When LG G5 OLED TV was announced in CES 2025, you struggled to remove the smile of the Cheshire cat from my face. A new panel type of G5, which promised much better picture quality, was beyond the giddy with enthusiasm. And our LG G5 review supports this, from where LG’s major OLED TV – G3 and G4 – have survived the previous two generations. I have used both of them and believed that they are among the best TVs on which I have personally kept eyes.
With his new TV, LG also revealed the first overhaul – fully rebuated magic remote in the best part of a decade. Between the two, I felt that LG was definitely to give the final home-viewing experience.
After living with G5 for a few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that the screen is actually out of this world. Remote, however? It does not live up to my expectations.
My US-based colleague Al Giffin, who also wrote our TV reviews, recently opposed her love for the new magic remote design, but I am of opposite opinion. This is not due to the physical redisine (although I have considered it), but due to the decision to remove some buttons I got really useful, then they were replaced with those who are going to be untouched forever … at least in my house.
Controversial design is dead, long -lived controversial design
I know that the previous remote control has been subjected to its proper part of the dispute, especially due to the ability to act as a pointer wand to click on apps and channels.
I have rarely used this facility because I have found that it is a counter. This is to make navigation and selection quick and easy, but, in my experience, the opposite is true. Instead, I override the natural desire of remote to act as an indicator and using the directional button to move around the webOS interface.
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I am not surprised at all that the pointer wand is maintained with a new magic remote, and I am still using the directional button to override it. The new design has changed slightly with the new design, however, the central selection button – which retains its scroll wheel functionality – makes me less assured whenever I choose. I have not yet received the same response as I did with the previous remote.
The overall physical design has also changed. Gone, long, round stick, is now replaced with a more rectangular relationship. I believe that the new form is more modern and, to an extent, more premium-dusting, but I think it is less ergonomic than before. Now there is no dedicated cutout to the fingers to relax naturally. This is a minor problem, of course, but I think it makes a difference in use, especially if I choose to use the pointer option to go around the screen.
button down
The biggest change in the new size, updated LG magic remote on one side is a fresh button layout. Not only do a couple of buttons find themselves in new positions, but some useful people of the previous remote have been replaced with something that I have found completely luxurious so far.
LG, like many other companies in recent years, has grown on AI with its 2025 TVs. Among the new features, the leading major LG’s AI chatboat is being able to call you any query. These may include you to tell that the picture finds you very dark, resulting in a chatbot to choose some picture brightness options for you.
I can understand that this may be a useful feature for some users, but I have yet found LG’s preset picture mode – filmmaker mode the most – right and without any adjustment requirement.
Or at least, it is intended to give voice to such a sign. It worked during an LG performance that I was a witness before the official launch of G5 and it worked when I first delivered it at home. But when I was taking images for this article, I inspired the chatbot with the same line and each time it turned me into a TV underlying media player. I still still have to determine why.
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I also tried to ask “What’s new on Netflix?” And while it opened the Netflix app, it discovered ‘New’, which returned the results with new in the title rather than recently added material.
Since it integrated AI, I wanted to see if LG’s chatbot was not related to TV. I asked the simple question “What is 2 + 2?” And it used to draw a web browser page with a really correct answer. But when I asked “Which country has the most time areas including its foreign sectors?” This returned the results from the LG Gallery+ Wallpaper Library with a link to ask Microsoft Copilot.
Overall, then, my experiences with LG’s AI Chatbot have been less than satisfactory, making it a fruitless feature in my house and, in detail, button.
LG also clearly wants the owner to use his glossy new TV as a hub for smart devices connected around the house. For example, now the company has a dedicated button to open the thinQ screen.
There are some smart lights in my house, but I control them all through the Apple Home app on my iPhone. This is a sharp and uninterrupted process, one that I can never see by changing myself. While I forgot that LG G5 could be used as a home hub, the process of controlling my lights through TV requires more steps than using my phone.
There you go, another button that is rarely used. And I mean ‘rarely’ because I only have to change the input once to reach the home hub through the remote as LG has decided to remove the input selection control.
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Uh-hah, another useful button went away. How much obstruction it will be for the owners, it will depend on how many (if any) external equipment is connected and how they are connected.
I currently have a Sony UBP-X700 Blue-Ray Player and an Nvidia Shield Pro plugged into my TV and both have HDMI CEC capable, which means that when either switching, the input will change automatically.
However, I have been in situations where I wanted to compare the picture or sound quality between the blue-ray player and Nvidia, for example, and this is when an input-selection button would be easy. Now I have to press the home hub button, then take the cursor to the input I want to choose. I really miss the Quick-access input menu that appeared under the screen on the previous LG OLED TV.
Whoever is missing is a dedicated muted button. Whether it is loud advertising or I want to cut the volume quickly to ask my partner, ask me a question, it was invaluable to have a muted button on the previous remote.
When I first went to mute the amount of my G5 using the new remote, I felt that it works in a similar manner of Samsung remote control, in the fact that pressing the volume button inward. How wrong I was now, if you want to mute, you have to keep the volume button down for a few seconds. Then, a slight change, but one I do not consider quite a need. Just give me the muted button back!
An omission charge opportunity
There is a feature inherited by the old remote that surprises me a little. LG continues to use AAA batteries for the new magic remote, instead to give a rechargeable battery design.
I could slide the decision to use the battery in the previous remote control, but it is 2025! Shouldn’t we have gone yet? For example, Samsung, allows for solar recharging and apple TV 4K, like a remote, is the USB-C port for charging. It is more beneficial to the environment and is also more convenient for users.
No star of the show
Of course, you can think well that my thoughts are geeky beyond all measurements. In fact, they are small things, which are not different from the main event, which is the LG G5. As I mentioned earlier, I have been using it for some time and, if you ask me, I think it is unprecedented.
I just want extended user experience just As Unprecedented as images on screen.
