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LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

engadget.com

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Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#121

Post by newjersey »

ezzaf wrote: post #119
Pxtl wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if you're talking about giving an old phone a new lease on life with a replacement battery as a once-in-a-lifetime service operation, it's fine to break out the tools to replace the battery. If you do battery swaps as a nightly workflow so you can have a day battery and a night battery, then yeah pop-out replacement is the only option

Having disassembled the aforementioned Z3C a couple of times, I disagree that it's fine to have to break out the tools for it ever. It's a tough job, with lovely warnings like this one from iFixit: "Warning first: Never try to move the battery unless it's broken and need to replace. Because there is very very strong adhesive sticker between battery and motherboard.And too much effort or careless operation will break…

The phone isn't quite the same once an unprofessional like me has opened it without guidance. For instance this nexus 5 on which I replaced a cracked LCD now has a little bit of give when I press the back. It used to feel completely solid before.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#122

Post by newjersey »

Perixoog wrote: post #85
noobie wrote: post #23

Rant. It really bugs me when consumers ask for more features regardless of their feasibility, here we have a great phone with changebale batteries and yet we ask for it to be still on while we swap the batteries! Hasn't it occurred to us that maybe it's technically difficult to add in a supercap. Just be thankful. This is like constentaly asking for phones with more RAM and processing power, I am really glad Moore's…

Is it that hard to make a phone that works when it's plugged into a charger without a battery?

Yes, this is my number one feature request as well. Well, something related. Stop charging the battery once the battery is full. Run the phone on external power when connected to the wall. Sorry of like how a laptop or notebook computer would work.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#123

Post by thebaer »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #67
kyriakos wrote: post #5

It appears that LG is the only company to dare offer real innovation on its flagship models. I don't know how well this model will do but it seems it's not just a faster rehash of last year's model.

The LG phones have been great so far, I still have my G2 years later, everyone in my house has had them.

Agreed -- the G3 is the best Android phone I've owned in my 6 years of owning Android devices, and will be the first one I use until it doesn't work anymore, as opposed to upgrading on the 2 year cycle.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#124

Post by malsun »

IshKebab wrote: post #90
jfrumar wrote: post #2

I'm so glad LG are sticking with a switchable battery - it's a must have feature for me. Lots of people have forgotten what it's like to grab a wall-charged battery, slip it in and run out the door with 100% power in a few seconds. Tethering your phone to the wall sucks. Clunky portable battery packs are the worst. I hope this phone sells well, it has my support.

Honestly that sounds rubbish compared to just having a phone with a decent battery life in the first place. I used to think it was impossible (I had a Nexus 4) but my Z3C has an impressively good battery life - so much so that I rarely think about it. I don't even bother plugging it in for satnav duties. Also it charges at a pretty decent rate - probably takes an hour to fully charge from 0%. Battery swapping is a wo…

Being able to swap the battery has been a feature in mobile phones for decades, I wouldn't buy a phone without it. Same with laptops. My current Apple laptop is eight years old and still going fine purely because I was able to remove the battery when it started ballooning.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#125

Post by giancarlostoro »

thebaer wrote: post #123
giancarlostoro wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The LG phones have been great so far, I still have my G2 years later, everyone in my house has had them.

Agreed -- the G3 is the best Android phone I've owned in my 6 years of owning Android devices, and will be the first one I use until it doesn't work anymore, as opposed to upgrading on the 2 year cycle.

Exactly my same mentality for now, although I do want to get into Google Fi which only allows specific phones (due to how their network works) so I may have to try a phone that might have faults.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#126

Post by namocat »

omonra wrote: post #116

I've been a loyal Samsung owner since S3. Didn't upgrade to S6 because they dropped removable battery. Was waiting to see if it's brought back with S7 - it's not. Will be getting this phone as an upgrade. For me removable battery and SD Card in a flagship phone are a must. Then comes camera quality, then price.

I was in the same boat as you (loyal Samsung owner, still using my trusty S3) until a few months ago when I decided to go for last year's LG flagship, the G4, and I gotta say I've been extremely displeased with LG. Particularly, the way LG Mobile has handled the many problems that have plagued the G4.

Apparently, catastrophic bootloop failures of the G4 were such a widespread problem, that a petition has so far gained a couple thousand signatures [0] to get LG to officially recall the bricked phones. I personally experienced the bootloop of death on my G4 only a couple of months after getting it, and their customer service has been atrocious - even refusing to fix my phone after they've now admitted its due to a known hardware defect [1] because mine was the international, unlocked version. So, just a heads up to beware LG's "Caveat emptor" practices.

[0] - https://www.change.org/p/lg-mobile-launch-a-replacement-prog...

[1] - http://www.androidauthority.com/lg-admits-g4-bootloop-proble...

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#127

Post by oxplot »

mmastrac wrote: post #8

This might give people a taste for what really modular devices like Ara can offer, but the fact that it doesn't do battery swaps without powering down is going to make it far less interesting to people. An internal battery to give you 30-60s in an emergency hibernate mode would have been game-changing. Kudos to LG for actually taking this step though. With luck this will whet the appetite for phones that are truly mo…

My lenovo x250 laptop has an internal battery that does exactly this, lets you swap the external one without interruption. I haven't used this much but I can see how important it is for someone on the go.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#128

Post by erkkie »

newjersey wrote: post #121
ezzaf wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having disassembled the aforementioned Z3C a couple of times, I disagree that it's fine to have to break out the tools for it ever. It's a tough job, with lovely warnings like this one from iFixit: "Warning first: Never try to move the battery unless it's broken and need to replace. Because there is very very strong adhesive sticker between battery and motherboard.And too much effort or careless operation will break…

The phone isn't quite the same once an unprofessional like me has opened it without guidance. For instance this nexus 5 on which I replaced a cracked LCD now has a little bit of give when I press the back. It used to feel completely solid before.

Yeah, this is because there's a sealing tape that's supposed to go to the frame after opening.

Original frames usually have it attached to the frame, aftermarket ones don't. Some tape or glue needed to close the original one after opening.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#129

Post by oxplot »

noobie wrote: post #23

Rant. It really bugs me when consumers ask for more features regardless of their feasibility, here we have a great phone with changebale batteries and yet we ask for it to be still on while we swap the batteries! Hasn't it occurred to us that maybe it's technically difficult to add in a supercap. Just be thankful. This is like constentaly asking for phones with more RAM and processing power, I am really glad Moore's…

Say the new feature was a super accurate GPS, down to a centimeter so you could now find your way in a shopping mall. Oh and it'd report a position once a minute!

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#130

Post by sirkneeland »

asafira wrote: post #59
danielconde wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I wish it had wireless charging like Qi, but metal cases apparently makes it more difficult to implement

In the past, I had a phone with wireless charging, but mostly found it a pain. Putting it down slightly in the wrong position often caused the phone to not charge overnight, and the charging was just too damn slow in the morning when I realized that it hadn't charged overnight.

Palm really nailed wireless charging with the Pre. Magnets ensured it lined up correctly. And allowed it to be mounted on a stand at a great viewing angle.

Too bad about Palm...

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