LG G5 (OLED65G5) review

After just two years in the sun, MLA OLED technology has been consigned to the tech graveyard. In its place, we have the far more unhelpfully named Primary RGB Tandem OLED, which is also known (again, unhelpfully) as Four-Stack OLED.

The LG G5 is the very first Primary RGB Tandem OLED TV to enter our test rooms and, to cut a long story short, any complaints about how much of a mouthful the names of the technology are no longer seem relevant in the face of the picture improvements it brings.

An initial issue with the way it handled streamed Dolby Vision content has now been fixed via a software update, and we can finally be as positive about the LG G5 as we always wanted to be: this is a stunning television and a surprising leap forward for OLED TV technology.

Price

The LG G5 is a flagship-level 4K OLED TV, with a premium price tag of £3299 / $3400 / AU$5299 for the 65-inch model that we have before us today.

Much like the G4, it also comes in screen sizes of 55, 65, 77, 83, and 97 inches; this year, though, LG has expanded the lineup with a 48-inch model for the first time.

Full launch pricing for the G5 is below, with the G4's launch prices provided for reference.

The good news is that the G5 is priced almost identically to the outgoing G4; and in some cases, it's actually cheaper. The 55-inch version, for example, is $100 cheaper than the G4’s launch price in the US.

More interesting and important is how the LG G5’s pricing compares to that of its 2025 rivals, the Samsung S95F, Sony Bravia 8 II and Panasonic Z95B.

We don’t yet have any 2025 Panasonic TV prices, but the Samsung S95F is a touch cheaper than the LG G5 in the US but a little more expensive in the UK.

In the UK, the Sony Bravia 8 II is slightly more expensive than the LG G5 at 55 inches but a fair bit cheaper at 65 inches. In the US, though, the Sony model is much, much more expensive.

All of the launch prices we have for the G5, S95F and Bravia 8 II are in the table below, and we'll add pricing for the Z95B once we have it.

Design

Much like its C5 sibling, the G5 carries forth the design from its predecessor – no great shame: we approved of the G4’s sleek and attractive build.

That being said, it would be remiss of us not to mention the fact that this design has been used since the G1, so an updated look to coincide with the new panel technology would have been a nice touch.

Nevertheless, the slender frame and stylish silver trim give the G5 an eye-catching design befitting its “Gallery” designation.

The G5 has a universal thickness (well, thinness) of just 2.4cm. Admittedly, that’s not quite as slender as the C5 is in its thinnest sections, but the C5 also features a relatively chunky box-out section that means it’s actually 4.5cm at its thickest point.

The G5 comes in two versions, one bundled with LG’s Zero Gap wall mount for a flush fit and seamless wall-mounting setup, the other with a tabletop stand; note, the G5S variant (which includes the stand) is currently available only in 55- and 65-inch sizes here in the UK. The official pricing is the same for the stand and wall-mount versions.

We have the stand variant of the G5 before us today, and we approve of its minimalist styling and easy-to-assemble design. Furthermore, the stand can be set to two positions: there is a sleek, low-profile look, or a higher position to accommodate a soundbar.

A 48-inch screen size has been a staple of the C-series OLEDs for quite some time, and LG expanded (or, should we say, shrunk) its entry-level B-series OLED to include a 48-inch version in last year’s lineup. However, this size is a first for the G series and a rare instance of a flagship TV launching at this size.

There is a catch, however, as LG states that the 48- and 97-inch versions of the G5 don’t sport the new Primary RGB Tandem OLED technology and therefore won’t hit the same brightness levels as their siblings.

We have seen this many times before with MLA and QD-OLED TVs, as manufacturers tend to make the panels in core sizes (55- to 83-inches), though it is a shame that the smallest flagship model won’t be on par technically with its larger counterparts.

Less new and exciting is the included remote, which, besides swapping the input control for a more generalised connected-devices hub button and adding a new AI shortcut button, is broadly unchanged from the version that came with last year’s G4. And the G3 from 2023. And the G2 before that. And the G1 before that.

We would have liked to have seen a more premium handset with backlighting offered with the G5, but that’s unfortunately not the case – at least not for the UK.

Those looking to buy the G5 in markets outside of the UK (such as North America or South Korea) will be treated to a sleeker and more streamlined remote. This hasn’t made it over to the UK, says LG, on account of its missing number pad.

This feels like a bit of a cop-out to us. Other brands, such as Samsung and Sony, get around the UK’s requirement for a remote control with buttons by bundling their TVs with two zappers: a fancy, minimalist number and an old-school ‘boring’ one. LG should have done the same thing.

Features

The headline feature of the G5 is that it's the first TV to launch with the new Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel.

This new panel architecture comprises four individual OLED layers – two blue, one red and one green – to boost brightness and colour volume.

The G3 and G4 both featured Micro Lens Array OLED (MLA), which involves a layer of millions of microscopic lenses that focus the light output towards the viewer.

The technology worked well for its (relatively speaking) short lifespan, but it has now been completely replaced.

This means that manufacturers such as Panasonic and Philips, which have previously used MLA panels, have also transitioned to Primary RGB Tandem OLED for their respective upcoming flagship TVs.

With that important context out of the way, what does this new panel architecture have to offer? At a basic level, this new panel pushes the brightness limits of OLED to new heights.

LG Electronics (which produces LG’s TVs) remains tight-lipped about an official nit figure for the G5, but LG Display (which produces the actual OLED panels) and other manufacturers that are using it have stated that the Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel can reach up to 4000 nits peak brightness.

Colours should appear richer and more vibrant, too, particularly in the brightest parts of the picture, because the panel is not reliant on a white OLED to boost brightness.

Headline peak brightness figures should always be taken with a pinch of salt: partly because manufacturers are prone to exaggeration; partly because the way they are measured doesn’t tally with most of what people actually watch; and finally because they are usually attainable only in the TV’s most vivid and least cinematically accurate picture presets.

That said, we have still been promised and are expecting to see a noticeable increase in brightness from the G5, in both small highlights and full-screen bright images.

This enhanced brightness isn’t purely down to the panel. It’s also in part thanks to LG’s Brightness Booster Ultimate engine, which LG claims will deliver three times higher brightness than the entry-level B5 OLED TV.

Yes, a comparison against the C5 would have been much more interesting, but LG never provides figures to illustrate the differences between its G- and C-series models.

Powering the Brightness Booster Ultimate engine (and everything else the G5 does) is the new Alpha 11 AI Processor Gen 2, which, as the name suggests, is heavily built around AI.

This new processor drives many of the AI-backed functions of the G5, including the AI Picture Pro and AI Sound Pro options, both of which come with a fairly robust customisation process.

AI Picture Pro serves as an umbrella term for a range of picture-enhancement features, including AI Perceived Object Enhancer (which aims to enhance the three-dimensionality of the picture), AI Super Upscaling, and OLED Dynamic Tone Mapping.

Furthermore, you can consult the built-in AI chatbot to diagnose issues with your TV and solve them. LG has even implemented a large language model, so you don’t need to remember specific commands to adjust the settings.

Instead, you can just say “make the picture brighter” or “I can’t hear voices very well,” and the TV will react accordingly.

As for core AV features, the G5 supports HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision. Samsung’s HDR10+ technology is not present, which is no surprise at all and not a particularly big deal. Dolby Atmos audio is also supported, both through the built-in 60W 4.2 channel sound system and via audio equipment connected to the HDMI eARC socket.

Speaking of HDMI connectivity, there are four full bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets on the G5. These are all capable of handling 4K/165Hz (as well as the 4K/120Hz that current consoles max out at, of course) signals with VRR and ALLM. That makes this an ideal gaming TV for those with several consoles and/or a gaming PC.

Furthermore, the G5 features LG’s excellent Game Optimiser feature, which gives you quick access to key gaming settings as well as information such as frame rate and whether ALLM is enabled.

You can also access game streaming apps through the webOS 25 operating system, including the Xbox app, to stream near-console quality titles without requiring a console.

Elsewhere, the webOS platform features all of the expected streaming apps, both domestic and international; these include Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV, as well as BBC iPlayer, ITV X and Channel 4.

Picture

Playing a range of our go-to reference 4K discs, including Top Gun: Maverick, Pan, The Matrix, Oppenheimer, No Time to Die and Interstellar, we can assess this flagship set’s capabilities.

After much testing, we opt for the Filmmaker Mode picture preset, with TruMotion set to the Cinematic Movement setting and sharpness turned down to zero, as we believe these settings suit the G5 best.

What is immediately striking is how bright the new Primary RGB Tandem TV looks next to a conventional OLED. We’re talking levels that, in cases where peak-brightness highlights are on show, such as when Maverick engages the scramjet of the Darkstar hypersonic aircraft, we are compelled to shield our eyes from the blazing brightness.

Feed it some content that is specifically mastered to target a higher brightness, such as the 4K Blu-ray release of The Matrix or Pan, and it becomes apparent that the new Primary RGB Tandem OLED is truly a technical marvel.

When Neo first enters the computer simulation, the white void in which he and Morbius converse is truly striking. Here, we experiment with the Dynamic Tone Mapping feature and – unlike with the C5, which tends to benefit from the boosted brightness – we opt to keep it turned off as it can over-brighten content such as this.

Moving on to Pan, the sequence in which the flying pirate ship floats through a cluster of suspended bubbles towards Neverland is both dazzling and deeply engaging, thanks to its rich, vibrant colours and excellent detail levels. The sun, which often gets lost in the bloom of brightness surrounding it, has a clear circular outline with an intensely bright core.

On the subject of colours, the G5 benefits from the enhanced colour volume afforded by the new panel technology. The bubbles mentioned above feature stunning gradations of blue and green, while the sun casts a rich golden glow across the patchwork sails.

In the same sequence, we find that skin tones are superbly realised, with a hint of red in the cheeks of the titular character, alongside a wide range of skin tones appearing well judged.

The G5 also presents a terrifically three-dimensional image. The brief shot of a watchtower in Oppenheimer looks solid and crisp, with a clear distinction between the tower in the foreground and the desert in the background.

This also highlights how sharp and detailed the G5 looks in general, with everything from environmental features to clothing and skin textures all featuring bucket loads of detail without looking over-sharpened.

Switching back to Top Gun: Maverick, we find that motion is also a key strength of this TV. As Maverick tears down the road on his Kawasaki motorcycle with reckless abandon, the G5 refuses to stutter or judder.

As mentioned, we opt to switch the TruMotion setting to Cinematic Movement, which adds a very minor touch of motion processing to smooth out any 24fps judder while introducing no discernible unnaturalness.

If you are entirely averse to any sort of motion processing, you’ll want to switch TruMotion off entirely. The good news is that the G5 still handles motion very well in this setting, with very little judder.

When we originally reviewed the LG G5, we discovered a very nasty flaw in the way it handled streamed Dolby Vision content. Low-light scenes, in particular, would break up into blotchy posterisation, to the extent that extended sequences in some movies were essentially unwatchable, and raised blacks were common.

Alien: Romulus was the most obvious and unpleasant example that we found during testing, though many other movies, both expected (Interstellar) and unexpected (No Time to Die) also suffered.

Thankfully, once we brought these issues to LG’s attention, it acted extremely quickly and produced a software update to fix the issue. That update is now available to all, and streamed Dolby Vision content now performs as it should.

Sound

The G5’s sound is, unfortunately, less spectacular than its picture. While this was rather expected – the C5 was our first hint that LG hadn’t revolutionised its approach to built-in sound for its OLED TVs – that doesn’t negate the G5’s middling sound performance.

We opt for the Cinema preset, as it offers a wider, louder and punchier sound compared with the Standard setting. The G5 also sounds a lot clearer in this mode, as the Standard setting delivers a recessed and restrained performance.

While those attributes will make it fine for day-to-day use, such as watching the news, quiz shows and sitcoms, the speakers don’t really suffice for watching movies.

Playing our go-to Blade Runner 2049 stress-test sequence, we appreciate that the set attempts some of the dramatic dynamic shifts found in the Flight to the LAPD track, but it doesn’t dig particularly deep into the low end of the thumping bassline.

During the “interlinked” baseline assessment sequence, the G5’s unsure approach to low-level dynamics means that a majority of the dialogue sounds quite lifeless and dull. That extends into the conversation between K and Joi in the sequence afterwards, which lacks any real sense of character or emotion.

Ultimately, you will want to pair the G5 with a soundbar or, ideally, an AVR and home cinema speaker system if you want a sound that matches its picture performance.

Verdict

Now that the streamed Dolby Vision flaw has been fixed, we can wholeheartedly recommend the LG G5.

This TV is capable of delivering a truly exceptional picture, with bold highlights, rich colours and crisp details.

It ticks every box we look for in a five-star TV and represents one of the biggest jumps in OLED picture quality since the technology first emerged as a real contender roughly a decade ago. Just make sure you also budget for a dedicated sound system.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 3
• Features 5

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