Sometimes, you just have to go retro. That apparently is LG’s strategy with the release of its new clamshell smartphone, the Wine Smart, or as it’s known in Korea, the LG Gentle. Unlike the clamshell devices we used 10 years ago, though, the LG Wine Smart runs the Android operating system and carries a touch-screen display.
As you can see from the image above, the LG Wine Smart is available in navy blue and burgundy. Let’s see what this competitor to Samsung’s Galaxy Folder has to offer in the way of specifications.
Specifications:
- Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
- 3.2-Inch HVGA display (480 x 320)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 Quad-core processor @ 1.1GHz
- 1GB RAM
- 4GB Internal storage
- MicroSD card support
- 3MP Rear camera
- VGA Front camera
- Networks: 4G/LTE, HSPA+, 3G
- Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, USB 2.0
- Dimensions: 117.7 x 58.7 16.6mm
- Weight: 143 grams
- Battery: 1,700mAh (removable)
The LG Wine Smart isn’t going to be winning any benchmark contests anytime soon, but then again, if you are looking for a clamshell, your requirements are probably different to the rest of us. The Wine Smart features larger than normal icons on the home screen along with the large 3 x 4 physical numeric keypad. There’s a navigation button as well as hotkeys for accessing frequently used functions such as the phone dialer, address book, messages or camera. While it only has 4GB of internal storage, it does have MicroSD card support, which gives it one advantage over the soon to be announced Galaxy Note 5 perhaps if the rumoured specifications are correct.
Chris Yie, the vice president of marketing communications for LG Mobile, had this to say about the Wine Smart handset:
“Our goal with LG Wine Smart was to create a smartphone that fans of flip phones could embrace. Consumers shouldn’t have to miss out on the smartphone revolution because they prefer a particular phone design over another. With LG Wine Smart, they won’t have to.”
If you are busy wondering where you can find one of these wondrous devices, you can rest easy knowing that LG plans to release the Wine Smart clamshell smartphone in countries such as France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Japan and Kazakhstan, among others. As for how much it will cost, LG says that pricing details will be announced when the handset is launched in the relevant markets, although to get an idea of how much, the Wine Smart is priced at $170 in Korea.
Source: LG
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