The LG G5 is made out of metal...but covered in plastic? [Update]

[Nineshadow]

A recent teardown of the LG G5 from JerryRigEverything put a boxcutter against the back of the phone, only to reveal a layer of plastic on top of a metal frame. No April Fool's here, take a look yourself :

 

I honestly don't know what to think about this. I've seen a lot of people going on the hate bandwagon against LG with the surface of these news along with some reviewers complaining about backlight bleeding and other issues. Some call it misleading advertising, and to that I say...actually I don't know what to say. The phone itself does have a metal construction, but covered in plastic? This is probably the result of LG's microdizing process, which made it possible for this phone to have no antenna lines unlike the competition. Plus, I don't recall LG saying this is a full metal phone. Taken from their press release :

Quote

the insulative antenna is invisibly integrated into the body without disrupting the seamless look of the metal uni-body.

So is it misleading? Kinda...? Either way, it's a complicated situation. Even more so that ,thus far, there hasn't been any further development. I'm curious as to what will happen.

 

Update from an LG spokesperson :

Quote

Hey, this is Ken from LG. What you're seeing there is primer, not a plastic cover. As you know, primer is used to get paint to bond to aluminum, which is what we used for the G5's body. The aluminum alloy we sourced is known as LM201b (patent pending) and was developed at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology for use in automobiles and aircraft. LM201b, unlike the aluminum used in other smartphones, is diecast unibody which makes it very sturdy while still maintaining lightweight properties. We figured out a way to integrate the antenna bands into the aluminum seamlessly so you can't feel the lines and covered the LM201b with primer and paint using a process called microdizing which means that tiny particles of metal are infused in the coating and bonded to the aluminum. I think it's incorrect to say that a product isn't all metal if paint is involved. That's like saying cars and airplanes aren't metal because they're also painted. For the record, even metal that's anodized will scratch off. Our process may be different but it achieved what we were aiming for, which is a smooth, seamless metal finish that's durable and lightweight. We weren't interested in doing what has already been done. When did this become a bad thing? All we have ever claimed is that the G5 features a metal uni-body, nothing more, nothing less. Some people have a tendency to assume certain things (such as metal having to make contact with skin for a product to be considered made of metal) which is unfortunate and we chose not to play that game. And nowhere on the G5 does the primer touch skin so whatever side effects there may be, it's due to something other than the primer.

 

Here is the whole video for those interested :

 

 

[pagani123]

i find that very stupid. Why would anyone want plastic on the back of there phones vs metal 

[Master Disaster]

I was going to tell you to post this in off topic, then I watched the video, now I'm dumbstruck?

 

Seriously, WHYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!????

[SurvivorNVL]

[Techicolors]

the guy who made that video made a comment about this in reddit

 

basically he says that from what he heard from erica griffin, the plastic-metal design 

Quote

was necessary due to the modular nature of the phone. The plastic brings all surfaces to the same level and gives it the seamless appearance.

 

[Master Disaster]

Just now, Technicolors said:

the guy who made that video made a comment about this in reddit

 

basically he says that from what he heard from erica griffin, the plastic-metal design 

 

Fair enough I suppose, although why they couldn't just make the metal thicker or thinner to compensate for the depth change is beyond me.

[PlayStation 2]

Metal unibody doesn't exactly imply full metal composite?

[zMeul]

 

 

 

[Arty]

44 minutes ago, Maybach123 said:

i find that very stupid. Why would anyone want plastic on the back of there phones vs metal 

Temperature. 

[VerticalDiscussions]

At least we stole the show eh? Well, the Iphone SE did i guess...

 

But anyways, its not like "ITS A BIG FRIGGIN DEALBREAKER", because most people are getting a Smart Case from LG or an Otterbox/ZeroLemon case.

[Sors]

It's probably cheaper to spray a layer of plastic on the metal parts than polishing the metal to get a pretty finish.

[handymanshandle]

54 minutes ago, Maybach123 said:

i find that very stupid. Why would anyone want plastic on the back of there phones vs metal 

In most cases it doesn't even really matter, people often put a plastic case on their phones.
Though plastic or metal it really doesn't matter to me.

My old Moto G 2014 was glass and plastic. 

My Galaxy S6 has metal and glass sure but I like the Otterbox Commuter I have on it. 

 

[suicidalfranco]

love the ease for repair, replacing the screen alone would probably be a 10 minute job. Seeing this makes me want to get the V10, the fact that it's covered doesn't really bother me (plastic is good and doesn't scratch as easily as aluminium plus it makes so that the bottom part were the battery enters is less prone to be bent out of shape and makes the phone more bearable to hold when the SoC heats up), what bothers me the most is the small display and no volume buttons on the back and the humps brought by the fps and cameras

[JAKEBAB]

Structural integrity of metal with scratch resistance of plastic? Not a bad idea, too bad it apparently doesn't feel "premium" though.

[Doobeedoo]

Hmm, doesn't surprise me. Be it cause of structural integrity, scratch resistance, convenient for antennas and maybe cheaper.

[AMICLG]

7 hours ago, Sors said:

It's probably cheaper to spray a layer of plastic on the metal parts than polishing the metal to get a pretty finish.

They would anodize and color the metal which isn't that expensive. 

[QueenDemetria]

LG did this for structural reasons. Plastic coated metal is less prone to getting dents, which I can appreciate the effort from LG after seeing dented iPhones and HTC M phones. Now, if only they can work on their build quality...

[UnknownEngineer]

After watching the video I still don't see the problem, what is wrong with having plastic on the phone? Do you really want to feel the heat from the components that bad?

 

If anything the phone looked very easy to repair, and that is an automatic + as far as I am concerned.

[Nineshadow]

Update :

Quote

Hey, this is Ken Hong from LG. What you're seeing there is primer, not a plastic cover. As you know, primer is used to get paint to bond to aluminum, which is what we used for the G5's body. The aluminum alloy we sourced is known as LM201b (patent pending) and was developed at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology for use in automobiles and aircraft. LM201b, unlike the aluminum used in other smartphones, is diecast unibody which makes it very sturdy while still maintaining lightweight properties. We figured out a way to integrate the antenna bands into the aluminum seamlessly so you can't feel the lines and covered the LM201b with primer and paint using a process called microdizing which means that tiny particles of metal are infused in the coating and bonded to the aluminum. I think it's incorrect to say that a product isn't all metal if paint is involved. That's like saying cars and airplanes aren't metal because they're also painted. For the record, even metal that's anodized will scratch off. Our process may be different but it achieved what we were aiming for, which is a smooth, seamless metal finish that's durable and lightweight. We weren't interested in doing what has already been done. When did this become a bad thing? All we have ever claimed is that the G5 features a metal uni-body, nothing more, nothing less. Some people have a tendency to assume certain things (such as metal having to make contact with skin for a product to be considered made of metal) which is unfortunate and we chose not to play that game. And nowhere on the G5 does the primer touch skin so whatever side effects there may be, it's due to something other than the primer.

 

[suicidalfranco]

6 hours ago, Nineshadow said:

Update :

 

sound like strong, good arguments. But doesn't it explains the imperfections Erica Griffin encountered on her device?

 

 

cause that really isn't a seamless finish to me

Also that uneven gap between the device and the battery holder would make me go crazy 

[jollander]

6 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

-snip-

 

Couldn't that just be - like with every other product ever made - simply one of the faulty ones?

There's always gonna be a processor that bins badly, a screen that passes inspection even though it displays errors, a paintjob that isn't even.. Etc etc..

 

 

[thebennyboy]

She more than likely got a bad unit, you do have to wonder about what QA was done on the device. Reminds me of the bootloop issues with the G4, multiple batches were tainted with dodgy connectors. My G4 was made in one of the dodgy batches in May, it's a real shame as i really like my G4 as it has basically everything i want in a phone. No issues yet so i might be ok.

[suicidalfranco]

1 hour ago, jollander said:

 

Couldn't that just be - like with every other product ever made - simply one of the faulty ones?

There's always gonna be a processor that bins badly, a screen that passes inspection even though it displays errors, a paintjob that isn't even.. Etc etc..

 

 

hope so, waiting for her video update to see if it also appears on the replacement 

[zMeul]

LG responded: http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/30/11329862/lg-g5-design-story-lee-jung-hoon-interview

 

 

 

[patrick3027]

17 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

sound like strong, good arguments. But doesn't it explains the imperfections Erica Griffin encountered on her device?

 

 

cause that really isn't a seamless finish to me

Also that uneven gap between the device and the battery holder would make me go crazy 

I know she's kinda famous for going insanely in depth but given more than 50% of people who will buy this phone will put a case on it, I'm not sure complaining 10 minutes about the design is a good thing to do.

 

The only big issue is light bleeding, which, to be hoenst, I wouldn't notice until I've used the device for several weeks (she had to go in her completely dark bathroom before noticing it).

 

Anyway, I never buy $600+ phones, which often means I gladly take some compromises. Maybe I'm not the best person to commentate on such a phone but I think the issues are all in all pretty minor.