One of the biggest selling factors a new flagship coming out near the beginning of the year could get is to beat Samsung’s latest out of the gate, and new reports are suggesting that’s exactly what the upcoming LG G6 is going to do when it drops on March 10. Samsung’s Galaxy S8 flagship is due to see its release event in April, which means that if this rumor is true, LG’s flagship will have the better part of a month to bask in the glory of being the first major flagship of the year and garner all the attention it can before Samsung’s newest next big thing starts blowing up the airwaves, courtesy of the massive advertising budget that has always been a key part of Samsung’s flagship strategy.
LG has already confirmed that we will be seeing the G6 at MWC in February, which lends a bit of credence to this report; if the phone is ready for the trade show floor, it’s not a stretch to think that it will nearly be ready to hit the streets at that point. The time gap in between suggests that what’s at MWC will likely be a final retail model, and all that stands between the LG G6 and retail shelves at that point will be logistics. MWC begins on February 27 this year, meaning that the G6 would be available only 11 days after its first official public appearance. If LG pulls this off, it will be the first time that a G lineup flagship has beaten a Galaxy S flagship out the door.
LG would not confirm news of the G6’s release date quite yet, though they did say that more details would be revealed at MWC. A new rumored release date for the G6 isn’t the only news coming out of LG’s wheelhouse today. Talking about their plans for the year in terms of sub-flagship markets, it seems that the low-end LG X300 will be trotted out on show on January 18, and should be released fairly soon, though a specific date was not given at this point. The X300 is supposed to be a slight upgrade on the new LG K8; slightly thinner, and with 2 gigabytes of RAM, versus the K8’s 1.5 gigabytes.