LG Q6 preview: A closer look

Introduction

The Q6 is LG's latest crack at the budget smartphone market. But instead of making yet another cookie cutter device, LG has decided to shape it in the mold of its flagship - the G6.

The result is a phone that you'd certainly call G6 mini if you went by looks alone. The taller 18:9 display with its eye-catching curved corners instantly makes the Q6 stand out in a sea of mid-rangers that are, frankly, quite boring to look at.

And design is certainly not the only thing the LG Q6 has going for it. The phone has Military Standard-810G certification for drop protection, improved facial recognition for faster face unlock and a wide-angle front camera with 100-degree field of view.

LG Q6 Key Features

• Body: 7000 series aluminum frame, US Military Standard-810G Certified
• Display: 5.5-inch, 18:9 2160x1080 IPS LCD
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 435, 8x 1.4GHz Cortex-A53, Adreno 505
• Memory: 32GB storage (expandable), 3GB RAM
• Main Camera: 13 Megapixel, f2.2, 1080p30 video with EIS
• Front Camera: 5 Megapixel, f2.2, 1080p30 video
• Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, dual SIM, Bluetooth 4.2, single-band Wi-Fi 802.11n, microUSB
• Battery: 3000mAh
• Misc: FM Radio, Face unlock

Main shortcomings

• Underwhelming processor
• No fingerprint sensor
• No 4K or slow-motion video
• No NFC

LG certainly had to cut a lot of corners to make the Q6 price tag what it is. You lose out on useful features like fingerprint sensor, fast charging, USB-C connector and some extra bells and whistles like 4K video and NFC that some of the competitors now have. You are also stuck with a decidedly slower entry-level chipset, whereas some competitors reach a little higher.

But, whether or not all that matters is something we find out only when we are done with our inspection.