LG V20 reportedly won’t be modular but there is an interesting twist

According to CNET Korea, the upcoming LG V20 won’t have a modular design that we saw in the LG G5. However, you will be able to access the battery by sliding open the back of the device. Well, half of the back, to be more precise.

We’ve seen a few renders of the upcoming phone: it looks sturdy, it will have a dual-lens set up, but there was one very important thing that was never confirmed. Will the V20 be modular like the G5? According to multiple sources reportedly from within LG, the answer is “no.”

The V20 will have a sliding door on its back kind of like the HTCDesire HD. There will be a button on the side of the device, which will allow you to “open up” the left half of the device. There you will find the battery, a SIM card slot, and a micro-SD card slot. According to one LG employee, LG is hoping that the design change will help boost its yield rate and subsequently its sales:

We employed a modular design with the G5 where you could detach the bottom part of the device, but it had a poor yield rate. However, with the V20, you simply remove the battery cover, so we won’t have any issues [regarding yield rates].

Below are some renders of the V20, but keep in mind that these are not official renders. They were created by CNET Korea based on an eyewitness account, but you get an idea of how the V20 will work. We see from the images that the bottom part of the V20 looks removable, but CNET Korea specifies that in fact, the bottom part will not be removable.

The G5 – with its unique modular design – was initially met with much enthusiasm but ultimately reported poor sales. And even those who did buy the device didn’t seem to happy: modules would malfunction, the battery had serious issues, boot loops, etc. If the G5 is any indication, it certainly makes sense for LG to change its strategy a bit.

V20 may look similar to the G5, but it will still stand as a unique line focusing on multimedia just like its predecessor. We know so far that the V20 will be the first smartphone to feature a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC and Android 7.0 Nougat. And as we’ve seen from previous leaks, the second ticker screen will support Nougat’s new In Apps feature that allows users to search for keywords within their apps.

Are you relieved that the V20 won’t be modular? Disappointed? Let us know by commenting below!