LG G5 now available for pre-order in the UK, costs £529 and ships on April 8

LG unveiled its next flagship smartphone on the same say Samsung took the wraps off its Galaxy S7 and S7. Thankfully, it did so at a different time and in a completely different manner. The theme of its launch was ‘fun’, and the device itself looks like it could be a lot of fun if the modular system pays off.

At the time of its announcement, we didn’t know exactly when LG would be making the device available to buyers. But as it turns out, UK consumers can be among the first to place their orders, with Amazon offering pre-orders from today.

Shoppers in the UK can pre-order the LG G5 SIM-free and unlocked in Rose Gold or Titan Gray for £529 from Amazon UK ($747 USD approx inc. taxes), with delivery expected on April 8th. For a flagship device, that’s not an unreasonable amount to charge. For reference, that’s £10 ($14 USD) cheaper than the lowest capacity iPhone 6s which has a much smaller display and half the storage. It also happens to be £40 ($56 USD) cheaper than a 32GB Galaxy S7.

As a reminder, the LG G5 features an all-new unibody metal construction, which is a major first for the G-series smartphones. There’s a dual camera system on the back made up of a regular 16MP lens with OIS and 4K video, alongside an 8MP wide angle lens. Joining the camera, dual flash and laser autofocus sensor is a fingerprint scanner which doubles as the power/sleep button.

Other specs include a 5.3-inch Quad HD display which features an ‘Always On’ portion in the top third, a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage which you can expand up to an extra 200GB.

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The big advantages this phone has over the S7, potentially, are Quick Charge 3.0 and USB Type C support. Both represent the future in I/O and charging technologies. While Type C opens up a wealth of potential capabilities, Quick Charge 3.0 means you’ll get 83% charge in just 30 mins. That’s around 40%+ faster than the Quick Charge 2.0 found in the S7 and S7 Edge. It also has a removable battery thanks to the innovative/unusual (delete as applicable) modular design which lets users connect some pretty cool looking modules, like the physical camera controls and the B&O DAC unit.

If you’re in the UK and want to get your pre-orders in, you can do so from now.