LG Launches The Rugged LG X4+

LG’s flagship smartphone lineup’s future might be a bit hazy right now but, the company still believes that it has a strong foothold in the budget segment. That is, in its native market. LG was expected to launch the LG G7 at either the CES 2018 or MWC 2018 but, it looks like the anticipated smartphone is quite a few months away from launch. A recent report claimed that the LG CEO has instructed his team to rework on the LG G7 and come up with a completely rehashed version of the flagship device.

While the flagship smartphone plans seem awry for LG, the budget segment is consistently being targeted. The company has now launched the ruggedly built LG X4+ in its native market for a price of US $280 (Rs. 17000 approx.).

The LG X4+ has a 5.3-inch IPS display with a 1280 x 720 px resolution. It has an aluminium unibody design which has become a norm for budget devices nowadays. The LG X4+ has a design reminiscent of 2016 mid-rangers as the industry moves toward a “thin bezels and tall display design.”

Under the hood, the LG X4+ is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 chipset, Adreno 308 GPU for graphics, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. It is worth noting that the storage will be expandable via a microSD card. The LG X4+ has built-in Hi-Fi DAC (digital-analogue converter) which LG claims, will offer good sound quality.

The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back of the device, it is, however, not clear whether it also acts a lock and unlock button like some of LG’s other devices. LG has also introduced a feature called Finger Touch that will enable users to take selfies and screenshots by pressing the fingerprint sensor. The LG X4+ carries MIL-STD 810G rating and it’s certified in six categories including impact, vibration, high temperature, low temperature, thermal shock, and humidity.

The device is powered by a 3000 mAh battery and it runs Android 7 Nougat out of the box. It is baffling to see OEMs still launching smartphones with old software, irrespective of the price point.

The LG X4+ has a 13MP rear-facing camera and on the front is a 5MP sensor.

At a price of RS. 17,000 the LG X4+ is better off staying away from the Indian market. If LG were to launch this device in India, it’ll have to priced at around Rs. 10000 for it to even have a chance of competing. At this price point, not a lot of people look for ruggedness in their phones, it is more about the performance and with Snapdragon 425 chipset powering it, a price of Rs. 15000 or thereabouts would be too much.