Last week, LG shared a teaser photo of a new smartphone model for September 21. Keeping true to its promise, the South Korean manufacturer has taken the wraps off its LG Class handset. Instead of a high-end flagship, the new model is a mid-range model with a premium-looking profile and an affordable price.
LG has not offered a flagship metal smartphone in years, even the current generation LG G4 flagship only sports a plastic body. So it is a little surprising that the company just unveiled a new device donning the high-end material. The LG Class sports a sleek metal design which is available in gold, silver or blue/black.
However, its 7.4mm-thin body will be slightly bulkier than the iPhone 6S' 7.1mm and the Galaxy S6's 6.8mm. Running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OS out of the box, the LG Class is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor from Qualcomm clocked at 1.2 GHz and partnered with 2GB worth of RAM. It has a 16 GB built-in storage expandable by using a microSD card. Aside from LTE network support, it features the usual connectivity options such as Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and NFC.
The new device has a 2.5D curved glass display. It measure 5 inches diagonally and packs a 720p resolution. While the curved glass screen provides an interesting appeal, the model's side bezels are relatively thick compared to other recently released handsets.
Similar to various mobile devices made by LG, both of the LG Class' power and volume keys are located at the back just beneath the camera. A rather oddly-place singe speaker grill is located to the right adjacent to the camera module.
The company claims that this position does not impact sound quality and promises that the speaker's 1 watt output offers "clear sound." On the photography front, the handset's main camera sports a 13-megapixel sensor, the same sensor that the LG G4 currently offers. The front-facing, 8-megapixel camera is complemented with a range of user-friendly features such as Beauty Shot and Gesture Interval Shot.
LG's move to launch a mid-range device with a metal chassis mirrors what Samsung had done with its Galaxy A line. Samsung first utilized the metal body on it's A series before eventually using it on its 2015 flagship lineup, tech site Phandroid noted.
All of the specifications mentioned above clearly puts the LG Class in mid-range territory. It means that the model's relatively competitive $340 price tag (399,300 Korean Won) is mainly due to it metal design. The company mentioned that the LG Class will be only be available in South Korea for now. It remains to be seen if it will decide to offer the handset in other regions in the future by partnering with major carriers or selling it unlocked via third party online retailers.
