MWC 2016: LG to Launch new ‘X Series’ Mid-Range Smartphones, each with a Singular Premium Feature
by Ian Cutress on February 16, 2016 8:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- LG
- Trade Shows
- MWC 2016
- X cam
- X screen
No sooner had I finished writing the news on the LG Stylus 2 announcement had another email landed in my inbox. On the back of the mid-range model with a stylus, LG is to launch a whole new series of smartphones called the ‘X’ series. These are essentially mid-range devices, but with one premium component more akin to a high-end device. In this instance, LG is initially going to offer an ‘X cam’ and ‘X screen’, each with obvious high-end upgrades.
| LG X cam | LG X screen | |
| SoC | Octa-Core 1.14 GHz (dual 4xA53 ?) |
Quad Core 1.2 GHz (Snapdragon 410?) |
| RAM | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| NAND | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| Display | 5.2-inch, 1080x1920 IPS LCD | 4.93-inch 720x1080 IPS LCD + 1.76-inch 80x520 IPS LCD |
| Dimensions | 147.5 x 73.6 x 5.2-6.9 mm Weight unkown |
142.6 x 71.8 x 7.1 mm Weight Unknown |
| Camera | 13MP + 5MP Rear + ? |
13MP Rear |
| 8MP Front | 8MP Front | |
| Battery | 2520 mAh | 2300 mAh |
| OS | 6.0 at Launch | 6.0 at Launch |
| Connectivity | Unknown | Unknown |
| Network | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE |
| Colors | Titan Silver White Gold Pink Gold |
Black White Pink Gold |
The X cam (there’s no capital C in the name) will be using dual cameras on the rear to allow for better depth-of-field effects, color accuracy and image quality. That being said, the second dual camera is only a 5MP implementation and I imagine we will find our more at the LG press conference at Mobile World Congress next week. Unfortunately LG doesn't seem to want to share a photograph of the rear to show the camera as of yet. The front of the X cam will also feature ‘3D Bending Glass’, providing a curved finish on the front and designed to sit more comfortably in the hand. The X cam fits into the mid-range specifications in the other areas – a 5.2-inch 1080p screen, an octa-core 1.14 GHz SoC (presumably dual quad ARM Cortex A53s), a 2520 mAh battery and a 16GB/2GB storage plus memory combination.
X cam on left, X screen on right
The X screen brings a feature from LG’s high end V10 model down to the mid-range: instead of dual cameras this time we get dual screens. The main screen is a 4.93-inch 720x1280 screen, which is fairly common in smartphones of this segment, but this is enhanced through a 1.76-inch 520x80 secondary screen above it and off to the right. This screen is always-on, and runs almost separately to the main phone software allowing users to check status and adjust calls without disrupting the software on the main screen. The rest of the specifications run similar to the X cam, except the 1.2 GHz quad core SoC which looks similar to the Snapdragon 410 in the Stylus 2.
Again, similar to the Stylus 2, specifications may be adjusted depending on region, although Asia, Europe and Latin America will be the first markets. One thing to note is that both units do not advertise microSD slots as of yet, which may or may not just be a PR oversight which we are trying to confirm. We will most likely hear more information, pricing and release dates during LG’s press conference at Mobile World Congress next week. The concept of a mid-range product with a single high-end component is actually rather intriguing, and opens up the possibility of a high-end SoC in a device, or 128 GB of storage in a mid-range, or 5000 mAh as that key component.
Source: LG
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StormyParis - Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - link
Dammit, I want *two* premium features: a huge screen, and a huge battery.LiverpoolFC5903 - Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - link
Another so called midranger with a poor chipset. Lg has a seriously crappy midrange line. Not one half decent phone in the 300 USD range. Unless we are talking about heavily discounted ex flagships like the G flex 2 and G3.Give us a Snapdragon 650 based 5" phone with a 720p rgb oled and a 3000 plus battery. Happy to pay 400 USD for such a phone.
RaduR - Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - link
You have just described Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro with a price below USD 200. The remaining USD 200 may be spent on beers.WorldWithoutMadness - Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - link
Yeah but you have to hit note 3 pro to concrete first and hope it will shrink 0.5 inch without any damagesDaniel Egger - Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - link
Apart from being on pre-order til March for around $250, which part of '5" phone with a 720p RGB OLED' was so tricky to grasp?LiverpoolFC5903 - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Good shout, but as Daniel says, its got a larger screen (I can still live without the Amoled) and a highly customized version of android.The Lenovo Vibe X3 is a good performer in the 'mid range' segment but again it has a larger screen...
beginner99 - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Agree. This is a general issue of the whole market. I have an LG Optimus G (eg. similar to Nexus 4). I'm not even sure these mid-range phones beat it my much on the CPU side with these low frequencies. Then the Optimus G has 2 GB of RAM. Some so called mid-range phones still ship with only 1.5. If I spent $300 on a phone it should beat a 3-year old flagship in every aspect but they don't. In fact they only beat it in CPU (not 100% sure vs these 2) and battery life. Even the screen are still all 720p. So I am waiting for however finally releases a good product that doesn't suck or isn't overpriced or oversized. Which is another issue the Optimus G has very little unused space so it's smaller than all new phones with same screen size. My preferred phone would be about 5"" (with small bezel), soft touch buttons (I hate phones with on-screen buttons + huge bezel. What a waste of space), 1080p screen (more is a waste of battery) and a real midrange cpu that AFAIK doesn't exist, like 2 fast cores (A57/A72) plus 2 slow cores. I don't need 8 A53 cores, what a crap idea.LiverpoolFC5903 - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Your Optimus G has a far better GPU and CPU than ALL Snapdragon 200/400 series phones. The S4 Pro still holds it own against the mid rangers in the market, including the Snapdragon 615 which has a single channel memory.I agree its a general issue, but LG is the worst when it comes to overpriced and underpowered mid range phones that offer a poor value proposition to the discerning customer.
Samsung is also pretty bad when it comes to their mid range and low range phones. Poor support, terrible UI and performance combined with loads of bloat.
Thank god for the likes of Xiaomi, Asus, Lenovo and others, for making decent handsets at reasonable prices. The 'brands' apart from Motorola do not have anything compelling enough in the 200-400 USD price range.
nirolf - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Yup! You just can't get a decent mid-ranger that's not gigantic. Even 720p wouldn't bother me, it would help battery life. Combined with a 14nm CPU (Samsung apparently just announced Exynos 7 Octa 7870) that would make a nice little phone.beginner99 - Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - link
Yeah I could live with 720p if it was like a 4.5" screen + small bezel + light. But a 720p 5.2" phone at like 170 grams is just a POS. I just saw that Samsung announcement. Still these are low clocked A53. They aren't really much faster (if at all?) than my 3 year old one...Only good thing would be battery life one would assume.