We've had a look at the European version of the LG G5 and spent some time with the elusive "Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play" module. While the G5 plays music and other audio files without any problem on its own, the 32bit Sabre ES9028C2M DAC and Sabre9602c amplifier inside the HiFi module are designed to natively play 24bit/192kHz hi-res tracks, as well as tracks upscaled to 32bit. With these chips being a newer replacement from Sabre — a company well-known for producing excellent digital audio components for companies like Pioneer and Yamaha — we expected some pretty good stuff. We weren't disappointed. It's pretty obvious to anyone who has had a chance to try the B&O module that it delivers better sound that the "vanilla" G5 when using the same headphones. We dug out some patch cables and gave things a closer look — as well as a comparison to 2015's LG V10 — to see why. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines

The numbers

Testing was performed using a SAMSON MixPad MXP124X mixing console, with the phone attached to the first channel using a Hosa 3.5mm mini male to XLR male cable. All mixer adjustments were set to absolute neutral. We used commercially available software from RightMark Audio Analyzer for automated test scores, and iSpectrum to check the results and look at the raw sine waveform tones generated by Audacity. Playback on the phones themselves was done through LG's bundled music player. It's important to note that the equipment used as well as the software can and does affect these results. The LG V10 was included for references purposes, as an Android phone with "premium" audio output many are familiar with. Having said that, using the same equipment and software for each test makes for an excellent way to compare things. Here are the raw numbers for those interested. Category LG G5 G5 with HiFi DAC LG V10 Frequency response +0.05, -0.04 +0.01, -0.03 +0.01, -0.03 Noise -93.3 -95.1 -95.3 Dynamic Range 92.6 94 95.1 Total Harmonic Distortion 0.0051 0.0034 0.0021 Intermodulation Distortion + Noise 0.037 0.0098 0.0075 Stereo Crosstalk -50.7 -93.0 -95.1 What all this means is that the B&O module is doing exactly what it was designed to do — deliver cleaner audio than the DAC built into the Snapdragon 820 chipset. While some of the numbers aren't extremely different, others (especially the crosstalk) are a huge improvement. The B&O module plays your music with less background noise, less interference from the cables and environment, less distortion at all volumes and more "separation" — the ability to hear individual instruments and notes — than the G5 itself when you're not using the audio module. It's interesting to note that in most tests, last year's LG V10 scored better than the G5 when paired with the B&O module. On a pure numbers game, the V10 produces a more "pure" sound. But when played side-by-side, those numbers don't equate with what you might hear. That's where "tuning" of the actual hardware involved comes into play, and Bang & Olufsen has done very well here. Let's talk about the actual sound appeal of music files while we ponder the numbers from reference tones. The experience