New reports indicate that LG’s next flagship, presumably the LG G6, won’t me modular or compatible with any of the LG G5’s Friends.
When LG first debuted its flagship G5, we loved the idea of a modular phone – our Editor Theunis dubbed the flagship the most interesting phone in years before we caught whiff of the Moto Z. However, that appreciation didn’t spill over to consumers everywhere, and now it seems that even LG will drop its modular accessories – or ‘Friends’ with its next flagship, the LG G6.
In fact, that’s something which has more or less happened already – the LG V20, which is the South Korean marque’s new performance flagship, isn’t modular at all.
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The report – carried by South Korean media house ET News – cites that LG’s roster of executives (themselves the result of a mass cull that occurred following the G5’s dismal sales figures) have elected to pursue a more ‘conventional’ strategy for the LG G6.
If anything, we’d love to see a return to the days of the LG G4.
The LG G5 – as a modular experiment – ultimately proved disastrous for LG. The firm, which set aside its niche design language which highlighted curvature and materials such as leather, introduced the G5 as ‘the phone built for fun’ in a delightfully weird Jason Statham advert.
However, consumers opted for more streamlined handsets such as Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and later S7 range rather than purchase additional accessories which only compounded the G5’s asking price.
Read: LG‘s V20 is tipped to be the first Android Nougat smartphone
What are your thoughts? Are you happy to see LG ditch modularity altogether, or was there merit to the South Korean brand’s execution? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
