The LG Q8 announced in Korea in August might arrive in the United States after all, as an application pushed forward to the FCC by the company’s USA branch recently emerged from the regulatory agency. The FCC label actually mentions a total of six model numbers, all of which share the same “LM-Q850” prefix, suggesting that the device could be planned for release in multiple other regions or possibly through several U.S. carriers. Nevertheless, the application itself seems to be focused more on the LM-850FA model number, suggesting that this could be the unlocked variant planned for a stateside release. The smartphone’s availability outside of Korea has yet to be officially confirmed by the OEM, and the device hasn’t even been released in its home country as of right now.
The LG Q8 (2017) wasn’t picked up by U.S. carriers last year, however, the new model is a completely different device that has very little in common with its predecessor, sans the moniker. While last year’s model was positioned in the upper mid-range segment, the new LG Q8 unveiled in Korea last month is a pure mid-range device, complete with the Snapdragon 450 chipset from Qualcomm as opposed to the Snapdragon 820. Furthermore, the upcoming LG Q8 has a completely different design and doesn’t have a secondary display, but instead adopts a taller 18:9 image format, rounded display corners, thinner bezels, and a glass back panel, while also accommodating a stylus in its frame. In Korea, the device was announced with a 6.2-inch display featuring a pixel count of 2,160 by 1,080, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of flash memory expandable through a microSD card slot. The new model also dropped one of the two main cameras in favor of a single unit but retains a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner similar to last year’s entry.
As for its pricing, time will tell what prospective customers in the U.S. might have to pay for the device, assuming that it will indeed launch stateside. In Korea, the latest LG Q8 was announced along with a price tag of 539,000 won ($479) which would place the device in a similar price range as some popular mid-rangers such as the Moto Z3. Smartphone prices are traditionally somewhat higher in South Korea compared to the U.S., so the story might be different outside of the OEM’s homeland. The LG Q8 is expected to launch in Korea this October and it remains to be seen if LG has any plans to bring the device stateside.
