[LG G5 Guides, News, & Discussion] manaox2:
I'm surprised at all the G4 users saying the G5 didn't offer too much incentive to upgrade, while also complaining about the G4 performance. I felt that way when the G4 came out and I had a G3, but not about the G5. First off, this phone finally has the specs (4Gb RAM, Snapdragon 820 and Adreno 530) to properly run at the resolution the G3 and G4 choked on. If you check the 3D Mark scores in the quoted link, it has literally 5x faster 3D performance than the G4! It also is the first Android device I've seen with access to the Vulkin API for low level hardware control. This processor runs using 30% less energy while being 54% faster than the 810, so while it's not a bigger battery, it's 14nm vs 20nm production will allow it to go much farther than you probably expect. http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/snapdragon-820-vs-snapdragon-810 The 820 kryo cores are also benchmarked running cooler than the 808 and especially 810 which had the overheating and throttling issues.

The G5's 135 degree camera will finally allow you to take a picture of something large in tight spaces, even the G5 narrow camera has a wider FOV. It has an iR blaster. It has a removable battery. It has quick charge 3.0 and USB type-C that Samsung does not. It's always on display is actually useful for more than just the time which Samsung only allows notifications from it's own apps. It is not a fingerprint magnet and it doesn't have a glass back plus a horrible iFixIt repair rating. It doesn't have wireless charging, but if the type C port somehow wears out (Even though it's much more rugged), you can likely just replace the bottom portion of the phone (If LG doesn't offer it separately, I guess get the DAC). It's battery life for screen on time is nearly identical in benchmarks with the S7. LG has always had great standby battery life as well. LG usually has a stronger radio, though I'm not sure how the metal casing will affect that. I'm addicted to the tap on and tap off screen function.

Samsung's S7 may only have 12 Mp on the rear compared to the G5 16 Mp, but it does have the f/1.7 aperture compared to the f/1.8 of the G5 and S6 that lets in 25% more light and a better lens that allows it to allow in up 95% more light than the S6 for low light pictures. The S7 edge has a 3600 mAh battery, compared to the G5 2800 and the S7 3000. The S7 is also water and dust resistant. Some people may still enjoy the physical button.

The biggest downfall of the S7 with the Qualcomm snapdragon is that it is super locked down as they are more concerned than ever about Samsung Pay taking off. It is not ever likely to see permanent root with any US carrier version including T-mobile, at best it will have to be rerooted with a live exploit after each and every boot. http://www.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7-bootloader-lock-explained-you-might-not-get-aosp-after-all/

Samsung is notoriously slow with updates, LG is especially fast for updating carrier flagship devices, meaning usually within a few months of an Android OS release. LG is more likely to get root and possibly a way around the boot loader lock, but I'm not holding my breath. Basically, it's still very early days to judge either phone, especially the G5. Wait for users to get their hands on them for a little while.