This New LG Phone Is Costlier Than Even iPhone X

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LG has come up with a limited edition “super” premium phone – LG Signature Edition – that costs more than the iPhone X, according to ZDNet. We have already seen LG using the Signature brand for high-end home appliances and TVs, but it is the first time that the Korean company is doing it for a phone. LG will sell the phone in its home turf only, so it is unlikely to be available for U.S. buyers.

LG Signature Edition – a super premium phone

The LG Signature Edition, which comes in black and white, is priced around 2 million won (US$1,800), compared to the iPhone X at 1.63 million won and base model Note 8 at 1.09 million won, in South Korea. The entry-level LG V30 sells for 949,300 won (US$842).

LG plans to sell only 300 units of the super premium phone.  According to LG, the ultra-premium phone will start selling by the end of the month. Though the company gave no specific release date, the official image has the date “December 27” on its display, according to PhoneArena.

According to LG, the phone is made of materials normally used in boutique watches. The backside of the phone is made of zirconium ceramic, which helps to reduce scratches, but it isn’t immune to cracking. The design of the LG Signature Edition is referred to as “simple” and “dignified.” Buyers will also have an option to engrave their names in the cover. Further, it has a metal frame, possibly of aluminum.

The LG Signature Edition follows the company’s reshuffle last week, hinting that the mobile business, which has posted ten straight quarters of losses, could be subsidiary to the company’s TV and home appliance businesses, notes ZDNet.

Specs similar to LG V30

In terms of the specifications, the super premium smartphone is similar to the LG V30. The handset has a 6-inch QHD+ (2880 x 1440, 538 PPI) OLED panel, suggesting an 18:9 display, which is covered with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The smartphone sports a dual camera setup, internal memory (256GB), and 6GB RAM (compared to 4GB for V30). The handset ships with a Bang & Olufsen wired earphones and LG’s H5 Bluetooth earphones. There is a fingerprint scanner on the back, along with a laser autofocus sensor and LED flash.

Talking of the dual camera setup, the phone sports 16-megapixel and 13-megapixel shooters on the back. The 16-megapixel sensor includes f/1.6 aperture, while the 13-megapixel shooter has f/1.9 aperture. The handset has a 5-megapixel (f/2.2 aperture) front camera. The device weighs 158 grams and measures 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm.

The LG Signature Edition is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 SoC. There is no premium touch here as the same chipset powers the LG V30, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8. Though Qualcomm is working on the Snapdragon 845, it reportedly won’t be available for a few more months. Further, the Signature Edition would ship with Android Oreo out of the box. This comes as a surprise as the company is still testing the OS on V30 models, which are still on Nougat.

The LG Signature Edition will come with a 3,300mAh non-removable battery with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging and support for wireless charging as well. The handset comes with IP68 certification, which means it is water and dust resist.

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