LG is a brand which was once popular amongst tech enthusiasts and competed against Apple and Samsung but lately it has fallen off the tracks. Future of LG Smartphones is uncertain and they must pull off something great to bring the recognition they deserve. Issues like lack of timely software upgrades and awareness of its products has made the people least interested in LG smartphones.
Current portfolio of LG smartphones
Flagships
- LG V50 ThinQ 5G is the best of the best LG has to offer this year in its flagship lineup but unfortunately as the name suggests, its an exclusive 5G variant and only available in few countries in which 5G is supported like some parts of US. The sad part is, its doesn’t have that WOW factor in its design has we have been expecting from the flagships in 2019. Huge notch and still noticeable bezels around the screen. Though it still retains the best in class 2K OLED display from LG. The notch comprises two front cameras so that compensates for it. To utilise maximum use of this phone, LG also sells a Dual Screen unit separately which is a more practical approach to fold-able phones and not comprising on the material of the displays as in foldable phones the screen is of plastic. That said, the video capabilities on this phone is just extraordinary for a smartphone. As always this is one of the most underrated phone of 2019. You can checkout the video recording capabilities here. LG also released a stripped down version of LG V50 i.e. LG V50s ThinQ which is exactly a LG G8X but with 5G capabilities.
2. This time around LG has pumped out couple of variants of its flagships like LG G8s ThinQ and LG G8X ThinQ (5G variant of V50) both of them inspired by LG G8. The G8X and G8S did make their way to India unlike the LG V50. All three variants of the G8 have something different to offer like the G8 and G8S ThinQ have ToF sensors which capture 3D images of your hand and by twisting you palm in various directions it can perform different tasks like switching between apps, playing/pausing the song & moving forward and backwards between song tracks. The LG G8S has an additional telephoto camera but bumps down the screen resolution to 1080p instead of 2K OLED display.
The LG V50 and G8 ThinQ have started receiving Android 10 update along with LG’s brand new UI i.e. LG UX 9.0 which includes complete overhaul of the notification panel & other UI changes. To be honest the LG UX 9.0 looks alot like the Samsung OneUI which can be indicated by the curves around the UI elements and on menus. Obviously there are other Android 10 goodies such as system wide dark mode, smart replies among others.
Mid-rangers
There aren’t much mid-range phones from LG and those present currently are somewhat pathetic as they don’t offer much in that price. Latest mid-range from LG was the brand new W series which debuted 5-6 months back and now seems like it doesn’t even exist. Atleast in India the phones under W series were W10, W30 and W30 Pro. The only major highlight of trio was the triple camera setup (except for W10 has it had 2 cameras) and that’s pretty much it. One different approach from LG in this W series was the introduction of stock Android. The W series is online exclusive phones. The W series has stock Android with Android 9 Pie and LG being being, in their flagships itself major Android updates are delayed by a very long margin let alone this mid-rangers getting Android 10 any soon. Hell, even 2018’s flagship LG G7 is yet to recieve Android 10 later this year that would be after Q2. Check out all the detailed specifications of the W series trio here. There were pretty much the major mid-range phones from LG in India atleast and on the other hand have been long forgotten as there wasn’t just enough to talk about. Let’s see if LG makes a comeback with this W series in 2020. Expectations are low but who knows? A good specd device from a tier 1 brand.
Apart from W series, LG also announced other mid-range phones over the past couple of years with its own UI such as the LG Q7+ (successor to the India’s first 18:9 mid-range phone), Q60 and the LG Q Stylus. They came and gone, majorly people didn’t realise as LG being LG, lack of marketing and majorly sticking to offline market. Surprisingly all are equipped with Mediatek processors. Being a Mediatek is a reject by 90% of the people until and unless the phone has something really out of the box.
Future and ahead of LG Smartphones
Recently leaks have been surfacing the internet about the next flagship from LG i.e. LG G9 ThinQ. Leakster Onleaks has revealed renders for the same.
In 2020 where most of the manufacturers are going with punch-holes (atleast in flagships), LG might retain the water-drop notch. Also the bezels don’t seem on par with other flagship phones. Other specs would be usual for a flagship in 2020 i.e. Snapdragon 865, 6.4+ inch OLED display, 4 rear cameras (wide, ultra-wide, telefoto and macro), wireless charging. There might also be a 5G variant as well.
Nothing unique and innovative can be seen atleast from the design perspective. Well, the headphone jack has been retained as well! That’s a very nice move.
LG has stated that it will be profitable by 2021 in the mobile division. For that it has to pump out really great phones in the market. Marketing is the heart for any company, which LG lacks far behind. You don’t even realise when a new LG phone is launched. That’s the level of promotion LG does for its smartphones.
2020 can be the year for LG to bring back the recognition it deserves!
Check out our previous post here
