Having launched its LG G6 flagship phone for 2017 back in February, LG is back with the mid-range Q6 line, keeping the bezel-free, 18:9 aspect ratio FullVision display but dialing back on specs and prices to appeal to the more budget-conscious.
In other words, the phones look almost as good but won't zip along as quickly, and won't lighten your wallet quite as much.
Three phones make up the set – the Q6+, the Q6, and the Q6a – with some differences in the internal specs and the retail prices. All come rocking 5.5-inch, 2,160 x 1,080 pixel (442 PPI) displays, down from the 5.7-inch, 2,880 x 1,440 pixel (564 PPI) screens of the LG G6. There's no mention of the HDR support offered by the LG G6 either.
The three handsets also share the same 13-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera, plus the same 3,000 mAh batteries inside. On the outside, all the phones are finished with a 7000 series aluminum frame and a plastic back, and under the hood they're all running Qualcomm's mid-range Snapdragon 435 processor.
So what are the differences? The Q6+ pairs 4 GB of RAM with and 64 GB of storage, the regular Q6 changes that to 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, and the Q6a comes with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, so choose your favorite configuration accordingly. We wouldn't recommend that lowest option, but it's your call.
Finally the fingerprint sensor is ditched for face recognition (or the standard PIN code) and USB-C gives way to microUSB in another cost-cutting measure. There's no microSD card slot here either.
You shouldn't expect top-notch performance from these phones but given you do get that large, 18:9 screen, Google Assistant and the latest version of Android Nougat, they're going to appeal to the sizable number of people who don't want to pay flagship prices for their next smartphone.
With the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ Plus also fitted with elongated screens, it looks like the super-long (or super-wide), bezel-shrinking display is here to stay.
The new LG phones come in black, platinum, blue, white and gold colors, depending on the model, with pricing still to be confirmed. LG says the handsets will be available in Asia from next month, before hitting Europe, Latin America and North America at some unspecified point after that.
Source: LG
