LG is working on the LG G6 for 2017 but it won't feature a curved OLED display
LG will once again be in attendance at MWC this year, and will once again be launching a new flagship; this time the LG G6.
A quick summary of the rumours suggests it'll pack a brand new display technology from LG's own display division, with an edge-to-edge design inside a metallic body. It'll also apparently have waterproofing and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor.
LG has been quietly brilliant and very consistent for the past few years. The LG G5 was a brilliant, well-executed handset that failed to sell well and this was a real shame. It was easily one of my favourite handsets of 2016 and I whole heartedly believed a lot of people would have rushed out and bought one.
The design, while understated, was spot on. The modular aspect, while interesting, was a bit gimmicky in the end but in the grand scheme of things it hardly made any difference to the overall usability of the handset. The display was fantastic, as was the software and the camera, the first dual-lens to hit market, was fantastic.
Perhaps it was a failing with LG’s marketing? I honestly don’t know – the handset should have sold a lot better than it did. I know Samsung had a good year, but there was a very good case for the LG G5 being number two to the Galaxy S7 in the Android space.
I’d love to know what LG’s findings for the handset were and why it thinks it didn’t sell particularly well.
2017 will be all about the LG G6 for the company, though, and if there is one that that LG does well it is come-backs.
Below is everything we currently know about the handset…
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LG G6 Release Date, Specs & Features: Release Date
A report from Venturebeat alleges that the LG G6 will be made available in South Korea as early as March 9 following its February 26 unveiling. This would give it a signficant headstart over the Samsung Galaxy S8, which is not expected to launch until March 29 nor hit the shelves until April 21 - that means it'll have a six week lead in sales. However, outside of Korea it will be a different story, with the LG G6 apparently not landing in the US until April 7, giving it a two week lead on the Galaxy S8 but falling four weeks behind the debut in the Asian market.
According to details emerging on January 4 via the Wall Street Journal, LG executive Skott Ahn, the firm's Chief Technology Officer, has effectively outed the LG G6, calling it by name, and also confirming that it will arrive "in the very near future." To us that's very much a nudge, nudge, wink, wink that we are indeed looking at a MWC 2017 launch event.
On January 10, word has emerged via Korean news sources that the LG G6 will hit the market on March 10 following a MWC announcement on February 26, meaning it will beat Samsung's Galaxy S8 to market if current rumours about that device launching in April are true. That February 26 launch date means that, just like last year, LG will be launching a day head of the MWC conference proper.
Reports on 14 January reveal that LG is engaging in some pretty extensive testing procedures to ensure the LG G6 is safe for users; this would appear to be a step taken to reassure customers following Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 "explosiongate" fisaco. We're not quite sure why LG should want to do this, considering that Samsung's problems aren't in any way indicative of the safety of LG's devices, so we can only assume it's a bit of a dig at Sammy and some competetive willy waving on LG's part.
Speaking to the Korea Herald, LG said, "We will significantly improve the safety and quality of our new flagship smartphones as more consumers seek safe smartphones." The report adds that LG has been using new technology to deliver tougher in-house testing in a bid to really put its new hardware through the ringer. Reportedly, some of these involve battery heat exposure testing with temperatures 15% higher than the standards required by US and EU legislation. The battery is also being tested for piercing and having heavy objects dropped onto it. Other tests for the device as a whole are designed to tests it in the context of "life endurance", where it is subjected to a lot of droppage, tumbling, and high voltages. Additionally, LG has revealed it will use heat pipes with its CPUs to channel away heat from the processor - this is something we have seen with recent Samsung Galaxy S flagships.
January 19 sees LG issuing press invitations confirming its launch event will take place at MWC 2017 on February 26 in Barcelona, Spain, at 12:00 noon local time - that's actually a day before the expo kicks off officially, meaning LG is sticking to the same launch schedule as last year. The invitations are smartphone shaped showing what amounts to a large display outline with the slogan "See More, Play More," suggesting the firm's brand new edge-to-edge display technology will be centre stage.
The LG G6 might cost $50 more than its predecessor, according to new details from Koreanmedia sources. The reports reiterate that the LG G6 will feature a "glass sandwich" sealed unibody design with a non-removable battery; this is apparently in order to accomodate the IP68 water resistance. The international model will have wireless charging, meanwhile the display is apparently confirmed with a 1440x2880 pixel resolution. A fingerprint scanner, dual-camera, and 32-bit audio DAC are also tipped. Allegdly this all means the price will be $770 compared to the LG G5's price of $720.
Additionally, LG has reportedly trademarked names for the LG G6 Compact and LG G6 Lite, suggesting for the first time that there may be both smaller and lower-spec edtions of the flagship. In 2016 LG trademarked the LG G5 Lite but ultimately launched it as the LG G5 SE. There is however an element of "covering all the bases" here which may not see every title used, LG also trademarked LG G6 Hybrid, LG G6 Fit, LG G6 Sense, LG G6 Young, LG G6 Forte, and LG G6 Prix at the same time. Like patents, it seems, OEMs like locking down names even if they end up not using them. Some of those may be partner devices or accessories such as fitness bands and smartwatches, however.
LG has now trademarked even more LG G6 related names, according to Korean sources. The main new name is the LG G6 One, but it has also trademarked three letter-based variants; the LG G6 L, LG G6 M, and LG G6 C. It's plausible that some of these may simply be alternative names for other devices already trademarked, the LG G6 C, for example, could be the LG G6 Compact. Again, it is also plausible that these are not phones at all and are instead accessories designed for the LG G6 itself and/or other variants in the series in the event that LG does release more than one device.
LG G6 Release Date, Specs & Features: Design & Display
Another teaser from LG appears to reaffirm the rumour of IP68 water and dust resistance, the banner shows the handset's launch date, the hashtag #LGG6, and the slogan "Resist More. Under Pressure". Doesn't take a genius to figure out what that's all about does it?
LG had previously issued "save the date" notifications for its big launch event, but now it has released official inviatations to press, and the invite itself is pretty intriguing as it gives some more details regarding the LG G6 design and display. The invitation shows the same display "cut-out" that we saw on the save-the-date, dubbed here as "Big Screen", but there's also a diagram showing how the display will fit in the phone's bodywork, and how the whole setup fits in the hand. It's a bit ambiguous as there are no measurements and no visible bodywork, however, the circles emanating from the display corners appear to indicate where the corners of the surrounding bodywork will start and finish. At the same time, a report from ZDNET states that LG has confirmed the official name for its new LG G6 display technology, with the firm dubbing it "Full Vision".
Another day closer to the big launch and another batch of images of the LG G6 has emerged. This time it's one of the most comprehensive image leaks we've seen so far, showing the handset from nearly every angle in some highly polished product renders from casemaker Ringke (via AndroidPure). Naturally the images show the LG G6 wrapped in Ringke cases, but there's still a lot we can see in terms of features and design.
As per earlier leaks, the shots show a dual-camera on the rear together with a fingerprint scanner, and an ultra-thin bezel around the display.
Interestingly, as well as showing a 3.5mm headphone jack and Type-C USB port, the images show us where the volume rocker has gone - there are two volume keys on the side of the handset, meaning the rear-mounted power key and volume rocker combination is gone; presumably the fingerprint scanner is still a power key, however.
A new image of the LG G6 has leaked online showing the previously rumoured shiny metal and glass back panel design and the G6 logo. The snap comes via Business Insider. The handset would appear to be either a more advanced prototype or test model than the one leaked below, or a production ready model - interestingly it appears to have a production-style protective film. The dual-camera and fingerprint scanner are visible again, but again we also cannot see anything like the old LG power key and volume rocker combination, or indeed a power key or volume rocker anywhere else on the device, leading us to wonder how these functions will be operated.
Live photos of an alleged LG G6 prototype have broken cover online via Droid-Life. The images are a little rough, and the prototype appears to be rigged up with wires to some kind of external device.
The wires seem to be going into the battery cell area which would suggest it's either running on an external power source or is plugged into a battery testing device. Either way, we still get a good view of the handset's metallic back panel and metal surround; in the base a punched speaker grille is visible as well as what looks like a Type-C USB port.
The front image shows an extremely large display with barely any bezel around it, while the back clearly has a dual-camera sensor setup and a fingerprint scanner, however, what's curiously absent is the rumoured return of a rear-mounted power button and volume rocker arrangement as we've seen on the LG G3, LG G4, and LG G5. There's also a wire going into the top of the phone near the camera, and multiple oddly-placed and in some cases oddly-shaped holes, in all cases we haven't the foggiest idea what they're for other than the possibility of some kind of testing setup. Of course expect the final release model to be much more polished!
Word of the LG G6 first broke cover in 2016 coming to us via local Korean news source Chosun.com claiming the LG G6 was originally planned to feature a curved OLED display, citing industry insider sources for the information, who said the LG G6 is scheduled for launch inside 2017. However, the other half of that story was that in spite of the curved OLED plan, it had since been abandoned.
The sources say LG intends to stick to flat screen panels for the LG G6, but allegedly curved OLED was on the cards at one point; it's not clear if that meant a Galaxy S7 EDGE style design or something different entirely. You may remember that LG has previously released the LG G Flex series with a curved screen from top-to-bottom and which could flex along its length without breaking.
LG Display, LG's display subsidiary, has announced a new smartphone display design with a 1440x2880 QHD+ resolution which, it confirmed, will be the display panel used on the next LG flagship. As we already know the next LG flagship launching at MWC on February 26 will be the LG G6, that pretty much narrows it down!
It will be a 5.7in 564ppi display with an ultra-wide aspect ratio at 18:9 for what LG Display describes as an "immersive viewing experience," it's also hoped the display will help with Android 7.0 multitasking multi-window features for having multiple applications on-screen at once.
The screen also uses LG's inTOUCH technology designed to make touch responsiveness highly sensitive and accurate, LG suggests there will be zero percepitble delay between touch input and actions occuring on-screen. Other enhancements mean the display panel is very thin (meaning potentially more components can be fitted behind it; larger battery etc.) and allows for narrower bezels along the edges.
Outdoor visibility in direct sunlight is also enhanced, along with a 30% reduction in power consumption; which is a big deal considering displays are the biggest battery hog.
"We expect to maximize user experience and customer value through the super high-quality display with its new 18:9 aspect ratio, which sets it apart from conventional displays for smartphones," said LG Display SVP and head of mobile development, Dr Byeong-koo Kim, "LG Display will continue to set new standards in premium mobile displays, based on its differentiated technology."
It's claimed, however, that the decision to ditch a curved display is down to concerns over supply; LG sources its display panels direct from its own subsidiary, LG Display, but apparently LG concluded that LG Display would be unable to guarantee an adequate supply of curved OLED panels for the LG G6. According to the report, LG believes that demand could only be met after LG Display production facilities in Gumi, South Korea, are sufficiently upgraded with new equipment - this is something that is scheduled to happen in the latter half of 2017, but of course that's too late to help with the LG G6.
On top of all this, the report claims the LG G6 will feature a metal body with what's referred to as a "tempered glass finish", but it's not clear what this actually means.
While the LG G5's modular battery design was much appreciated by those feeling its absence from pretty much every other flagship device on the market, one of the glaring design omissions when compared to the Galaxy S7 (which launched the very same day) was the lack of waterproofing.
Even Apple's latest iPhone 7 has finally added waterproofing to the long-standing brand. So it is now reassuring to hear that, according to South Korean news reports on December 5, LG has adopted the use of water-resistant adhesives for the LG G6 display which are very similar to what is used on the iPhone 7 - this is being interpreted as evidence that LG is attempting to release the LG G6 with built-in waterproofing.
A WSJ report adds that the LG G6 will not use a modular design, as we've heard before, and that price wise it will be similar to the LG G5, putting it at around the $500-$600 range.
On January 23 a rendered image has appeared which looks like some kind of teaser for the LG G6 and shows the top part of the phone with some impressively thin bezel action. The image was picked up by The Verge, which was also able to confirm once again the rumoured 2:1 screen ratio on a 5.7in panel with barely any bezels; it's thought the screen-to-body ratio will be way above 90%.
"Though its bottom isn’t shown in the image, it’s only slightly taller than the top bezel," said the report.
Another image has leaked on January 26 showing the top right side of the LG G6, it's another render in a similar style to the previous view of the top and left side of the phone's display. Clearly whoever is behind these leaks intends to drip feed us various teasers of the different angles of the phone's design. Anyway, this time we can once again see the impressive edge-to-edge display and the metallic banded edging design around the shell.
There's also a pop-out card slot, which may be either the SIM tray or microSD, or perhaps a two-in one given that it looks fairly large. We can also see the front-facing camera sensor on the far side, and in the centre two small sensors next to the speaker grille.
LG G6 Release Date, Specs & Features: Specs & Hardware
An LG handset has been spotted in benchmarks bearing the name LG H871, and it could possibly be the LG G6 as, fitting with earlier rumours that Samsung had bought up all the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 supply, it seems to run a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 series chip with 4GB RAM. However, it may also be the trademarked LG G6 Lite or LG G6 Compact.
On January 24, a report from Forbes regarding Samsung's alleged "hoarding" of the 10nm FinFET Snapdragon 835 chipsets that it manufactures for Qualcomm, suggests that the LG G6 will rely on a less up-to-date CPU model; allegedly Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 SoC. The story goes, citing anonymous industry insiders, that Samsung has bought up the vasy majority of Snapdragon 835's available to smartphone manufacturers, to the extent that no more will be available until after it launches, apparently in April.
Writing for the site, Ben Sin says, "Well, I've spoken to some industry insiders in Asia today and I must apologize to HTC, because it would appear that the 835 is out of their reach until after April, so they couldn't have used the 835 without drastically delaying the phone. In fact, that's the case with almost all phones, including LG's flagship. Yup, I have confirmed with an industry insider that the LG G6 will run on Snapdragon 821 instead of the 835 that everyone's expecting. The reason? Samsung has first dibs."
His source reportedly confirmed, "The Snapdragon 835 won't be available in large quantities until after the Galaxy S8 launches," adding that the launch date for the S8 would be April 14 in South Korea. Currently other reports indicate availability on April 21.
"Obviously I can't reveal who my source is, but I've been traveling around Asia visiting phone companies, and this person has first hand knowledge, so to me, this isn't really a rumor but a leak: the LG G6 will run on Snapdragon 821," Sin concludes.
We've heard a lot of talk about Google Assistant since its launch aboard the Google Pixel phones, and since then it seems everyone in the smartphone space is jumping on the AI Assistant bandwagon. However, so far it seems Pixel devices are the ONLY devices equipped with Google's own AI, which considering Google's tendency to build features and platforms with OEM adoption in mind is a little odd.
Well now it seems that the first non-Google, non-Pixel handset to make use of Google Assistant might be none other than the LG G6, if new reports are accurate. The word comes via Korean news source Business Korea.
"LG Electronics is strengthening cooperation with global companies, such as Google and Amazon, as part of its efforts to promote its sluggish smartphone business," reads the report. Citing unnamed insider industry sources, it says that LG "is actively seeking to technologically collaborate with Google and Amazon for its new products to be launched this year."
"There are rumors that the G6, which is to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain, on February 26, will be featured with Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistant service “Google Assistant.”
It's claimed that rather than develop its own AI system, as Samsung is doing with Bixby for the Galaxy S8, LG would prefer to adopt Google's pre-made Google Assistant. However, it seems unlikely it would be as closely integrated into the phone as on the Pixel series, where it is directly coupled with Android and capable of some unique features and capabilities. Google is likely to want to keep such features exclusive to its own stable, but it's thought that there may be some cooperation between Google and LG across both its smartphone and smartwatch products in 2017, a move which would echo Google and LG's combined efforts on the Nexus projects in the past.
LG G6 Rumours & Leaks: Battery
The LG G6 will reportedly feature a very large battery cell, according to freshly leaked details. Korean media sources claim it will have a capacity "more than 3,200mAh", the largest battery an LG flagship has ever had, with the cited source being a "senior official" inside LG itself. As an example, the report also claims it'll give 12 hours of web browsing battery life on a single charge.
A November 25 2016 report from The Korea Herald cites insider sources, claiming the LG G6 will retain a design which allows the battery cell to be accessed and removed.
Although the LG G5 didn't exactly shake the earth in terms of sales figures, of the faitfhul who did buy it the removable battery feature appears to be one of the favourites and indeed in many cases a main motivator for picking the handset. Removable batteries used to be a pretty standard feature in the Android smartphone space; nearly every Android phone had one, allowing a user to perform a "battery pull" if something went wrong, as well as the easy use of replacement batteries if a particular cell developed a fault. It also meant you could carry a few spares if you knew you'd be away from a charger for longer periods.
Over the years the feature has gradually been phased out in favour of sealed unibody designs, much to the chagrin of fans of accessible batteries. Fellow Korea OEM Samsung carried the torch longer than most, but it too in the last two generations of Galaxy S flagship has axed the feature in favour of a sealed metal and glass design. LG saw a niche in the market with the LG G5 and incorporated the much-desired accessible design, so it is reassuring to hear that it will remain in one form or another on the LG G6.
The Korea Herald says that LG will retain a removable battery design due to issues of "safety and yield." We could read a number of things into that, but it does sound like there may be some reference to Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 exploding battery crisis, the one which caused the Galaxy Note 7 to be axed and cost Samsung multiple billions of dollars, as well as putting a dent in its reputation.
HOWEVER, as of December 8 there is some disturbing news that the LG G6 removable battery may not be a priority after all. Android Police tech journo David Ruddock took to Twitter to report that the LG G6 will NOT feature a removable battery, according to a source of his. He goes on to add that it will feature a sealed, all-glass unibody design which will be similar to Samsung, but it will keep the 3.5mm headphone jack.
"Source: LG G6 will not have a removable battery, LG will move to an all-glass design language similar to Samsung. Headphone jack is a go."
He subsequently followed up with an additional Tweet, saying that there was a mistake in his first Tweet. Apparently it's not all-glass, but has a gloss metallic rear panel:
"Correction: G6 is not all glass body, but has a highly reflective metallic material on the rear."
We're hoping this proves to be untrue!
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