LG’s new W series budget smartphones take the fight to Samsung and Xiaomi

LG W30 is the company's most affordable triple camera smartphone yet.

What you need to know

• LG has launched three new smartphones under its new W series for the Indian market.
• The new W series frrom LG will take on Samsung's Galaxy M series as well as rivals from Xiaomi's Redmi sub-brand in the budget segment.
• While the W10 and W30 will go on sale starting next week, the W30 Pro will arrive at a later date.

LG, which currently holds a miniscule share of the Indian smartphone market, has launched a new India-first W series of smartphones to take on Xiaomi and Samsung in the country's highly competitive budget smartphone segment. The company hopes the new W series will allow it to capture a double-digit share of the smartphone market in India within the next two years.

The first devices to be launched under the new W series are the LG W10, W30, and W30 Pro. LG W10 is the most affordable of the three phones, priced at just ₹8,999 ($130). It comes with a 6.19-inch HD+ FullVision display featuring an iPhone X-like notch at the top. Powering the LG W10 is a 12nm MediaTek Helio P22 chipset, along with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. The phone has a 13MP + 5MP dual-camera setup at the rear and an 8MP front-facing camera. While the W10 lacks fast charging support, it should be able to deliver impressive battery life thanks to a 4000mAh cell.

LG W30 has been priced at ₹9,999 ($145) and comes with slightly better hardware compared to the W10. It offers a marginally bigger 6.26-inch display with a waterdrop-shaped notch and a 12MP + 13MP + 2MP triple-camera setup on the back. The W30 also has a 16MP selfie camera and a more attractive design overall. Both the LG W10 and W30 will be going on sale in India starting from July 3 via Amazon.in.

The most impressive W series smartphone is the W30 Pro, which runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 chipset and has a 13MP + 8MP + 5MP triple-camera setup. It is also the only W series phone to pack 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage. A notable feature present on all three W series phones is StereoPulse Sound, which basically makes use of a resonance chamber within the phones to amplify the sound output. When it comes to software, all the three phones will ship with "near-stock" Android Pie out of the box. No word on the W30 Pro's pricing and availability just yet.

While there is no doubt that these new W series phones are a massive upgrade over LG's previous generation budget smartphones, they are not even close to best-in-class in terms of the hardware on offer. LG will also have a tough time attracting consumers with an aversion to Chinese brands as it doesn't enjoy the same level of popularity in the Indian market as its compatriot, Samsung.

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