While manufacturers like Samsung, Asus, and Sony were busy showing off their latest flagship smartphones in the glare of the Mobile World Congress spotlight this week, at least one OEM, LG, was quietly displaying its next top-of-the-line handset — along with several other future devices — to a select group of invitees in a private room within the cavernous event space.
But in a manner befitting the general confusion and lack of solid details that have defined LG’s G6 successor up to this point, when the phone spectacularly broke cover — thanks to a video in Israeli publication Ynet — it was not at all clear what the device actually was. At first, since it was labeled “LG G7,” and LG was widely thought to be dropping the G-series nomenclature this year, I speculated that we were looking at a prototype the company had scrapped in a widely reported reboot midway through its development cycle.
This is interesting. Article/video from an Israeli journo at MWC showcasing the LG G7 (Neo). May be the device LG scrapped in favor of Judy. [h/t: @Hanan_haber]https://t.co/fNng7jw9As
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 28, 2018
But I was wrong. According to several sources — and judging by the icy reaction Ynet reporter Guy Levy received from LG representatives following the video’s publication and viral spread — the phone depicted is in fact LG’s next flagship — the same Judy device detailed by VentureBeat last month.
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Still being referred to by the project’s original codename, Neo, the unfortunately notch-equipped, six-inch full screen (1440 x 3120, or 19.5:9) Android does indeed match the reported Judy features nearly spec for spec (save for its OLED, rather than MLCD, display technology). Internally, LG employees are allegedly “complaining that it’s copying the iPhone X.”
The feature parity runs beyond the usual processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon 845), memory (4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB RAM/ROM variants), and camera (dual rear f/1.6, 16-megapixel) configurations and into rather esoteric features like the “boombox” speaker, which we learn from the Ynet video gains added resonance when placed on a flat, hard surface.
Along with G7, LG was also showing off devices named Q7 and V35 — presumed successors to the Q6 and V30/V30S ThinQ, respectively — plus its first Android Wear watch since last year’s Watch Style and Watch Sport, according to a person who was in the room.
