LG to launch new mid-range phones at MWC

LG has announced it will be launching a new series of mid-range smartphones next week at MWC in Barcelona. The four smartphones, named the Magna, Spirit, Leon and Joy, will all run Android 5.0 Lollipop with the exception of the Joy (which will still run Android 4.4 KitKat) and each one will be available in both 4G and 3G variations. To distinguish between the two models, the 4G versions will have a metallic back cover, while the 3G models will be made out of plastic. They’ll cover a range of screen sizes from 4.0in to 5in, and the Magna and Spirit, the two largest phones in the range, will have a very slight curved design with a radius of 3,000mm. 

Taking its name from the Latin word for ‘ultimate’, the 5in Magna will have a 1,280×720 resolution display and measures 139x70x10.2mm. The Spirit, on the other hand, has a slightly smaller 4.7in 1,280×720 display, but this means it will have a higher pixel density of 312 pixels-per-inch (ppi) compared to the Magna’s pixel density of 294ppi. It’s also a fraction slimmer, measuring 133x66x9.9mm.

Otherwise, the two phones are largely the same – both have a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 8GB of storage. However, the Magna will have a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and a larger 2,540mAh battery, while the Spirit only has a 1-megapixel front-facing camera and a 2,100mAh battery. 

The Leon is smaller still with its 4.5in 854×480 resolution display, giving it a pixel density of 220ppi. It still has a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, though, as well as 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage and a 1,900mAh battery, so it should be just as fast as its larger cousins. It’s quite a chunky device, though, as it measures 130x65x10.9mm.

The tiny 4in Joy is more budget-oriented, as it only has a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage and a 5-megapixel rear camera. However, its 800×480 resolution will actually give it a higher pixel density of 233ppi compared to the Leon, so text and images should look slightly sharper. It’s by far the thickest of the four devices, though, measuring 122x64x11.9mm. 

The phones may fall into LG’s mid-range category, but all of them will be borrowing several features from LG’s flagship handsets, including Gesture Shot, which starts a three-second countdown for selfies with a simple hand gesture, and Glance View which will debut on the G Flex 2 and allow you to quickly see the time, recent messages and missed calls, for example, by swiping down on the screen even when the display itself is turned off. Selfie stick owners will also be pleased, as LG’s increased the distance from which the camera can recognise gestures to 1.5m. 

The LG Magna, Spirit, Leon and Joy will all begin their global rollout this week in selected markets, says LG, but we’ll be on the show floor at MWC to give you our first impressions before they hit the UK shop shelves.