Should I still buy an LG G5 in 2017?

[maartendc]

Hi all,

 

So the LG G5 is 2016's flagship model, so getting a bit old. The successor LG G6 has already been out for some time.

 

That being said, it is $249 right now, which is really cheap. It has better specs than any other phone you can buy for $250 right now.

It comes with Android 7 and *might* get an update to android 8.

 

So what am I missing here? What is the catch? Is it a bad idea to buy last years flagship model?

 

Thanks!

[dizmo]

It's a horrible device. Very poor battery life, boot looping issues, feels like it's made of plastic when it's made of metal.

I'd stay away from it.

Spend a little more and get a Moto Z Play.

[The Sloth]

nope, boot loop scare avoid it. 

-https://www.xda-developers.com/lg-bootloop-lawsuit-adds-nexus-5x-lg-g5-v20-case/

[Ryujin2003]

If you want Android, find a good deal on a Moto or Samsung that has the features you want.

[Colexd]

its...bad

[maartendc]

1 hour ago, nerdslayer1 said:

nope, boot loop scare avoid it. 

-https://www.xda-developers.com/lg-bootloop-lawsuit-adds-nexus-5x-lg-g5-v20-case/

 

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

It's a horrible device. Very poor battery life, boot looping issues, feels like it's made of plastic when it's made of metal.

I'd stay away from it.

Spend a little more and get a Moto Z Play.

 

1 hour ago, Colexd said:

its...bad

O wow, I had no idea. I was looking at the V20 as well. I guess I will stay far away from them. No wonder they are discounted so much.

 

Hate Samsung phones personally, so it will be either a Moto or the Google Pixel then... Thanks!

[pzspah]

There's some 2017 revisit reviews of the G5 on YouTube. It doesn't fare too bad in those reviews at that pricepoint.

 

The G6 line expanded into the G6 plus recently. There's also the Q6 which is a metal and slightly lower end G6 and the Q8 which is a waterproof V20.

[dizmo]

5 hours ago, maartendc said:

 

 

O wow, I had no idea. I was looking at the V20 as well. I guess I will stay far away from them. No wonder they are discounted so much.

 

Hate Samsung phones personally, so it will be either a Moto or the Google Pixel then... Thanks!

Yeah, the V20 is pretty bad in certain areas (battery life) even without the issues. Boggles my mind how LG can't tweak Android to give their phones better battery life. There are other phones on the market that can last twice as long as the V20 can on a charge.

 

For your pricepoint I'd look hard at the Moto Z Play, and the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom.

1 hour ago, pzspah said:

There's some 2017 revisit reviews of the G5 on YouTube. It doesn't fare too bad in those reviews at that pricepoint.

 

The G6 line expanded into the G6 plus recently. There's also the Q6 which is a metal and slightly lower end G6 and the Q8 which is a waterproof V20.

Eh I'd still stay away from LG until they've proven the issues haven't stemmed into yet another generation of their phones.

[Rupe]

I used the G3 for years and am now using the G5, I think the internet is having the effect of making the boot looping issues seem more widespread than they really are. Although it is more likely to bootloop on an LG than other competing brands I don't think it's close to likely.

A certain percentage of phones bootloop, search any major brands phone with 'bootloop' after it and you will find results. Once they had been tarnished it became a great story to run for those hits.

For $250 you are not going to find a better phone, that's a steal.

[D13H4RD]

Well, it certainly has compelling hardware such as a Snapdragon 820, 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, a 1/2.6" 16MP main camera complemented by a wide-angle secondary camera with a smaller sensor and aperture and Android Nougat.

 

But it was a flop for a reason. It's not a super horrendous phone, but it's also not a great one either unless camera performance is critical.

[Rupe]

8 hours ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

But it was a flop for a reason. It's not a super horrendous phone,

I think its a great phone, it was a flop at coming up against the S7 at the same price point, your talking like its early 2016 this is $250 now, that is a great deal

[Conormcgroover]

I would.  Its a great smartphone. Only complaint i have with it is that almost all of them have little screen retention on the lcd. Other than that its a great phone.

 

Great screen, if you dont mind that screen ghosting. 

Great performance

Good speakers

Great camera.

I dont mind the plastic feel of it because i use it in a case anyway.  

Fast and fluid 

 

[Zodiark1593]

On 8/17/2017 at 8:03 AM, dizmo said:

It's a horrible device. Very poor battery life, boot looping issues, feels like it's made of plastic when it's made of metal.

I'd stay away from it.

Spend a little more and get a Moto Z Play.

Ehh, SD820 >>> SD625.

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Ehh, SD820 >>> SD625.

Ehhh working phone >>>> phone unusable because of boot loop.

Have you ever even used a phone with an SD625?

[Zodiark1593]

44 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Ehhh working phone >>>> phone unusable because of boot loop.

Have you ever even used a phone with an SD625?

Used a SD430 before. Wasn't impressed, especially by the gpu. Was about a side grade from my old phone. My LeEco Le Pro 3 is even cheaper than the above options and is faster with the SD821, so it's pretty obvious where I prioritize for phone choices.

[dizmo]

2 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Used a SD430 before. Wasn't impressed, especially by the gpu. My LeEco Le Pro 3 is even cheaper than the above options and is faster with the SD821, so it's pretty obvious where I prioritize for phone choices.

So you base a mid tier chip's performance on an entry level chip? Makes sense.

It's cheaper, but offers a worse overall experience. I've played with that phone, the software left a lot to be desired.

Chances are most people won't notice the difference in speed. I'd rather have the longer battery life.

[Zodiark1593]

Just now, dizmo said:

So you base a mid tier chip's performance on an entry level chip? Makes sense.

It's cheaper, but offers a worse overall experience. I've played with that phone, the software left a lot to be desired.

Chances are most people won't notice the difference in speed. I'd rather have the longer battery life.

Bunch of Cortex A53s in both really, 8 each to be exact, with clock speeds being the only difference (1.4 vs 2.0 GHz). The GPU architecture is also identical with only the difference in clocks (Adreno 505 vs 506). Besides the very low power consumption owing to the 14nm process, I fail to see why this should be considered mid-range. The SD650, performance-wise would be a proper mid-range chip.

 

Tbh, I didn't even really touch the stock software on this thing. Soon as I pulled it out of the box, I got to work on the Custom ROM install.

[dizmo]

42 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Bunch of Cortex A53s in both really, 8 each to be exact, with clock speeds being the only difference (1.4 vs 2.0 GHz). The GPU architecture is also identical with only the difference in clocks (Adreno 505 vs 506). Besides the very low power consumption owing to the 14nm process, I fail to see why this should be considered mid-range. The SD650, performance-wise would be a proper mid-range chip.

 

Tbh, I didn't even really touch the stock software on this thing. Soon as I pulled it out of the box, I got to work on the Custom ROM install.

In day to day use the "performance decrease" isn't even really noticed.

[noobs guid to marsterrace]

I'd get the Moto g5 plus it's just a better option over all plus it has a more stock version of Android.

[AlanAlan]

On 8/17/2017 at 8:00 AM, maartendc said:

Hi all,

 

So the LG G5 is 2016's flagship model, so getting a bit old. The successor LG G6 has already been out for some time.

 

That being said, it is $249 right now, which is really cheap. It has better specs than any other phone you can buy for $250 right now.

It comes with Android 7 and *might* get an update to android 8.

 

So what am I missing here? What is the catch? Is it a bad idea to buy last years flagship model?

 

Thanks!

A used LG G6 is around the same price.

[Rupe]

3 hours ago, milkerfish said:

The G5 was terribly built and failed with modularity.

 

I'd get a G6, they're being sold for super cheap. I got mine for around $380 factory unlocked. 

Have to disagree, my G5 feels like its built real solid, dropped it a few times its been fine. And although the modulaity was a fail the way the battery slides in and out is a neat piece of engineering. Although presumably due to dwindling stocks the G5 has actually gone up a bit in price recently i think and the G6 is undoubtable a better buy at this point in time, but if you can still snag a $250 G5 that is a great deal.