Gadgetory

Samsung and LG officially go head-to-head at MWC 2016 this is Joshua Vergara from Android Authority what's going on everybody and this is the Samsung Galaxy s7 versus the LG g5 now while one of these devices is keeping to the design language from last year the other one is making a very drastic change the Samsung Galaxy s7 might look a lot like the one from last year but a new feature is coming back from the original galaxies and that is the micro SD card slot which is now part of the sim tray but ultimately this is the same metal frame and dual glass panel design that we saw from last year only this time both the s7 and the s7 edge will also have edges on the rear now this makes the phone sit very nicely in the hand and if you use the note 5 and knew that this was a nice ergonomic feel then you now have it in these smaller and much easier to Handl 5.1 inch Galaxy s7 on the other hand you have the LG g5 which looks vastly different from the one we had last year the power button is still on the back but now that houses the fingerprint reader and this metal body design is pretty much just a unibody but still is able to have a removable battery now we will talk about the modular design of the LG g5 in our first look extensive video but ultimately what you do is you actually slide out the bottom panel and you are able to take out the battery itself snap it off and then add it to new modules that will add functionality to the experience of the LG g5 aesthetically it's really your choice if the galaxy s7 feels way too familiar to you at least the LG g5 is starting to think outside of the box and even if that might be at the detriment of those who love to the LG G lines design at the very least you're getting some new features in the g5 that are outside of the norm the galaxy s7 is still economically better in this particular comparison because it sits so nicely in the hand due to the curves on the back of the phone now both displays on here are bringing always-on display technology and features and basically what that means is that when locking the phone you will have a display on the screen that will still show the time or any other pieces of information that are available in both cases however though the galaxy s7 provides a little bit more control and a few more features in terms of its always-on display it is still rather limited and in the case of the g5 you could put a signature on this particular feature but it might get cut off because it can only handle so many characters but nonetheless 5.3 inches is what you get in the LG g5 in an IPS construction quad HD of course and the AMOLED on the 5.1 inch sized galaxy s7 provides the kind of colors that you would want out of a display if the punched out colors of the AMOLED really speak to you performance is going to be a big part of both of these devices and the LG g5 wears the Snapdragon 820 badge quite proudly the 820 is going to be powering a lot of different devices and it that includes all the modules and even a VR experience on the other hand the galaxy s7 is of course going to be powering a number of peripherals also like the gear VR but at our meeting today Samsung true to form was keeping pretty mum about whether or not it was the Exynos 88-90 inside of their devices and we will be able to confirm that later on and we do think that it is indeed going to be that processor as the rumors have been claiming but even then the performance already feels quite good on both of these devices and everything has been heavily streamlined in the case of the galaxy s7 it still feels like the TouchWiz of yesteryear and it has a lot of the features kind of hiding in plain sight as you go to the settings you find that a lot of advanced features are available but if you get into one particular setting in the galaxy s7 there is a galaxy labs area where you can actually turn off the app drawer instead just move all of the icons to the home screens and that's where they all live of course that is a controversial move for pretty much any manufacturer but in the case of the galaxy s7 at least you have the option to turn it on or off on the other hand the LG g5 went ahead and mixed it all together there is no app drawer in this version of Android marshmallow that is installed on the LG g5 and we did think that that was a bit of a bummer when we first used it what LG did say however is that market research showed that a lot of people are looking for more streamlined and more and simpler experiences on their smartphones and eliminating the app drawer also eliminates a few of those confusing and convoluted menus that would be used if you were trying to uninstall remove or just move icons around but still between these two operating systems it's a little bit of a toss-up while Samsung however did keep a lot of the features inside of their TouchWiz LG has been trying to really streamline the experience and certain features like the qslide are no longer available so if you want even more features and let's say multitasking features on the galaxy s7 it might provide even more functionality for you over the LG g5 both devices also have fingerprint readers and they're just located in different places but have the same exact way of triggering them the power button on the g5 is on the back and then you leave your index finger there and it will activate a but the home button the iconic home button rather of the galaxy s7 is here and a little bit more flush with the body so that you're able to just press the home button leave your thumb there and then it is able to unlock and in Hardware both of these phones have a lot to give but the galaxy s7 keeps things fairly conventional you have all of the different connections available within but power consumption has been given a huge boost because the galaxy s7 comes with 3000 milliamp hours already available now it also provides wireless charging which the LG g5 does not however both phones are able to use quick charging in order to get the batteries up to speed in little to no time at all but the LG g5 takes the crown in Hardware solely because it is an expandable experience pop out that bottom panel and remove the battery and you can put the new battery into a new module which will actually put more functionality onto the phone this was shown in a couple of main examples including a hi-fi audio DAC that could be put on the bottom to enhance the audio experience with hi-fi audio or a camera module called the cam Plus which is basically a camera grip that adds even more battery to the entire experience well and it provides hardware buttons for the camera experience like a shutter button a video record button zoom and just a way to trigger the camera from anywhere in the phone this is a very out-of-the-box way of thinking for the LG g5 and if functionality over form is definitely what you're looking for then there might be more to offer in the LG g5 over the galaxy s7 that's not to say that the galaxy s7 doesn't have a great camera up its sleeve either as the point-seven aperture 1.4 micron pixel size 12 megapixel camera on the galaxy s7 should be able to provide some really great photos especially in low-light given the construction of the actual sensor on the other hand the LG g5 has its own tricks up its sleeve adding in a wide-angle lens on top of the conventional camera that is there so that you are able to get even more into your shot by having a much wider field of view 135 degrees worth to be exact and it is a fairly seamless experience to zoom in and out of elements on the viewfinder which will then trigger the change from one lens to the other it basically comes down to different experiences while you might have had a different design language between these two devices now you have completely different experiences and expandability the galaxy s7 is or refinement of last year's design but it does bring back a couple of key features that a lot of users were wishing were in the galaxy s6 if the s6 was everything you wanted but it was just missing those few things then maybe the s7 is now the perfect smartphone for you the LG g5 on the other hand feels that there is going to be a stagnation in the smartphone space and is trying to buck that trend by creating a whole new ecosystem for the G line yes--it's design might be radically different and some people may not be able to really fathom that but because of this new design we now have new functionality adding in the modules whether it be the cam plus the hi-fi audio or even the VR 360 ecosystem will allow the LG g5 to provide even more experiences to the general user and we are excited to see both of these phones in action when we finally get our review units so stay tuned for a full vs. between these two including camera shootouts and you will be able to see which one of these phones is definitely for you until then keep it tuned to Android Authority for even more about both of these phones and MWC 2016 because we are your source for all things Android