Samsung’s focus on making its smartphones as secure as can be mean there’s little chance you’ll be able to flash third-party ROMs and tweaks on many handsets in the Galaxy S7 series. That’s not the case for LG’s new G5 handset.

If you buy the device on T-Mobile, it ships with an unlockable bootloader, paving the way for all kinds of user customizations.

There’s a large number of Android users who like to flash different ROMs on their smartphones and tablets — particularly if those devices ship with bloatware that can impact performance. Sadly, some manufacturers are making that difficult.

Samsung has been cracking down on third-party tweaks in recent years, and its new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge ship with its strongest security yet. Users with a Snapdragon-powered handset will probably never be able to flash custom unofficial software, though developers have been able to obtain root on the Exynos model.

Fortunately for LG fans, there is no struggle with some variants of the G5. Despite being powered by the same Snapdragon 820 processor as those super secure Galaxy S7s, the G5 has an unlockable bootloader, and the unlocking process is just as easy as that used to unlock Google’s Nexus smartphones.

This means there probably will be custom ROMs and lots more for the G5 later on, but bear in mind that a bootloader unlock isn’t the only hurdle involved; ROM developers will have to overcome more issues before you can do what you want with your new G5.

Still, this is exciting news!

• SourcePhoneArena