Flagship phones from two reputable manufacturers are going to have a lot in common especially if each run the Android OS. But there are differences between the LG’s and Samsung’s offerings and you should really know what to expect before you find yourself opening up your wallet and spending your hard earned cash. A decision between either of these smartphones and an iPhone is considerably easier, as all three are great phones but for someone who prefers Android, the choice is already made for you.
The same but different with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5
Let’s be clear, these are both fantastic products and the differences are far from great between them. I won’t be weighing in with my feelings on which one of these should be your device for the next year (or longer) but will look to highlight the more significant differences between the two. These are arguably the best Android phones on the market so you’ll be happy either way but better if you don’t waste your time saying things like, “I wish mine could do that.”
Both phones have 4GB of RAM and ridiculously fast processors driving feature packed phones that will likely exceed your requirements. If blindfolded, you might not be able to tell the two apart given nearly identical thicknesses, weight and size, but make no mistake there are quite a few differences between them, if only subtle ones.
The cameras and displays
The cameras on the two devices may be the biggest difference between them. Now, if you’re looking for the best camera on the smartphone market, you’re probably best served looking at Microsoft’s Lumia line as they are nothing short of brilliant. The biggest problem with that is that strategy and choice is that you now have a smartphone running Windows and it just got a little dumber as a result. Samsung went out of its way to lower the megapixel count for this year’s flagship but this was quickly compensated for with by making the pixels bigger and adding its new dual pixel AF system. LG remained comfortable with its count but added another camera with a wider angle for 3D shooting. LG’s flagship has a higher megapixel count on its front-facing camera but I’m not sure this is a good thing, I don’t necessarily need someone peering into my pores when having a conversation, I mean there is a reason that TV personalities go to makeup before getting behind the camera.
If you’re choosing one of these models based on their cameras it’s best that you do further research as we just don’t have the space to do either justice here and you may have a specific need to which I’m ignorant in helping you make a sound choice.
It’s quite difficult to tell the difference between the displays on these devices at first, second or fourteenth glance. The G5’s screen is a .2-inches bigger but features a lower pixel density than the Galaxy S7. Samsung’s device features a Super AMOLED screen while LG decided to stay with and LCD display. While again, almost imperceptible, it begs the question of battery life as both feature an always on screen to provide you with notifications even when you have “disabled” the screen. Simple knowledge of the two technologies screams that Samsung will do a better job extending your battery life with its always-on screen, but this hasn’t been specifically proven to be the case yet, so I’ll withhold judgement until I read something considerably more concrete than my assumption.
Sex appeal and durability
I know which device I prefer to look at and hold. But design and appearance are far too personal for me to tell you which one of these devices is the one that will become the apple of your eye when you look at them together. The Galaxy S7’s glossy aluminum and glass casing is simply stunning but the LG model is also quite handsome. It should be noted that the matte finish on the rear of the G5 does offer more grip than the Galaxy S7 but if you were to drop the Galaxy S7 it looks like it would have a better chance of survival in the wild. Additionally, and this could potentially be a deal breaker, the Galaxy S7 is dust and waterproofed to IP68 where the LG flagship doesn’t offer the same protection.
Battery and storage
It’s likely that the Samsung Galaxy S7is a bit faster than the LG G5 but only to a slight degree and I’ve not seen either on “the clock.” Both have impressive processors with 4GB of RAM.
The Galaxy S7’s battery cells are powerful at 3,000mAh, more powerful than the G5’s cells at 2,800mAh. But, and for many this may prove significant, the LG does allow for battery swapping if you need the comfort of knowing you always have another battery to turn to in a pinch. Each phone claims to get a full charge within 100 minutes if recharging the battery with a wired connection. While the G5 offers no wireless charging the Galaxy S7 can be topped off with either a Qi or PMA inductive wireless charging station.
Lastly, both phones will give you 32GB of internal storage and both have microSD slots to expand this. The Galaxy S7 is expandable to 200GB, but the GB will happily take up to 2TB.
Once again, each are fantastic and it’s a matter of deciding what you need.
