LG G5 smartphone: CNET Editors react

[MUSIC] LG has just shown off all of its new gadgets, including the long awaited G5 smartphone. But will it be enough to put the company on top? We spoke to CNET editors who've seen and played with the new tech to get their first impressions. So with the G5, LG's gone with this weird, customizable, almost modular approach for the design. Do you see that taking off? It's a really clever approach. What LG's trying to do right now is bring back some excitement you had customizing your phone apps dealing with hardware with these modular plugins. Right now, they've just got two. One, a high audio system, another, a camera grip. So, it's really gonna depend a lot on third party manufacturers and. Whether or not they'll actually support it with other modules, given that it's not Apple or Samsung it's unclear whether or not these manufacturers are gonna support this phone. I like the change to aluminum body and I do like the fact that they listened to their fans in the sense that a lot of people like that removable battery and the SD card. And they made it so that it's still semi unibody. And pretty looking but, maintains those features that users liked. So I think this show we're going to be see a lot of companies pushing VR, is that something LG's doing as well, and how successful do you think it's been so far if it is? LG's actually been pretty quiet on the virtual reality front until now. They've put out this new headset and unlike all the other ones it doesn't require you to plug in a phone. Well the advantage there is It's much, much lighter. So it's easier when you're actually using it. Just plug into your phone via a USBC cable. The experience is pretty much on par with some of the other experiences, like the Gear VR. But virtual reality hasn't really taken off with consumers. So this is really just LG putting its stake In the ground. Is there any other stuff from LG that's particularly caught your eye? Anything apart from the smartphone that you think is a really good idea? Glad you asked. I'm not sure if it's a good idea. It just caught my eye. The ball. And they corrected me many times because everybody was using the term ball. It's not a ball, it's a rolling bot. It's a ball that rolls. It's got different features. It's supposed to be able to, you can monitor your house with it, it's got a built-in camera that you can access from your phone, you can use it as a remote control as well and so you move around your house. It has infrared sensor and remote so you can turn on your TV when you're not home. I'm not sure why you'd want to do that but you can. [LAUGH] Maybe for your pet? Maybe for your pet. It does have a pet mode, which was kind of random [LAUGH] the way it's just being advertised. It was advertised as one of the key features, and it starts freaking out, pointing lasers. And it's supposed to entertain your pet. I'm thinking it'll really traumatize your pet, but I'd still love to try it out on my puppy. LG's a huge name in technology, but unlike Samsung or Apple, its never really had its time in the sun with smartphones that have been on top of the pile, if you like. Have you seen anything from its new range of products that makes you think that's going to change LG's biggest weakness is its marketing presence. It can't spend as much as Samsung on marketing. It doesn't have the cachet of Apple. And so it has to try a little bit harder. [MUSIC]