LG's steady drip of rumors about its next phone continues, as the consumer electronics giant has posted a teaser video that shows what the upcoming LG Velvet will actually look like.
Announced earlier this month, the LG Velvet is LG's latest effort to carve out a space for itself in a smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung. With Velvet, LG says it's doing away with the alphanumerical naming schemes that have characterized past phone releases like the G and V series of phones.
More importantly, the LG Velvet heralds a new focus on design, with features like the rear cameras arranged like descending raindrops on the back of the device.
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That raindrop effect is on full display in LG's Velvet teaser video, which starts with a drop of water falling and transforming into the phone's rear camera array featuring a trio of lenses. The video, which is captioned in Korean, also emphasizes the LG Velvet's slender design.
Exact specs for the LG Velvet are few and far between in this video, though we do get a sense of the colors LG is planning for the phone. In addition to traditional black and silver options, it looks like the LG Velvet will come in green and fuchsia as well. The back of the phone looks very glossy — a popular appearance for handsets these days — and LG clearly is using gradients to give the LG Velvet a shimmery look.
For many users, the most interesting thing about the LG Velvet video will be the Snapdragon 765 logo in the bottom left corner of the screen. LG had previously said the Velvet would be powered by one of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7 series chipsets, but this video confirms the speculation that it's the 765. That's significant because it means the LG Velvet will have a built-in 5G modem.
The 765 is a reasonably powerful chipset, though it's not as hefty as the Snapdragon 865 that powers leading Android flagship phones. That gives us a hint as to the price of the LG Velvet, which seems unlikely to command the $1,000 price that major flagships routinely charge. For context, the recent LG V60 ThinQ 5G features a Snapdragon 865 processor, and it costs $899. You'd imagine the LG Velvet would sell for less than that.
The LG Velvet is rumored to be arriving in May, with many sites pointing to May 15 as a possible releasee date for the phone. The number of LG-sanctioned leaks about the phone certainly would suggest that a launch is coming sooner rather than later.
