Overview of the smartphone LG W10 Alpha with key features

LG W10 Alpha is a novelty from the South Korean brand with rather modest characteristics. Initially, the presentation of the new line was supposed to take place at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, ​​but due to the cancellation of the event, the W10 Alpha was presented on the official website of the company.

The start of sales is planned in India. Information about this is available on the official website of the manufacturer. As for expanding the geography of sales, there is no information about this.

Overview of key features

Information taken from the official website. When compiling the review, data posted on English-language Internet resources and reviews of real users were used.

Design

Minimalistic - plastic black case, rounded corners. On the back there is a camera, an LED flash and a brand logo. No fingerprint sensors and additional options.
On the right side is the power on / off button and the volume control button. On the right is a slot for a memory card. It is comfortable to hold in your hands, thanks to the curved back panel.
Perhaps it is thanks to the discreet design that the device does not look cheap.

Display

Standard, with narrow bezels and a waterdrop notch at the top for the front camera. By the way, many users were confused by the differences in the image of the smartphone on different Internet resources. So, on the official website there is an image in which the phone has a narrow “chin”, in other photos leaked to the network, the lower part of the frame is quite wide.

Diagonal - 5.71 inches, resolution - 720 x 1512 (HD +), which is not bad. There should be no problems with image quality and clarity. You will definitely be able to see the picture on the screen even in bright sunlight.

Glass is tempered and scratch resistant. As for the case, though the plastic is hard, it is still better to buy a protective case right away.

Interface

Simple and understandable. In terms of functionality, it is not much different from version 9. The shell is the same Pixel Launcher, shortcuts with pre-installed applications on the screen, widgets. The only difference is that the Google search bar has moved down - convenient, no need to stretch. Plus, a menu has been added, which partially displays frequently used applications.

Manage applications, call or write messages easily, even with one hand.

Battery

Battery capacity - 3450 mAh, a little. The device will last without recharging up to 29 hours when listening to music, when watching a video - 5 hours, and even less with an active game.

For comparison, Xiaomi's Redmi 8A has a 5000 mAh battery capacity at the same price, plus fast charging. In general, Chinese manufacturers are ahead of LG in many ways, offering buyers functional and nimble gadgets with high performance at an affordable price.

Performance

Here everything is not so rosy. The manufacturer clearly saved on the "stuffing". You can safely watch the video, there will also be no problems with surfing the net. But playing energy-intensive games, most likely, will not work. Yes, and switching between applications can be a problem.

Photo and video

The smartphone is equipped with 2 cameras of 8 megapixels each. The main one is on the back panel, the selfie camera is on the front of the display.The manufacturer promises that the innovative AI camera technology itself adjusts to the lighting and selects the optimal shooting mode. Plus visual search (Google lens), autofocus and flash function.

Selfies and panorama shots can really turn out great if the lighting is good. Photos taken in night mode are blurry and grainy. Of the pluses - built-in filters that will help you adjust the selfie. True, there are only two of them.

As for video, the quality is acceptable, thanks to the optical image stabilization function OIS. But again, only during the day and only in good light.

Safety

Since there is no fingerprint recognition sensor, it remains either to type a graphic code on the display, or use the Al Facial Unlock function. The official website of LG states that identification is carried out using 128 points, and the process takes no more than 0.3 seconds. So there will be no problems with unlocking, besides, the probability that someone other than the owner will use the phone is almost zero.

OS

Here it is completely unclear. The manufacturer claims to have used "the latest Android 9.0" for the W10 Alpha. Not a word about the possibility of upgrading to the latest version 10.

By the way, it was the use of an outdated OS that caused a flurry of criticism from users after the official presentation of the device, along with a low-power chipset and a small battery capacity.

Additional functions

Everything here is standard for a budget smartphone - built-in radio, proximity sensor, accelerometer, GPS.
The proximity sensor "turns off" the screen if the user is talking on the phone, to avoid accidentally pressing the buttons on the display.Plus, when the screen is dark, the power saving mode is turned on.
The accelerometer is responsible for rotating the image when the device is tilted (for example, when watching a video in full screen mode).
GPS - determines the user's location anywhere in the world.

Memory

3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage plus expandable with microSDXC up to 128GB. There is a separate slot for the card - you do not have to sacrifice one SIM card.

The specs aren't too impressive. After all, to quickly run multiple applications at the same time, RAM with at least 4 GB is required. Otherwise, you will not be able to play games that require a fast response. There may also be "freezes" when switching between applications.
In general, according to experts, for the fast operation of any device, a maximum of 5 GB of RAM is enough. Otherwise, battery life will be shortened.

Important: the given data is posted on the official website of LG. When ordering through an online store, it is better to clarify information on the main characteristics with the manager, since the indicators may differ.

Connection

This is a phone with 2 SIM cards and VoLTE support (a high-speed IP channel is used to connect with a subscriber when making a call). This is much faster because the device does not waste time switching, the connection takes a couple of seconds.
Another advantage of VoLTE is the ability to make calls, view pages on social networks and other applications. And all this at the same time.

Interesting: smartphones with the VoLTE function are not afraid of communication interruptions associated with overloads on the telephone line.

Sound

Also pretty mediocre. The volume is enough to hear the call. But to appreciate musical compositions is unlikely to succeed.

Equipment

Strange as it may seem, there is no such information on the company's website or on other Internet resources. But since the LG W10 Alpha is positioned as a super-budget smartphone, it will most likely only come with a charger, without headphones.

Where could I buy

In Russia, sales have not yet opened, although information about the new product with detailed characteristics has already been posted in online stores.

Reviews

There is an interesting situation with the reviews. For example, users from India rated the new product at 4 points out of a possible 5. And buyers from Europe and America, based only on the description of the characteristics of the smartphone, gave the device a solid two, noting the discrepancy between functionality and cost.

Advantages and disadvantages

The LG W10 Alpha is a low-end smartphone that should compete with inexpensive Chinese devices. But whether this will succeed, given the rather modest characteristics, is unknown.

• stylish laconic design;
• large display and bright display;
• glass with scratch protection;
• built-in VoLTE;
• good color rendering.

• poor performance;
• chipset Unisoc SC9863A (same on alcatel 1s);
• operating system Android 9.0 Pie;
• small battery capacity - with active use, one charge will last a maximum of a day;
• very modest camera performance - for selfies in good light it will do, otherwise the pictures will not be of the best quality.

As a result, the announced starting price is $ 140, which, when converted into rubles, is a little more than 10,000. Agree, it turns out not very budgetary. In addition, for the same money you can buy Chinese devices with a larger battery capacity and the latest pre-installed version of Android.