There was a time, not so long ago, when flip phones were all the rage. But since the rise of the smartphone they've fallen further and further out of fashion. Well, not everyone believes that the clamshell has breathed its last – step in the LG Wine Smart.
Of course, this isn't quite the flip phone you may remember. LG calls the Wine Smart a hybrid device, which basically means it's a smartphone in disguise. The display on the upper section is a touchscreen, and it's actually running on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop here, so the software is right up to date.
But how do the internals hold up to the modern smartphone competition? Well, the handset's powered by an unspecified 1.1 GHz quad core chip with a single gigabyte of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD).
Things don't brighten up much when it comes to optics. There's a 3 MP shooter around the back and a diminutive VGA offering up front. That touchscreen we mentioned earlier? It's a 3.2-inch 480 x 320 panel, so you might have to squint if you're used to more conventional smartphones.
That said, we're sure some people will enjoy the nostalgia of flipping open their phone to see who's calling. Given that this device is running genuinely up-to-date software, it's also sure to be a much better experience than those people might remember from clamshells of old.
The Wine Smart was originally announced for Korea only, but LG has now confirmed that it'll be rolled out into more territories later this month, including select European countries and Japan. There's no confirmation of a US release just yet, and individual carriers are set to announce pricing information closer to launch.
Source: LG
