AN ODE TO LG MOBILE

In April 2016, the cover story for the month’s issue of HWM was Samsung vs LG. It was an in-depth look at the two Korean electronics giants. Samsung had just launched the Galaxy S7 and LG, the modular G5. In just a few months after that story was published, Samsung’s follow up Note 7 devices would suffer battery failures and meltdowns. The entire line had to be recalled. It was undoubtedly a PR disaster and Samsung’s reputation took a major hit that many thought would take years to rebuild.

At that point, the LG G5 was a strong and innovative flagship device, and it looked like LG could capitalise from its rival’s misfortunes. However, many cautioned that