LG G5 launch date starts March 31 for Korea, April 1 for US

By JC Torres/March 29, 2016 9:11 pm EST

LG is unsurprisingly hyped to get its 2016 flagship into the hands of customers worldwide. After bidding its time, seeing Samsung and Apple make a ton of headlines and sales, it's time for its LG G5 to take center stage. Hopefully with the same amount of fanfare and sales as well. Starting March 31, the somewhat modular smartphone will be available in South Korea. The next day, April 1, the LG G5 will ship in the US, and that's no joke. Of course accompanying it will be the "Friends" that make the G5 a bit more exciting.

Spec-wise and by itself, the LG G5 is unambiguously a 2016 champion, sporting some of the highest spec components available in the market today. That includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 4 GB of RAM, a 5.3-inch QHD LCD screen, and a still removable 2,800 mAh battery. On top of this, the G5 boasts of a dual camera setup, with a 135 and 78 degree lens, and an always-on display for notifications.

The smartphone's real appeal, however, will be in the "friends" it has and it has quite a lot of those. In particular, however, we're looking at those friends that take advantage of the LG G5's partially modular design, like the Bang and Olufsen Hi-Fi Plus DAC and the CAM Plus with physical camera controls. These, together with the 360 CAM and 360 VR virtual reality duo, as well as the Rolling Bot, TONE Platinum headphones, and BeoPlay H3 earphones, make up the LG G5's close knit group.

LG is also taking the time to boast of the aesthetic changes it has made for the G5's graphical user interface. In addition to the UX 5.0 software features it advertised last time, LG is also showing off all the flat colors, fancy animations, and curves that promise to deliver a playful experience, in line with LG's chosen theme for the G5 itself.

LG says that around 200 carriers and operators worldwide are ready to let loose the G5 in their local markets. Pricing and availability dates, especially for other markets, will be revealed close to their launch and in each local region.