LG Announces Mid-Range Phone Magna LTE for Singapore

The LG Magna LTE is the latest LG mid-range smartphone to be available in Singapore. If you are looking for a budget alternative to the LG G4, then the Magna comes close in terms of design and with a subtle curved display.

As LG describes, the Magna LTE sees the pairing of the most essential hardware with LG’s premium design elements and user experience. The LG Magna LTE is designed to fit more comfortably in the palm of one’s hand with its subtle 3000mm radius curved display. In-cell touch display technology on the Magna brings the on-screen images closer to the fingers for improved sensitivity and more direct touch response. In addition, LG is carrying over popular UX features originally designed for its premium smartphones. Gesture Shot, for instance, makes it easy to take selfies with a hand gesture that starts a three-second countdown. Glance View allows users to quickly access key information such as time, recent messages or missed calls with a simple downward swipe of the screen, even when the display is off.

Essential hardware points towards basic necessities and the specifications does lose out to other similarly priced phones. It’s barely acceptable with a new 2015 MTK MT6732 1.5GHz 1.5 GHz Quad-Core processor, 1GB RAM, 8 GB of storage. Thankfully, the MT6732 is a 64 bit 28nm processor from Mediatek 2015 CPU line up, paired with a Mali T760 GPU. Performance should still be decent, although LG really stinged on the RAM. The 5″ 720P screen is a positive point and should offer a good display experience with the slight curve and in-cell touch display technology. Other notable points include a 2540 mAH removable battery and microSD support.

First impressions does look similar to the LG G4, and the dimensions are similar too although the Magna is noticeably thicker, around 30%, at 10.1mm. Personally the stand out feature for the G4 was the camera and maybe the leather styling for that individualistic touch. Both are missing here.

Price and Availability

The LG Magna will be available from 25 July 2015 in Gold and Titan colors, retailing for $328 from M1 and StarHub.

Options

At this price point, alternative options for consideration are the Zenfone2, Xiaomi Mi4i, Elephone P6000 and the HTC Desire 626. As it is being sold through the telcos, one advantage of getting the LG Magna would be the option to purchase it at a telco-contract price.