New images now appear to have leaked out portraying LG’s up-and-coming ‘Q9’ mid-range handset in official renders, according to the source. The images showcase an angled front view shown from the bottom edge of the handset, another angled shot from the front but more centered, and a view from the side of both left and right edges. Beginning with the last of those, the device pictured features a pair of volume buttons rather than a volume rocker along the left side and a single button – presumably the power button – on the opposing edge. The image also clearly shows a curve along the back of the device, with contouring to enable a more comfortable grip. Although reflections in the renders make determining the exact color scheme difficult, the device appears to be shown in either a dark gray or black hue. The front of the device, meanwhile, shows a near-bezel-free design language, with a small notch cutout housing the earpiece, camera hardware, and other related sensors. Along the bottom, a speaker grill is placed to the right of a USB Type-C charging port, opposite a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Background: No information has been provided with regard to the party responsible for leaking the images out but they do seem to match up relatively well with previously leaked hands-on images from back in September, with a few very noticeable exceptions. The most obvious of those is the complete lack of any notch in the earlier pictures and the fact that the bezels appear to be much less prominent in the new renders. Beyond that, the somewhat downplayed styling seen in those earlier leaks is all but gone here. The handset shown in the earlier photograph had an appearance that would have fit in last year or even the year prior to that. But the new images, as mentioned above, fall much more in line with the latest G-series and V-series flagships LG has launched, leaning more closely to the LG V40 ThinQ than the G7 ThinQ, complete with metal edging and a notch. Perhaps more pertinently, it aligns almost perfectly with a much more recent design seen in early November, matching almost perfectly with the head-on view shown in that render.
Stepping back from that, there have also been quite a few leaks pertaining to this new mid-range handset’s specifications. The most recent expectation is that this will be a mid-range handset in every sense of the term aside from its aesthetics. Namely, it has been put forward that its 6.1-inch touchscreen will have a 19:5.9 display aspect ratio – contrary to still earlier claims stating that it may ship with an 18:9 ratio. The new leak proposes that will be an IPS LCD panel at a fullHD+ resolution – at a minimum of 1080p along its shorter horizontal edge. That will drive Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box, based on the most current speculation and will likely be updated to Android 9.0 Pie at some point in the future. Both of those OS versions will almost certainly feature LG’s own UI tweaks and other software on top. Driving that experience will be a Snapdragon 660 SoC backed up by 4GB RAM and either 32GB or 64GB microSD-expandable storage. A 3,550mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 will supply power for that.
While the none of the leaked imagery appears to have yet given away any information about the back half of the LG Q9, the new leak has been accompanied by the suggestion that it will feature a dual-sensor array. There’s been no indication as to what megapixel-rating those will have or what special features they might enable, as of this writing. Looking past the cameras, it is expected that LG has included dual-band Wi-Fi support across Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac protocols, effectively enabling any configuration to provide access and that is coupled with Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 as well as GPS, A-GPS, and GLONASS for location tracking. Finally,4G VoLTE is predicted to appear in this mid-range device. There have been no leaks as to whether or not a fingerprint scanner will be present either.
Impact: With consideration for the specs outlined above and the images provided so far, LG’s Q9 is likely to be a very solid device in the middle bracket for Android OS. However, whether or not it can compete with the wealth of high-value upper-mid-range handsets on offer from companies such as Huawei or those expected to be put forward by Samsung remains to be seen. All things considered, the determining factor in that particular stand-off could easily fall to pricing and availability, in addition to carrier compatibility. For the time being, none of that information has been made available.
