LG Velvet officially launches, but we already had the details

May 7, 2020

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The LG Velvet has officially been announced, but you probably already know what to expect out of LG's new rebranding initiative.

But hey, it's a real phone now. Let's see what LG is cooking up.

LG Velvet officially announced

The LG Velvet is a little bit more mid-range than a phone that would typically get this kind of media attention, but there's a lot to like in this package. You're getting a 6.8-inch OLED display with a Snapdragon 765 CPU, so it's still got some very capable hardware.

It's paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage, which is nice, but not top-shelf. The phone is sporting LG's new “raindrop” camera system, which you can see on the back of the phone; there's a 48MP primary sensor, plus an 8MP ultrawide camera and a 5MP depth sensor. The front camera sits at 16MP.

Everything is powered by a 4300mAh battery with wireless charging and fast wired charging. There's an in-display fingerprint sensor, stylus support, waterproofing, and a headphone jack, although no HiFi DAC that we typically see in flagship LG phones.

And that's really where this phone sits competitively. It's not quite the most premium of phones, as evidenced by its relatively weaker chipset compared to a Galaxy S20 or something. But it's still sporting a large, great screen, and it looks pretty stunning, too. LG is pricing it at KRW 899,800, which is around $734 in direct currency conversion. I think that'll likely be adjusted in other markets, and will probably hit a $699 price if/when it launches in the US, for example.

So you're getting a phone that's pretty competitive next to a Galaxy S20 for about $300 less, which is… good. Problematically, however, is the impending Pixel 4a that's going to be pretty competitive next to this thing, too, and it'll be almost half the price. Feels like LG's going to struggle in this race before it even starts.