June 29 (AZINS) LG today launched a new ‘W series’ of smartphones in India with a starting price tag of Rs 8,999. The company will initially release two phones in the all-new budget W-series on Amazon India. The LG W10 and LG W30 will be made available on the e-commerce platform from July 3 at a price of Rs 8,999 and Rs 9,999, respectively. Both phones come in single 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant. The company will also launch a Pro variant of the W30, called the LG W30 Pro, later on Amazon. At the launch event in New Delhi, I spent some time with the LG W10 and LG W30 smartphones, and here are my first impressions.

Both the LG W10 and LG W30 flaunt modern colourful design with FullVision notch display. These feature glass-like glossy finish at the back in gradient colours on polycarbonate material. In my limited time with the devices, both W10 and W30 looked alright in terms of design and feel. Both phones offer a physical fingerprint sensor at the back.

The LG W10 features a 6.19-inch HD+ FullVision Display with an 18.9:9 aspect ratio and an iPhone X-like wider notch. On the other hand, the display on LG W30 is slightly larger and boasts of a tiny waterdrop notch. On paper, the W30 offers a 6.21-inch HD+ FullVision Display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. Interestingly, you get three customizable options to tweak the notch on both phones.

LG W10 and LG W30: Cameras

In the optics department, both phones are completely different. The LG W30 packs a triple camera setup at the back. It includes a 12-megapixel primary sensor, a 13-megapixel autofocus wide-angle lens and a 2-megapixel lens for depth sensing. On the other hand, the W10 only packs a dual-rear camera setup, which consists of a 13-megapixel primary sensor with PDAF lens and a secondary 5-megapixel lens. On the front, the LG W30 packs a 16-megapixel selfie camera, whereas the W30 offers an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. In our hands-on time during the event, both the rear and front cameras seemed average, so we will reserve our judgment for the full review.

Under the hood, both W10 and W30 pack an octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 SoC. Both the phones come in one single variant. These include 3GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage which is expandable via microSD card. The LG W10 offers 2+1 card slot, which means you can use two SIM cards and one microSD card at the same time. But the LG W30 offers a hybrid-SIM slot.

Both phones are backed by a 4,000mAh Li-Polymer battery. These do not include fast charging. LG has opted for stock Android OS in these phones. These run Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box. Other connectivity options on the LG W10 and LG W30 include Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/ A-GPS, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Both LG W30 and LG W10 are the budget segment devices to take on the likes of Xiaomi, Realme, Asus and Honor in the segment. LG has been a known player in the technology circuit for long, but the past few years haven’t been really good for the company in smartphone space. Recently, Samsung followed a similar strategy for the Indian smartphone market with the online-only M series, and their Galaxy M 10 and M20 operate around similar price bracket.

To me, LG after a while looked aggressive today. The online-focused W series seems the way forward in my opinion. The company has completely re-worked on the feature set in the LG W10 and LG W30 to get young people interested in the brand. Also, the long-due software complaint has been addressed with the stock Android implementation. At present, both phones look decent in its initial on paper standing, but we would not be able to pass on a judgment on the real-world performance until our final review. So do stay tuned for our full review in the coming days.

This article was first published on BGR.in