An unannounced LG-made smartphone bearing the model number “LG-M255” has been certified by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a set of filings posted on the FCC’s website have revealed. The South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer initially filed some basic documentation pertaining to the device in late February before the FCC publicized the filing on Friday, though the documents themselves reveal little information about the product. Three filings were made public in total, one of which clearly states the product in question is a smartphone, adding that its FCC ID Label is located beneath a battery that’s packaged separately, indicating that the handset sports a removable battery. Another test report reveals the smartphone supports GSM, WCDMA, LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi communications standards, which is nothing unexpected, though the documents also reveal LG’s mysterious product features NFC support.
LG requested a six-month confidentiality period from the FCC regarding other documentation filed with the Commission, asking the agency to not publicize any files pertaining to the product that might contain trade secrets and other types of sensitive information. While this is standard practice for certification filings with the FCC, it also suggests that the Seoul-based tech giant will likely officially announce the device by September. Finally, seeing how the LG-M255 was certified by the FCC, LG is almost certainly planning to release it in the U.S. at some point in the future.
While a removable battery and a release window covering late summer and early fall might indicate the device in question is the upcoming LG V30 flagship, that likely isn’t the case given how its model number is unrelated to the LG V20 and the LG V series in general. Instead, this is probably a mid-range or an entry-level Android smartphone that the company will be looking to release with select carriers in the country. In the meantime, LG’s next high-end device will be hitting the market later this week as numerous carriers will officially start retailing the LG G6 on Friday, April 7. Regarding the mysterious LG-made device that was just certified by the FCC, more details on its features and availability will likely follow later this year.