LG joins the cheap 5G phone race with the K92
5G has more-or-less gone mainstream in 2020, and now smartphone makers are racing to make those next-generation networks cheaper to access. Case in point: LG just announced its new K92 smartphone, which promises 5G support for AT&T and US Cellular for just under $400.
The fact that LG managed to churn out such a cheap 5G phone is all thanks to Qualcomm — it revealed its budget-friendly Snapdragon 690 5G chipset over the summer, and it’s now slowly making its way into new devices. (So far, we’ve seen it pop up in just one other device: OnePlus’s new mid-range Nord N10 5G.) It’s worth noting, though, that the K92 only plays nice with sub-6 5G networks — mmWave 5G access is still mostly available on more premium phones.
Apart from that chipset, the K92 also packs a 6.7-inch FHD+ screen with a hole-punch to accommodate a 16-megapixel front-facing camera, along with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Unlike some other, more premium 5G phones, you can also add up to 2TB of storage space with a microSD card.) Throw in a set of stereo speakers powered by LG’s 3D Sound Engine, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and a 4,000mAh battery, and we’ve got what’s shaping up to be a pretty solid budget device.
If there’s one big draw aside from 5G, it’s the surprisingly flexible rear quad camera setup LG ran with. The star of the show is a 64-megapixel standard camera with an f/1.78 aperture, and it’s flanked here by a 5-megapixel ultra-wide that captures a 115-degree field of view, plus two 2-megapixel sensors that gather depth information and shoot macro photos respectively.
It’s also somewhat ironic that one of LG’s cheaper phones has turned out to be one of its prettiest. The company’s flagships — with the exception of the Velvet and the odd-ball Wing — tended to sport bland, unassuming designs with little in the way of visual flair. The K92, meanwhile, sports an eye-catching two-tone finish around back that nicely separates the camera cluster from the rest of the phone’s body.
We haven’t had the chance to test one of these things yet, but it may well be a solid option for shoppers who want 5G on the cheap. If the phone’s budget allure speaks to you, keep the following in mind: The K92 goes on sale November 6th from AT&T, where it’ll cost you $395. Meanwhile, AT&T-owned Cricket will sell the phone for $359, and US Cellular will have the K92 for about $350 when it goes on sale there on November 19th.
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