LG was working on multiple new devices when it announced its exit from the smartphone business last month. The company later confirmed that it won’t proceed with the development of the LG Rollable and LG V70. Well, it appears the phones could still see the daylight. According to leaked info posted on Twitter by @FrontTron, the Korean company is planning to start selling the so-called LG V70 as the LG Velvet 2 Pro soon in Korea. Unfortunately, only LG employees can buy it.
The sale was reportedly slated to commence today. However, LG has delayed it due to high demand. Well, the company is apparently charging only about $176 for a phone that sports a 6.8-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 888 processor with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and a 4,500mAh battery. That’s an absolute steal at under $200, so the high demand is understandable. The original LG Velvet launched with a starting price of $599.
According to the source, the new model comes with pressure-sensitive touch-sensor buttons for volume and power. The phone will be available in glossy black, glossy beige, and bimetallic bronze colors, with the latter coming in a dual-tone finish. LG is also including two jelly cases in the box.
LG had initially prepared only 3000 units of the Velvet 2 Pro, which is also called LG Rainbow. The company wanted to sell a maximum of two units to each of its interested employees in Korea. However, overwhelmingly high demand for the handset has now forced it to rethink that strategy. The company may now produce more units of the phone.
LG is also reportedly mulling extending the post-sale service period for the phone to 24 months from the previously suggested six months. It will not offer software updates to the phone though.
LG Rollable could also be selling behind closed doors
According to the same source, LG might also be selling the Rollable phone to its employees. Details about this phone and its pricing are scarce but it’s also reportedly only available in Korea. The company had last month confirmed that the LG Rollable will not be developed any further. So this news comes as a surprise as well. Perhaps the company was almost ready with this futuristic phone but never pushed it out the door.
Anyways, LG is prohibiting resales of the Velvet 2 Pro and the Rollable phone. So you’re unlikely to find these phones lurking somewhere on the web. An unfortunate end to a promising next-gen smartphone. Hopefully, some other OEM will come up with a similar product soon.