, to put it mildly, is not a record holder in size and is comparable to models with higher diagonals - 5.5"".

• Apple iPhone 6S Plus(5.5"") - 158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm, 192 grams
• LG G5(5.5"") - 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.3 mm, 156 grams
• LG G4(5.5"") – 148.9 x 76.1 x 9.8 mm, 155 grams
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge(5.5”) – 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7 mm, 157 grams
• HTC 10(5.2"") - 145.9 x 71.9 x 9 mm, 161 grams

A year ago, I would have paid more serious attention to the dimensions of a smartphone, but, in my opinion, now devices with a 5.5” diagonal have become commonplace and any model that fits the dimensions of popular devices in this category is perceived as normal.

Compared to Galaxy S7 Edge

Compared to Huawei P9

Controls

I want to grumble a little here. Experiments are good, but I think there should be some limit, some things, points that, having been accepted once and promoted, should not be changed after a short period of time. Yes, I'm talking about the controls, specifically the power and volume keys. It would seem like a small thing, but I don’t think so. With the LG G2 smartphone, the company began promoting the idea of ​​a key block on the back of the smartphone. Three buttons were located on the back of the device in the upper area, near the main camera. Unusual, but generally convenient, and the company made the right emphasis when promoting this idea. Then there were the LG G3 and LG G4, as well as intermediate models (like the LG V10) with the same key layout logic.

And now comes the LG G5. The volume buttons are on the left edge, the power key is on the back and is combined with a fingerprint scanner. Is there some logic or general principle here? To be honest, I don't see it. Yes, I personally also quickly got used to that arrangement, but the approach itself is confusing, because the whole block of buttons on the back of the device was a great idea.

You can unlock your smartphone (turn on the screen) in three ways - by pressing the power key on the back of the device, double-tapping on the display surface, or touching the power button (the fingerprint scanner on it). At the same time, the third method is convenient because you don’t need to press the power button (as in the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, for example, where you need to press the Home key), you just need to touch it.

The scanner allows you to save up to five prints, it works quickly and accurately, I have not had any complaints about this element during the month of using the device (unlike the scanner in the Samsung Galaxy S Edge, which for some reason is “stupid”).

Like other smartphones from the company, there is a gesture system:

• Automatically answer calls when you bring your smartphone to your ear (even if a Bluetooth headset is connected to the device)
• Muting the ringer volume when you pick up your smartphone from a table, shelf, or anything else
• Switch to silent mode during an incoming call when you turn your smartphone over
• Stop the alarm or set it to go off again when you turn your smartphone over
• Pause video playback when you flip your smartphone over

Now about the location of elements and connectors. At the top end there is an IR port, an additional microphone and a 3.5 mm mini-jack. On the bottom there is USB Type-C, the main microphone and speaker.

On the front side, in the upper part, there is a speaker, light and proximity sensors, as well as a light indicator and an 8 MP front camera peephole. The tray for two nanoSIM cards or one nanoSIM card and a memory card is located on the right edge.

Screen

The LG G5 has a 5.3" diagonal screen based on an IPS matrix (IPS Quantum). Display resolution – 2560x1440 pixels (554 ppi). In terms of characteristics, the screen resembles that of the LG G4 - that is, good. There is a reserve of brightness, viewing angles are maximum. Even if you tilt the screen diagonally, there will be absolutely no distortion of the picture in color or brightness. The automatic screen backlight sometimes works to save battery power, that is, it sets the backlight level lower than what you want to see, but during the day its operation is quite correct. The color temperature is set well, in my opinion, and the only drawback I would note is the inability to change it.

The screen is covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass 4 and has a high-quality oleophobic coating, so that the few fingerprints and marks that appear on the display can be easily removed.

Like Samsung's flagships, the LG G5 supports Always-on technology, where some useful information is constantly displayed on the screen. In the G5, you can display the time, date and a line of new notifications (system), as well as some arbitrary signature.

Again, like Samsung, LG notes the extremely low power consumption of this thing, but, like Samsung, if operating time is important to you, it’s better to forget about Always-on. And although Samsung uses an AMOLED screen that is more efficient for this scenario, and here IPS, I turned off the option in both cases (in the S7 Edge and G5 SE).

Camera

There are two main cameras in the LG G5 - one with a resolution of 16 MP, an f/1.8 aperture, a color spectrum sensor, a three-axis optical stabilization system (OIS) and a laser focusing system. The second is wide-angle, with a resolution of 8 MP and an f/2.4 aperture.

The idea is that for usual scenarios you use a 16-megapixel camera, but if you need to take a photo that covers as much space as possible (a general photo at a holiday, some beautiful landscape, etc.) - switch to a wide-angle camera.

You might think that this is some kind of advertising gimmick and in fact the cameras in the LG G5 do not differ too much in the shooting angle, but this is not so. The second camera is really wide-angle and allows you to get several times more information in the frame than the main one. Here's what it looks like in reality:

Main camera (16 MP)	Wide-angle camera (8 MP)

The photo quality from the wide-angle camera is worse than from the main one, but for my purposes, it seems to me that it is quite sufficient. You are unlikely to use it constantly. So let's talk about the main camera.

Like the LG G4, the main camera module here is equipped with an optical stabilization system and laser focusing. Focusing speed in the G5 is approximately at the same level as the LG G4. The quality of the photos on the first firmware, to be honest, is not as high as I expected, although it is good overall. But now the company is preparing new firmware, and the camera will improve with each successive one, so we can expect progress in this regard.

Below is a small comparison of the cameras in the LG G4 and LG G5:

LG G4	LG G5

In my opinion, during the day the cameras shoot about the same; in low-light conditions, the LG G4 looks stronger.

Now let's take a look at comparative examples of pictures at night; there will already be three devices: LG G4, LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

LG G4	LG G5	Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

Here I would distribute the devices as follows: the highest quality and closest to reality picture is produced by the LG G4. I believe that this smartphone is still without competition when it comes to shooting at night; there are simply no better devices yet. In second place is the LG G5 - its picture is not so sharp and natural, but overall it is still close to what you actually see with your own eyes. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is the latest - yes, the smartphone takes pictures instantly even at night; against its background, both the LG G4 and LG G5 take forever to focus, but the pictures themselves on the S7 Edge turn out too artificial: oversharpening, overexposure, everything looks completely wrong in the photographs, like really.

Examples of photos in good weather

Now briefly about the interface. Like the LG G4, there are three shooting modes (for both cameras): easy, basic and manual. The first one is simple, there are no elements or information on the screen at all, you just touch the screen anywhere and the smartphone takes a photo.

The second is basic, with all settings displayed. In this case, you need to press a key to shoot; here you can also change various parameters, from image resolution to shooting mode.

Finally, the third and most important mode is manual. In this mode, you can shoot with automatic settings, but with the creation of two files at once: RAW (DNG extension) and JPEG, as well as in fully manual mode. In the second case, you can adjust the white balance, exposure value (from +2 to -2), shutter speed (from 1/3200 to 30 seconds), ISO (from 50 to 3200) and adjust the focal length. In short, this is a full-fledged manual mode, as detailed as it can now be required in a smartphone camera.

Shooting in manual mode on the LG G5 is a different story. Even taking into account the fact that the first firmware does not reveal the potential of the camera (I am sure this will be corrected in the future), the manual mode allows you to take cool shots in a wide variety of situations and conditions. Perhaps someday I will make a separate article with examples of pictures taken on the LG G5 SE in manual mode.

If you compare the cameras in the LG G4 and LG G5, the main difference comes down to the appearance of an additional wide-angle module. There are slight differences in automatic mode, but overall, in good conditions, the G4 and G5 produce comparable results. The G4 shoots better at night so far, but I hope this will be corrected in future firmware and the G5 will become better.

Video. The maximum recording quality is UltraHD (3840x2160 pixels), the standard is FullHD (1920x1080), in addition to recording at 30 or 60 frames per second, there is recording at up to 120 fps. In video recording mode, autofocus tracking works. The quality of the recorded video is good, however, you can evaluate the video examples yourself.

Front-camera. The front camera with a resolution of 8 MP and an f/2.0 aperture allows you to take good shots, but nothing more. To be honest, I expected much more from the front camera in the LG G5. Just like at one time from the camera in the G4. During the day on a sunny day, the quality can be called acceptable; when conditions worsen or in the dark, the photographs turn into “soap” with very noticeable post-processing.

LG G4	LG G5

Autonomous operation

The LG G5 SE has a removable Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 2800 mAh, which is slightly weaker than that used in the LG G3 and G4.

My sample LG G5 SE worked on average until the evening, completely discharging by 17-18 hours under heavy load (for example, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge lasts for about 20 hours in this mode, but I still have to use an external battery). The difference in operating time under normal conditions between the LG G5 SE and last year's LG G4 is within the margin of error; with active use, both smartphones die down in the evening, with moderate use they work a full day.

I can’t say that everything is good, I personally expected progress from the new flagship in terms of battery life, because the LG G4 was by no means a record holder in this regard, but, alas, there is no progress here. Like other manufacturers, unfortunately, they are in no hurry to move in this direction.

In the power settings, you can enable the “energy saving” mode when the charge level decreases below 5 or below 15 percent. In this mode, the brightness is reduced, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, vibration, auto-synchronization of services and the indicator light are turned off.

Platform, memory

The smartphone is built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 platform (MSM 8976) with an eight-core processor: four Cortex-A72 cores with a frequency of 1.8 GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of 1.2 GHz. Graphics system (GPU) – Adreno 510. The device has 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory, as well as a slot for a microSD memory card. Actually, this is, in fact, the only thing that distinguishes the “stripped-down” LG G5 SE from the flagship LG G5 – the platform. The flagship runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, has Adreno 530 graphics and 4 GB of RAM on board.

If in the case of the LG G4 the company simply, for a number of reasons, opted for a non-top platform, then for the LG G5 they made two versions - the regular G5 and the slightly simplified G5 SE. It is the latest model that is available in Russia, and the Snapdragon 652 platform in it provides a good level of performance, although it is inferior to other flagships on top platforms in synthetic tests.

Interfaces

The smartphone works in GSM, HSDPA and LTE networks. For LTE there is support for all common bands and frequencies; the device works without problems in Russian fourth-generation networks. The smartphone has one radio module and two slots for SIM cards.

USB. To synchronize with a PC and transfer data, the included USB Type-C cable is used. USB 2.0 interface (in LG G5 – USB 3.0). The USB-OTG and USB-Host standards are supported - you can connect flash drives and other storage devices, for example, a camera, to the smartphone via an adapter to transfer pictures from it to the device’s memory.

Bluetooth. Built-in Bluetooth 4.2 module with support for A2DP, LE (low energy) and Apt-X profiles.

Wi-Fi (802.11a/ac/b/g/n). The LG G5 SE uses a dual-band Wi-Fi module, this interface works flawlessly. Like any other modern Android smartphone, the G5 SE supports the function of sharing mobile Internet via Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi router), as well as DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct standards.

NFC. The standard interface for any Android-based flagship since 2013 is also present in the LG G5 SE. It can be turned on and off in the settings, in the “Sharing and Connection” menu.

Navigation

The smartphone supports GPS/A-GPS and Glonass; searching for satellites takes a minimum amount of time. There is no special navigation software in Android smartphones, and manufacturers usually limit themselves to pre-installed Google Maps; LG G4 is no exception in this sense.

Software features and software

The smartphone runs Android 6.0 with LG's proprietary UX 5.0 interface. Most of the settings and the shell as a whole have undergone virtually no changes compared to UX 4.0 in the LG G4. Of course, the new interface has become even smoother, neater and calmer in design.

One of the innovations in the fifth version of LG UX is that now application icons are located on the desktop, and the application menu is no longer there, that is, the company has switched to the “iOS-like” interface logic. It is important that, if you wish, you can switch to the usual interface display mode with a separate application menu, as it was before.

The rest is a familiar interface and set of programs, almost unchanged compared to the LG G4.

Lock screen. The lock screen displays new notifications and the time in one line, and a number of shortcuts are available in the lower area for quickly jumping to applications. The set of shortcuts can be changed in the settings, and it will not necessarily be the same as the shortcuts in the bottom bar on the desktop.

What upset me most about the LG G3 and G4 was the strange and illogical system of transitioning from notifications on the lock screen to the applications that generated them. For example, I get a notification about a new message in Telegram or WhatsApp, I click on it to open the program, but before I get into the program, I need to swipe my finger again to unlock the screen. You won't believe it, but in the LG G5 this system is back in place! And this despite the fact that in Android 6.0, to switch from the notification card on the lock screen to the notification itself, you just need to double-tap on the card and that’s it. There are no words.

Pre-installed software. The smartphone has a convenient file manager with the ability to view files by category or in general storage, search and sort by criteria. A weather application with animated graphics, if you do not launch it as a widget. Calculator, voice recorder, radio - all these programs are made in the same graphic style as the rest of the interface.

QuickMemo+ lets you create text or handwritten notes.

Like the LG G4, there is a clock and weather widget with a Smart Notice notification panel attached to it. The idea is simple - in the form of short notifications, remind the user about important things: weather changes, calendar events, missed notifications, and so on. True, the functionality of Smart Notice is still limited to notifications of just a few types: weather and new events, as well as tips.

The LG G5 SE has the LG Health service, which counts the distance traveled, number of steps and calories burned.

Replaceable modules

The main feature of the LG G5 and LG G5 SE is the replaceable modules. The lower block is removed, and in its place you can install a special module that expands the capabilities of the device. The basic module with a battery can be considered standard, in addition to this, there are two more - with an amplifier for better music quality and with camera control keys (and an additional battery inside).

This is how beautiful a smartphone looks with the module removed!

Now a little more detail.

The first module is a massive block with camera control keys: a shooting button, a zoom wheel and several other elements. It also has an additional battery built into it. It looks something like this:

The second module, with a separate DAC, branded by Bang and Olufsen, is needed in order to get higher quality sound on the smartphone. As with the first module, this one increases the size of the smartphone, albeit not so much.

The idea of ​​modules itself is interesting and I personally like it, but so far its implementation raises a lot of questions, from the very beginning to specific modules. Why do you need to remove the battery to replace the module, thereby interrupting the operation of the smartphone? If I want to connect a camera module at an important moment, then for half a minute I will simply be left without a working device, this is inconvenient. The modules themselves are large. Why make the camera module so massive? How useful is it anyway? The same goes for the sound module. Finally, why did the company manage to prepare only two modules before the start of sales of the flagship? Were there really no ideas? Honestly, I can't believe it.

Conclusion

After almost a month of using the LG G5 SE, I had no complaints about the quality of signal reception. The volume of the ringing speaker is slightly above average; one speaker is used. In most situations it is clearly audible if the volume is turned up to maximum. The volume of the earpiece is also at a good level; there is a small volume reserve for conversations in noisy rooms. The vibration alert is average in strength.

The official price of the LG G5 SE in Russia is 50,000 rubles (49,990), that is, comparable to the Samsung Galaxy S7, Sony Xperia X Performance, HTC 10 and other flagships. Each of the listed smartphones has its own strengths and weaknesses, of course, like the LG G5 SE. My main complaint about the new LG smartphone comes down to one thing - it turned out to be vague. The company got too involved in experiments, came up with replaceable modules, but never developed this idea fully enough (two modules for release is not serious). Perhaps new modules will appear, but for now everything is like this. The LG G4 had an emphasis on replaceable leather covers and a cool camera, the LG G3 on high screen resolution, the LG G2 on thin frames and compact dimensions. I used each of these devices as my main device for more than six months, which is a significant period of time, you must agree, for a person who has the opportunity to change a smartphone literally once a week. I liked the “tubes” from LG precisely because of their completeness. For my taste, this is exactly what the LG G5 SE lacks. It has a good screen, moderate dimensions, sufficient performance for work (although in SE tests it is inferior to all flagships on top platforms), operating time comparable to competitors, a very high-quality main camera comparable to the LG G4 and Samsung Galaxy S7, as well as an additional wide-angle camera for different situations, which is something that other manufacturers do not yet have. But still, this smartphone is missing something. Perhaps I was expecting too much careful work to improve the LG G4 in the new flagship, but I received a completely different device, and my conclusions are connected with this. Don't know.

Any flagship is a product that primarily demonstrates the company’s technological potential and its vision of the ideal smartphone. Today we will get acquainted with the LG G5 SE - it’s practically the same G5, just instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 it uses a slightly simplified Snapdragon 652. In our case, it’s worth putting an equal sign between the models, because it’s the SE version that will go on sale, and the appearance of the original flagship is questionable. Let's get to know each other and evaluate the potential and vision of the market by LG in 2016.

Design, modular construction and “friends”

Thanks to numerous rumors and leaks, any smartphone begins to be evaluated long before it goes on sale. In the case of the LG G5, real photographs appeared a couple of days before the announcement and caused a lot of noise - in the first pictures the flagship looked too strange, one might even say ugly.

After getting acquainted with a real smartphone, many came to the conclusion that “everything is not so sad,” but a “sediment” remained. Needless to say, the G5 looks strange, both in comparison with the G2/G3/G4, and in comparison with its competitors.

Why? Mainly because of the back, on which they made two “overflows” - a large one with camera modules, flash and laser autofocus, and a small one with a fingerprint scanner. In our case, the G5 inscription on the back is also missing, because we are getting acquainted with the sample. To be fair, we note that the front side looks more familiar and normal, the only thing that confuses us is the large indentation at the top, where the rounded glass is located (flat, without the 2.5D effect).

In fact, the company has crossed out all the work and concepts of the last three years of development - there is no usual sloping back, the volume keys have again moved to the side, and the screen has been curved in the opposite direction. All that remains is the collapsible body design.

The G5 is also called a metal flagship, although this is a very controversial statement. Most likely the gray plastic base was coated with metallic paint or something similar. Our sample makes it clear that in case of falls, chips will appear on the case, revealing the real gray color of the material, which does not look like metal.

It is worth saying that the G5 fits well in the hands - all the edges are rounded, nothing digs into the palm and the smartphone is comfortable for everyday use, although it does not give a “premium” feeling.

The layout of the controls is quite traditional - under the cameras there is a mechanical power key, it is combined with a fingerprint scanner. The latter works very well and to unlock the smartphone you just need to put your finger on the sensor; you don’t need to specifically press the button. As on all LGs, the screen turns on and off by double tapping, and there is a Knock Code function.

On the left side there is a volume control key - in our sample it was not very convenient to use, because it was short and protruded slightly above the body. There is a hybrid tray on the right; you can install two Nano SIMs or a SIM card and a memory card in it. The headphone jack is on the top edge, and the USB Type and speaker are on the bottom. The smartphone is available in one of four colors: Titan, Silver, Pink and Gold.

LG G5 is one of the first modular smartphones. Along with it, the company showed a whole set of “friends” of the flagship. The list includes VR glasses, a robot ball, a camera for shooting video with a 360-degree viewing angle, a proprietary headset and two LG CAM Plus and Hi-Fi Plus modules.

The first ones are just additional accessories, and the last two are real modules that expand the functionality of the smartphone.

There is a special key on the bottom left. By pressing it and pulling the lower part of the case, you can detach the base with the inserted battery. To install another module, you need to replace the battery in it and put everything back together.

The idea with modules looks interesting on paper, but practical implementation turned out to be controversial. To connect a “friend” you need to turn the smartphone on and off, frequent replacement of modules will lead to loosening of the structure, and you will only constantly use the “friend” Hi-Fi Plus, although even this module noticeably increases the length of the smartphone, and CAM Plus by more than twice as thick as the G5 itself. Most likely, the modules are available only in black and gray and will look controversial on smartphones. The question of prices remains: in the US, CAM Plus costs $70, and the price for Hi-Fi Plus has not been announced, but given B&O’s positioning, it is unlikely to be cheaper than the first.

The lack of optimality is felt in many aspects - by purchasing each module you will pay for another USB Type-C connector, speaker, microphone and other electronics. It is not clear why the sound from B&O could not be built in by default, and CAM Plus could not be implemented in the form of a simpler case-pad, connected using a pair of contacts on the case, without the need to disassemble the smartphone, as was the case with the Lumia 1020? Taking the existing implementation, I would like to ask: why is there no miniature battery in the case that would allow the smartphone to remain turned on while replacing modules?

Screen

LG was one of the first to equip its flagship with a display with a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels and remains faithful to such screens. Compared to the G3 and G4, the diagonal has decreased from 5.5 to 5.3 inches, the body has become a couple of millimeters narrower, but its height has increased. As before, an IPS matrix is ​​used, covered with protective glass with an oleophobic coating, the glass is curved at the top, there is an automatic brightness adjustment sensor, the screen can be turned on by double tapping.

In terms of calibration quality, the screen is not ideal - the color gamut is expanded and closer to AMOLED displays, the color temperature is noticeably higher, and there are differences in the gamma curve. The measured contrast level was 1 in 1430, and the brightness adjustment range was from 3 to 206 cd/m². During testing, I got the impression that the auto-brightness sensor always works, even when it is disabled in the settings. The display remains quite readable outdoors, but on a very sunny day there is a lack of brightness.

From the point of view of perception, I liked the screen - it doesn’t feel as cold as according to measurements. The colors are rich, the high resolution gives a very smooth picture, the sensors work quickly and correctly - the screen lives up to the title of flagship. The only thing I didn’t like was the poor polarization of the glass - if you use sunglasses with polarized lenses, then in a vertical position you can’t see anything on the display.

Platform

The LG G5 is built on the basis of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, but for the markets of Ukraine, Russia and others they created a model with the SE prefix - its basis is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652. From a formal point of view, the difference between the Snadragon 820 and 652 is significant: positioning in the line is simpler, technical process 28, and not 20 nm, standard Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A72 cores instead of proprietary Kryo, lower clock speed, slightly simpler graphics (but also from the Adreno 5xx line), more modest results in benchmarks, and so on. The amount of RAM was reduced to 3 GB, but at least they did not touch the built-in memory and left 32 GB. There is a MicroSD slot combined with Nano SIM.

There are problems in numbers - competitors have more advanced “stuffing”. In practice, the LG G5 SE seemed fast to me - the platform copes with a high-resolution screen, the smartphone is responsive in everyday tasks and can handle modern games well. Heating is within normal limits.

Calls, multimedia and Hi-Fi Plus module

We received an LG G5 SE with the index H845 - the smartphone supports the simultaneous operation of two SIMs based on one radio module. We were pleased with the contact settings - you can set your own melody for each, for each SIM card you can set both a separate ringtone and vibration type, you can adjust its intensity for different events.

The vibration alert is noticeable and the speaker is loud. The multimedia speaker is very loud, it sounds clear and pleasant. The quality of music playback in the G5 SE is on par with other flagships. If you connect the Hi-Fi Plus module, the sound becomes more saturated - the difference is noticeable. In addition, an additional item appears in the settings, allowing you to adjust the balance and set the volume with an accuracy of 1 division out of 100 possible.

The Hi-Fi Plus module can also be used as a separate DAC and headphone amplifier for Android/iOS, Mac and Windows devices. In the latter case, it was necessary to install drivers downloaded from the LG website. The device worked when connected to a PC, but an attempt to connect the module via an OTG adapter to Huawei Mate7 did not yield anything.

Operating system and shell

The smartphone runs Android 6.0, complemented by the proprietary LG UX 5.0 shell. The corporate interface has been simplified. Key changes: an always-on mode has appeared for the lock screen (the time or signature is displayed, as well as notification shortcuts), a separate application menu has disappeared, the design of shortcuts and built-in programs has changed.

Among the useful functions, we left the ability to customize the location of on-screen buttons, their number and the color of the background. In the settings, you can select applications in which the keys will be hidden automatically, even if the developer has not provided such an option.

Cameras and CAM Plus module

LG G5 boasts two main cameras and one front camera. The “regular” main module has a resolution of 16 megapixels, an f/1.8 lens, and is equipped with an optical stabilization system and laser autofocus. Next to it is a second module with a wide-angle lens (135°, f/2.4) and an 8 MP sensor. The resolution of the front camera module is 8 megapixels.

The application has not undergone any fundamental changes. It has three main operating modes: simple, basic and manual. In all of them, two Christmas tree icons are displayed at the top, with which you can switch between the two cameras.

Basic mode allows you to adjust video resolution, photo aspect ratio, apply color filters, turn HDR on and off, use special collage modes, take photos from all cameras, record time lapse and slow-mo videos, and so on ( examples). The essence of the manual mode is reflected in its name - you can set the shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus.

Like all flagships, the G5 SE takes excellent pictures during the day - most photos come out well, autofocus does not miss, and the white balance is correct. In difficult shooting conditions, from rooms with less than ideal lighting to twilight, the result becomes a little less predictable, but still remains decent. The flagship is just going on sale and LG will improve the software. The G4 was one of the best camera phones out there, and the G5 is taking the baton.

The second wide-angle camera is also useful - it allows you to take interesting pictures and is especially useful when photographing architecture or rooms, for example.

Photos taken from the same point using both cameras

The front camera is rather weak for a flagship, but this may be a feature of our sample.

The optional CAM Plus module is questionable in terms of ease of continuous use due to its size. It is useful only if you plan to take photographs without letting go of your smartphone. It's a pity that it doesn't have an eyelet for attaching a strap.

It is especially convenient to take photographs with it - there are shutter release and video shooting keys, a built-in battery, and a protrusion with a grippy pad. I especially liked the zoom ring. With its help, you can smoothly switch from a wide-angle camera to a regular one (it seems that the smartphone has one camera with a large zoom).

Working hours

In terms of battery capacity, the G5 SE can be considered an outsider - the removable battery has only 2800 mAh, while most competitors offer 3000 mAh or more. The smartphone supports fast charging (Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology).

In synthetic autonomy tests, the G5 SE shows average results. With normal use, you should count on a day or a day of work with three to four hours of active screen. I used my standard set of instant messengers and other applications, took photographs, read, listened to music, and the always-on function was turned on. Disabling it will increase operating time.

In general, the results can be called normal for a flagship - the smartphone can withstand a working day and does not discharge as quickly as the LG G4 did. If your usage profile involves a heavy load, you may need a short charge during the day - normal support for fast charging makes this easier, and a full charge takes just over an hour if you use a Quick Charge-compatible charger.

Site evaluation

Pros: Body shape, display, operating speed, camera quality, second wide-angle camera, idea of ​​additional modules

Minuses: Design, average build quality, low maximum display brightness, non-flagship characteristics, price, implementation of additional modules

Conclusion: Having spent a week with the LG G5 SE, I would like to say that in terms of ergonomics, display quality, cameras, performance and features, this is a flagship. But am I ready to pay 18,000 hryvnia for it? No. User experience and impressions come through the process of use, which is preceded by purchase, and is achieved by comparing characteristics, design and personal perception of things. LG flagships have always had price on their side, because the characteristics were the same as those of competitors, but they asked for a little less. The G5 SE, in general, is equipped more simply than its opponents, and costs the same. At the same time, it is difficult to identify any specific shortcomings in it - there are simply a bunch of little things that add up to one big minus. Unfortunately, competition is leaving less and less room for just good and decent smartphones - the product must be either the best or at least affordable.

Display

Despite the fact that LG remains the only company that mass-produces large OLED panels for TVs, it still uses LCD displays in its flagship smartphones. LG G5 se is no exception; it has a 5.3-inch display with a matrix resolution of 2560 × 1440 pixels (554 ppi), made using IPS Quantum technology. Let me explain what it is: since this is a liquid crystal display, it needs backlighting, which has become LED everywhere in our time; IPS Quantum displays use a blue LED in combination with red and green phosphors to achieve image coverage that exceeds the sRGB standard. With this, on the one hand, you can get more saturated and bright colors, but on the other hand, this is fraught with distortion, since the vast majority of modern images are designed specifically for sRGB.

We'll return to colors a little later, let's start with brightness. LG announced a “daytime” mode used on the G5, which forcibly raises the screen brightness to 800 nits when direct sunlight hits the light sensor. As a result, when using your smartphone in sunny weather you will definitely not experience any problems - but for this you need to enable automatic brightness setting; “Day mode” cannot be forcibly activated or disabled.

With manual adjustment, even at maximum, the brightness reaches only 384 cd/m2, the minimum in this mode is 25 cd/m2. Nothing outstanding in terms of numbers, but the fact remains that it is comfortable to use the LG G5 se outdoors during the day, indoors, and in the dark.

But the main surprise of the LG G5 se display lies in its contrast. The minimum luminosity of the black field at maximum brightness is 0.18 cd/m2, almost incredible for an IPS matrix, and, accordingly, the contrast is 1788:1. This, of course, is not the “conditional infinity” that we encounter in AMOLED displays, but among its LCD counterparts, the LG G5 display is a leader.

So, those same IPS Quantum colors. Above you can see that the coverage is actually noticeably wider than the sRGB standard - and this really affects the color accuracy. Unfortunately, the average DeltaE deviation for the Color Checker test (which takes into account both shades of gray and a wide color palette) was 6.63 - this is a weak result. Not what you expect from a flagship smartphone. However, the average DeltaE for colors alone is 5.72 - this is also far from the standard, but it indicates that the inaccuracy of grayscale display makes a significant contribution. Moreover, the gamma looks normal - 2.24.

The problem is the color temperature. As often happens on smartphones, shades of gray are much colder than normal - in the case of the LG G5 se, the average value fluctuates around 8500-8800 K, while the norm is 6500 K. And unfortunately, this cannot be corrected in the settings.

The viewing angles are not bad, it’s comfortable for two people to watch anything on the LG G5 se; The touch layer is sensitive, responds to 10 simultaneous touches, the smartphone can theoretically be used with thin gloves, but in practice this means accepting or hanging up a call, and nothing more.

In general, the display leaves a twofold impression: on the one hand, IPS Quantum technology does not provide tangible advantages in terms of color rendering - rather, on the contrary, due to the “isolation” of the screen from sRGB realities; on the other hand, it can be freely used outdoors on a sunny day, and, what is even more valuable, it has almost a record contrast for an LCD display. This, of course, is a local achievement, but LG still has something to brag about.

⇡ Hardware and performance

In the year of “stripped-down flagships,” the LG G5 se was the first to fall into our hands, ahead of the HTC 10 Lifestyle. Actually, all that had to be sacrificed was the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 platform and four gigabytes of RAM. Instead of them - Snapdragon 652 (MSM8976) and three gigabytes.

In the form of Snapragon 652, we are dealing with a continuation of the 625 platform - the one that will become the main one for mid-price smartphones. This is an intermediate solution that will not make the user feel severely disadvantaged, but will not provide maximum performance on all tasks. The system-on-chip includes four ARM Cortex-A72 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz and four ARM Cortex A53 cores at 1.4 GHz, the cores are made using a 16 nm process technology.

Of course, there is no catastrophe with the performance of the LG G5 se - in terms of benchmarks, the new platform is inferior to last year’s flagship ones (in particular, the Snapdragon 808, which underlies the LG G4), but in others it is quite competitive with them. Comparisons with the top systems-on-a-chip of this year, of course, look more sad.

The Snapdragon 652 graphics subsystem, Adreno 510 clocked at 550 MHz, is also an “intermediate” option, which nevertheless competes quite well in 3DMark even with some of this year’s flagships. In the GFXBench test, however, the situation is worse. In practice, this means that the LG G5 se can run all the games that you find on Google Play, including the most hardware-demanding ones - but don’t expect everything to run extremely smoothly; frame rate drops are possible.

But the LG G5 se is perfectly optimized - you don’t experience any problems navigating the operating system. The smartphone is also “friendly” with the browser, although, of course, it lags behind devices on more expensive platforms in the WebXprt test.

The amount of RAM (let me remind you, this is 3 GB) does not greatly affect the behavior of the smartphone - at least in ordinary tasks you don’t feel it, although a 2K screen is very demanding on RAM. Problems will begin a little later, when downloading more recent applications aimed at this year's flagships.

The amount of built-in flash memory is fixed, and it is very small - 32 GB. This is nothing for a modern smartphone. The situation is corrected by the ability to use a microSD memory card with a theoretical capacity of up to 2 TB. For this, however, you will have to sacrifice a second SIM card - no surprises here, the most common scheme now.

⇡ Communications and wireless communications

Wireless modules that are used in expensive smartphones can be copied from one article to another with your eyes closed: NFC, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, working with LTE networks, in this case with maximum speed up to 300 theoretical megabits per second (that is, the sixth category). Naturally, the version that comes to our market has all the necessary bands for 4G networks.

The LG G5 se has two important differences from other smartphones in terms of communication. Firstly, there is no alternative to the dual-SIM version - in the “either-or” option (microSD or second nanoSIM) and with one radio module (Dual Standby mode - when a call arrives on one SIM card, the second one is temporarily disabled). Secondly, LG's commitment to the infrared port, which allows you to control various household appliances using your smartphone. Many in 2016, after playing with this function, abandoned the IR sensor, but not LG.

The navigation module works with GPS with support for A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou. The module starts up rather “tightly” - it took about a minute and a half to communicate with 16 satellites with location determination on the LG G5 se. But the smartphone was tuned to all of them at once, and the accuracy was six meters. You will not have any problems with navigation using this device - except that you will have to be patient at times when you first launch the navigation program.

⇡ Camera

Competing with each other in the field of mobile cameras, smartphone manufacturers from time to time come up with something loud - sometimes successful (the very high resolution of Nokia PureView 808), sometimes not at all (the very small resolution of the “ultrapixel” camera of HTC One). This year, dual-camera solutions came to the fore: first used in the Huawei P9, where two modules were used to improve the final picture, now on the LG G5/LG G5 se, where two different modules perform different tasks.

The body combines a 16-megapixel camera with an f/1.8 aperture lens and a standard viewing angle (78 degrees) and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle (135-degree viewing angle) camera with an f/2.4 aperture lens. The first one is taken directly from its predecessors: LG G4, LG V10. The same proven module with laser autofocus and optical stabilization, which allows you to get some of the best photos in the class, has changed little since last year, although competitors in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the same Huawei P9 also look very powerful.

The second module is much more interesting. It does not shine with high picture quality, being limited both in terms of aperture (which means the ISO inevitably rises in dark conditions) and in resolution. But due to the wide angle, it allows you to get very impressive landscape shots or shoot videos in the style of action cameras (first of all, GoPro comes to mind, of course).

Shooting with a wide-angle camera at dusk

In terms of the quality of the resulting image, the second camera is more reminiscent of modern front-facing cameras - with low detail and a high level of noise in the dark. Another thing is that it relies on very accurate laser autofocus, dual LED flash and manual shooting mode, due to which you can manually adjust the shutter speed, sensitivity, white balance and exposure metering method and get a very reasonable result, for example in twilight.

A separate plus of both LG G5 se cameras is optical stabilization. Blurring when shooting in the dark is still possible and even probable - I thus ruined several test shots without noticing micro-blurring on the smartphone screen. But with proper skill, you can shoot with shutter speeds around 1/5 and even 1/3 seconds. You can see an example above.

The camera application interface is the same as in the LG G4: three screens (only the viewfinder, minimal settings and manual mode), displaying all settings on the screen in one strip and a virtual horizon available in manual mode.

But the functionality has expanded slightly: in particular, a slightly strange “picture-in-picture” mode has been added, when the device shoots simultaneously with a wide-angle and a regular camera. At the same time, the central picture (the one with a narrower angle) can be changed using various special effects like a fish eye. The shooting mode with all three cameras is, for my taste, more interesting - it creates an entire atmospheric collage. But in this case, the shots are taken not simultaneously, but one by one.

In the pictures below you can see how the 16-megapixel LG G5 se module and the Huawei P9 camera performed in the same situations.

Regarding the LG G5 se camera, the same words that we said about the LG G4 are true - excellent clarity across the entire field of the frame, the camera confidently works with contour sharpness. The quality of shooting in the dark is good, the colors are not bad, although the Koreans have some tendency to choose too cool shades. No problems with autofocus - by smartphone standards, very fast and accurate work. In comparison with the Huawei P9, we note a more confident exposure metering and a more distinct separation of the subject and background in a portrait situation, but also a noticeably weaker dynamic range.

The camera can shoot 4K video at up to 30 frames per second - it turns out, frankly, so-so. The resolution is fair, but the picture is slightly jerky; It's better to set it to standard Full HD.

The 8-megapixel front camera, without flash and autofocus, is quite ordinary and allows you to take fairly detailed selfies in good light. There will be problems in the dark - however, this has never bothered lovers of self-portraits; the value of a high-quality front-facing camera is somewhat exaggerated.

⇡ Autonomous operation

The LG G5 se uses a removable (due to modular design) 10.8 Wh battery (2800 mAh, 3.85 V). This is less than on the LG G4 and LG V10, but the display is also smaller. So the device holds up well - during testing I had to recharge it on average once every day and a half. Daily charging is inevitable for modern smartphones, but there is no chance that it will suddenly run out before the end of the working day.

In our usual test with HD video playback at maximum brightness with wireless modules turned on and active updates, the LG G5 se lasted more than seven hours - an excellent result. Here, the LG device was second only to the Moto X Force and the Samsung Galaxy S7.

Since the LG G5 se runs on Qualcomm, it also works with proprietary fast charging (QuickCharge 3.0), filling the battery by 83% in half an hour.

Conclusion

LG wanted to surprise everyone with its new flagship and once again attract attention. This time the focus is not on design, but on manufacturability. Sometimes such attempts lead to failures - features declared as advanced are simply not of interest to the consumer. In the case of the LG G5 se, there were several such features at once. Modular design is, at first glance, exactly the thing that won’t work: the average user wants to make his life easier by purchasing a smartphone, replacing many with one gadget, and not create a launching pad for future purchases. And it’s precisely this psychology that two built-in cameras fit perfectly into, depriving the consumer of the need to buy additional mini-lenses that expand the camera’s view. Two cameras are really very convenient.

The modular design, however, has another bonus - increased maintainability and the ability to change the battery if something happens. Nowadays, when there are almost no smartphones with removable batteries left, this is important. However, LG has always been famous for this.

But with the “cut down” version it turned out awkwardly. Yes, the reasons for its appearance are extremely clear, and the sacrifices in the form of a lack of one gigabyte of RAM and a middle-class platform instead of the Snapdragon 820 do not look so terrible while maintaining all the other advantages of the smartphone: a good 2K display, a metal case, a fingerprint scanner, high-quality cameras What’s scarier is that the se version costs the same as full-fledged flagships of competitors - you can psychologically force yourself to prefer the LG G5 se to them either out of loyalty to the brand, or by falling for the design of the device, or by really wanting two rear cameras. The smartphone turned out to be good, even very good, but it all looks as if LG has really gathered itself into a rather narrow niche of manufacturers of “unusual” smartphones.

Device type:

Smartphone/Communicator

2G standards:

The mobile communication standard defines the technologies used and the principle of constructing mobile communication networks. Mobile communication networks are usually divided into analog (NMT, AMPS) and digital (D-AMPS, GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, UMTS), and also classified by generation (generation) stages of development of the standards themselves.
GSM(Global System for Mobile Communications) is the most popular and widespread second-generation 2G cellular communication standard almost all over the world. In our country, as in most European countries, frequencies of 900 and 1800 MHz are allocated for this standard. In the countries of the American continent, it is customary to use frequencies of 850 and 1900 MHz.
The widespread introduction of GSM to replace outdated analogue networks has made it possible to significantly expand the subscriber base and the range of services provided, making cellular communications widely available. However, the specifics of GSM limit the services currently in demand based on high-speed Internet access.

GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 / GSM 850 / GSM 900

3G standards:

3G(Third Generation) - Third generation mobile communication technologies based on packet data transmission. Third generation 3G networks usually operate in the range of about 2 GHz, allowing data transfer at a speed comparable to a dedicated home Internet. In addition to standard voice telephony services, 3G networks are initially focused on various multimedia services, such as video telephony and video conferencing, online viewing of broadcast television and films, listening to Internet radio, etc. The most common third generation communication standard is WCDMA (UMTS) , operating in most European countries, incl. in Russia and CIS countries.

UMTS 2100 / UMTS 900

4G standards (LTE):

4G (Fourth generation)- The fourth generation of mobile communications, characterized by high data transfer speeds and improved quality of voice communications. Fourth generation networks include mobile data technology LTE(Long Term Evolution). Data transfer speeds using the LTE standard theoretically reach 173 Mbit/s for reception (download), and 58 Mbit/s for upload (upload).

LTE 1800 / LTE 2300 / LTE 2600 / LTE 800

VoLTE:

VoLTE (in English Voice over LTE - voice over LTE)- voice transmission technology over the LTE network, which allows you to provide voice services and deliver them as a data stream over LTE. MegaFon is the first telecom operator in Russia to launch VoLTE without restrictions on the type of user: all subscribers in the Capital Region only, regardless of the tariff plan and billing system used, can connect to the HD Voice in 4G service and make calls using the new technology with using mobile devices supporting VoLTE network "MegaFon".

SIM card generation:

Each new generation of SIM cards is smaller than the previous one. Format Mini-SIM(2FF) appeared in the 1990s and is now used primarily in simple push-button phones. Cards Micro-SIM(3FF) have been used in smartphones since 2003 to this day. Nano-SIM(4FF) is the most compact card installed in modern smart devices. eSIM is a chip built into the device onto which a virtual SIM card can be written. This format is not supported by all telecom operators.

Number of SIM cards:

Accumulator battery:

The difference in the chemical composition of batteries determines their physical and consumer parameters.
Ni-Cd(Nickel - Cadmium) and Ni-Mh(Nickel - Metal Hydride) batteries are quite heavy and bulky. Being not completely discharged before recharging, they are prone to loss of capacity (memory effect), and therefore require periodic maintenance (charge-discharge, so-called training).
Against, Li-Ion(Lithium Ion) and Li-Pol(Lithium - Polymer) batteries do not have these disadvantages. However, they lose their charge faster at low temperatures and have poor resistance to drops. Ease of maintenance and comparatively smaller size and weight were decisive factors for their active use.

Li-Ion, 2800 mAh

NFC module:

NFC(Near Field Communication, “near field communication”) is a wireless communication technology that makes it possible to exchange data between devices located at a distance of up to 20 centimeters. There are many possible uses for NFC technology: transferring files between devices, connecting to accessories, using the device as a payment card, etc.

Equipment:

Smartphone, USB charger, USB cable, stereo headset, protective film, warranty card, instructions

Guarantee period:

Memory and processor

Amount of random access memory (RAM):

RAM, which is used for the operation of programs and applications in the device. The speed of the device depends on its size. The actual free memory capacity may differ from that specified by the manufacturer.

Built-in memory capacity:

Built-in device memory- the total amount of memory intended for both storing user data and applications installed by the manufacturer, and also includes a section with the Operating System. The actual free memory capacity may differ from that specified by the manufacturer.

Display and keyboard

Display type:

TFT IPS- High quality liquid crystal matrix. It has wide viewing angles, one of the best indicators of color rendering quality and contrast among all those used in the production of displays for portable equipment.
Super AMOLED- if a regular AMOLED screen uses several layers, between which there is an air gap, then in Super AMOLED there is only one such touch layer without air gaps. This allows you to achieve greater screen brightness with the same power consumption.
Super AMOLED HD- differs from Super AMOLED in its higher resolution, thanks to which you can achieve 1280x720 pixels on a mobile phone screen.
Super AMOLED plus- this is a new generation of Super AMOLED displays, differs from the previous one by using a larger number of subpixels in a conventional RGB matrix. The new displays are 18% thinner and brighter than displays made using the old PenTile technology.
AMOLED- an improved version of OLED technology. The main advantages of the technology are significantly reduced power consumption, the ability to display a larger color gamut, reduced thickness and the ability of the display to bend slightly without the risk of breaking.
Retina- high pixel density display designed specifically for Apple technology. The pixel density of Retina displays is such that individual pixels are indistinguishable to the eye at a normal distance from the screen. This ensures the highest image detail and significantly improves the overall viewing experience.
Super Retina HD- the display is made using OLED technology. The pixel density is 458 PPI, the contrast reaches 1,000,000:1. The display has a wide color gamut and unsurpassed color accuracy. Pixels in the corners of the display are smoothed at the sub-pixel level, so edges are not distorted and appear smooth. The Super Retina HD reinforcing layer is 50% thicker. It will be harder to break the screen.
Super LCD is the next generation of LCD technology, it is characterized by improved characteristics compared to earlier LCD displays. The screens not only have wide viewing angles and better color reproduction, but also lower power consumption.
TFT- A common type of liquid crystal display. Using an active matrix controlled by thin-film transistors, it is possible to significantly increase the performance of the display, as well as the contrast and clarity of the image.
OLED- organic electroluminescent display. It consists of a special thin-film polymer that emits light when exposed to an electric field. This type of display has a large reserve of brightness and consumes very little energy.

Touchscreen:

The touch display is a conventional graphic display, on top of which either a pressure-sensitive substrate or infrared sensors are placed. Such a display reacts appropriately to presses with a stylus (pen) or fingers and is a more convenient way to interface with the device than a keyboard.

Additional display:

As a rule, an additional display is installed in folding phones. Depending on the model of the device, the additional display may display the caller's number, time, signal reception level and battery charge level.

Multimedia

FM radio:

Your favorite radio stations or news programs will accompany you on a long journey and on the way to work. In some cases FM radio tuner can also be used as an alarm clock.
However, it should be remembered that due to design features, for the radio to work on almost all phone models, it is necessary to connect a wired portable headset.

Photo/Video camera

Main camera:

Thanks to the built-in digital camera It's very easy to capture important moments in life or shoot a video. Modern smartphone cameras are often not inferior in quality to real cameras. Using two, three or even four modules allows you to take wide-format photographs, photograph distant objects and achieve the effect of artistic background blur - bokeh.

Two modules (16 + 8 Mpix)

Autofocus:

Flash:

Designed for short-term and intense illumination of objects during shooting. Cell phones can be xenon (which is based on an electric gas-discharge lamp filled with xenon) or LED (LEDs act as a light source).

LED

Communications and interfaces

WiFi:

WiFi(IEEE 802.11) is a high-speed wireless connection technology aimed at building corporate, private or public networks. The technology is based on the use of so-called multiple access points (hot-spots), to which client terminals are connected. Wi-Fi technology is described by many specifications (standards), which is reflected in their name by the last letter (for example, IEEE 802.11g).
Based on Wi-Fi technology, public Internet access points have been created in cafes, hotels, airports and other places. Connecting a device to such points is as simplified as possible and requires entering a network identifier (SSID), username and password.

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Bluetooth module:

Technology Bluetooth implements wireless connection of devices via a secure radio channel in the 2.4 GHz range. The technology is based on the use of profiles (services) as tools for performing specific tasks (audio gateway, hands-free, headset, file transfer, dial-up networking, serial port, etc.). Each profile contains a specific set of operations and defines possible areas of interaction between devices.
With a Bluetooth connection, devices can be located at a distance of up to ten meters from each other, and therefore, the development of wireless accessories is one of the prerogatives of this technology.

Bluetooth stereo support:

bluetooth stereo or A2DP(Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) is a Bluetooth profile or service designed to transmit music in stereo sound. Devices that support the A2DP profile allow you to listen to music using wireless Bluetooth headphones, thereby freeing you from the limitations imposed by traditional wired stereo headsets.

Connection to PC:

By connecting the device to a personal computer, you can quickly and conveniently edit telephone entries or organizer notes, save important SMS messages or backup copies of the device’s contents on your PC, download various pictures, melodies, photos or video clips, and access the Internet.
Depending on the characteristics of the device, connection to a PC is carried out using an interface cable, infrared port, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi modules.

Audio jack:

Type of connector for connecting external audio devices (wired headsets, headphones, speakers). Many modern smartphones use a universal connector, such as USB Type-C or Lightning, for audio output, charging and data transfer.

Messages

SMS:

SMS(Short Messages Service) or short text messages are an alternative way to exchange information over cellular networks. Most devices support receiving and sending SMS messages in both English and Russian. Type the desired text, for example, “Darling, I’m home. I kiss you and am waiting for you,” and within a few seconds it will be delivered to the mobile device you specified.
In addition, based on the SMS service, a variety of SMS services are provided, from weather forecasts and exchange rates, to dating and downloading simple melodies or pictures.

MMS:

MMS(Multimedia Messaging Service) is a universal technology for exchanging multimedia messages, which is a development of the idea of ​​short SMS messages. In addition to plain text, an MMS message can contain color pictures and photographs, sound files of various formats or short videos. In addition, MMS messages can consist of several frames, representing a kind of animation.
When sending multimedia messages, GPRS or EDGE packet data transmission is used. You can send MMS messages either to a device compatible with this technology or to email.

Email:

Built-in email client is an analogue of programs for working with e-mail on a personal computer, but in a slightly limited version. As a rule, an E-mail client allows you to send and receive emails, as well as small attachments in the form of files with pictures or ringtones.

Alerts

Vibration alert:

In situations where the use of sound notification is not entirely appropriate or is completely useless, built-in vibration alert will inform you about an incoming call or other event by a slight shaking of the device body. For example, at a lecture or meeting, near a busy highway or at a noisy party.

Additional functions

Sensors:

Accelerometer(or G-sensor) - sensor of the device’s position in space. As a main function, the accelerometer is used to automatically change the orientation of the image on the display (vertical or horizontal). Also, the G-sensor is used as a pedometer; it can control various functions of the device by turning or shaking.
Gyroscope- a sensor that measures rotation angles relative to a fixed coordinate system. Capable of measuring rotation angles in several planes simultaneously. A gyroscope together with an accelerometer allows you to accurately determine the position of the device in space. Devices that use only accelerometers have lower measurement accuracy, especially when moving quickly. Also, the capabilities of the gyroscope can be used in modern games for mobile devices.
Light sensor- a sensor that sets the optimal brightness and contrast values ​​for a given light level. The presence of a sensor allows you to increase the battery life of the device.
Proximity sensor- a sensor that detects when the device is close to your face during a call, turns off the backlight and locks the screen, preventing accidental clicks. The presence of a sensor allows you to increase the battery life of the device.
Geomagnetic sensor- a sensor for determining the direction of the world in which the device is directed. Tracks the orientation of the device in space relative to the magnetic poles of the Earth. The information received from the sensor is used in mapping programs for terrain orientation.
Atmospheric pressure sensor- sensor for precise measurement of atmospheric pressure. It is part of the GPS system, allows you to determine altitude above sea level and speed up location determination.
Touch ID- fingerprint identification sensor.

Accelerometer / Geomagnetic / Gyroscope / Light / Proximity

Satellite navigation:

GPS(Global Positioning System) is a satellite navigation system that provides measurements of distance, time, speed and determines the location of objects anywhere on Earth. The system is developed, implemented and operated by the US Department of Defense. The basic principle of using the system is to determine location by measuring distances to an object from points with known coordinates - satellites. The distance is calculated by the delay time of signal propagation from sending it by the satellite to receiving it by the antenna of the GPS receiver.
Monoblock (regular, classic, brick) is the most versatile and common type of case in a traditional form factor without any opening or sliding parts.
Monoblock with flip(with lid) - a classic type case with an additional lid covering the main keyboard.
Folding(folding bed, book, frog) - a case of this type consists of two halves that fold out together. Typically, the main and, if available, additional displays are located in the upper part, and the keyboard block is located in the lower part.
Slider(sliding) - the body consists of two halves that slide apart relative to each other. Until recently, cases of this form factor were typical for expensive fashion models.
Rotating(rotator) - perhaps the most unusual type of case, when the front half rotates relative to the rear half by 180 or 360 degrees. Due to its design features, it is rarely used.

Android 6.0

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC

• Display 5.3", 1440x2560 Pix
• 3 cameras (up to 16 Mpix)
• 32 GB + MicroSD up to 2 TB
• GPS, GLONASS

*Specifications and package contents, including pre-installed or additional software, are subject to change by the manufacturer without prior notice.