LG G5 Release Date Confirmed As March 31 With Free Extra Battery

LG will be hoping that its brave approach to smartphone design with the modular G5 will pay off when the phone finally goes on sale on March 31.

LG has confirmed the release date almost a month after it unveiled its 2016 flagship smartphone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 21. The G5 features an innovative design, which allows for various modules — which LG is calling “Friends” — to be used. These modules include one for better camera control and one with a larger battery.

In other parts of the world LG is bundling the Cam Plus module that offers a larger battery and physical controls such as a scroll wheel and shutter button for the smartphone. Customers in the U.S. will also get a charging cradle for the extra battery and a a microUSB adapter that allows the G5, which has a USB-C port, to work with older USB cables

In the U.S., those ordering the G5 will get an extra battery included as part of the deal, which can be charged separately and swapped when the current battery runs out. LG will be hoping that the different approach will help the G5 to stand out in a crowded market, particularly as it is going head-to-head with the Galaxy S7 from Samsung which will have been on sale for a number of weeks by the time the G5 goes on sale.

While LG has yet to comment on the official price of the phone, this credible leak suggests that the price to buy the phone outright from Best Buy will be $799. The price of the phone for those taking a two-year contract with Sprint or Verizon will be $99. The person who posted the image on Reddit says pre-orders for the G5 will begin Friday, March 18, for Sprint and AT&T customers, and on March 24 for Verizon customers.