LG Officially Unveils its First 5G Smartphone in South Africa

LG officially launched its first 5G smartphone, the Velvet, in South Africa. The unveiling took place online, during a virtual launch event. The LG Velvet 5G is now available to order through MTN and Vodacom South Africa. The first 500 customers to buy through Vodacom will each receive a Dual Screen accessory, while those from MTN receives R1200 vouchers from Takealot.

Dubbed “the most visually stunning smartphone” by LG, the LG Velvet 5G has a revamped look and feel. It comes in a range of colors – Illusion Sunset, Aurora Green, Aurora Grey, Aurora White, Aurora Silver, and New Black. The smartphone has a triple-lens setup for the main camera, including a 48MP standard lens, 8MP wide-angle lens, and a 5MP depth lens.

The front camera is 16MP. It comes with a 6.82 P-OLED Cinematic Full Vision display and Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G. This makes it LG’s first mobile device to integrate an application processor and 5G connectivity.

“Powered by the Snapdragon 765G, the LG Velvet is equipped to deliver exceptional performance and meet the most demanding 5G use cases. It also enables intelligent multi-camera capture, high-speed gaming and all-day battery life,” says Alex Katouzian, SVP Mobile Business Unit at Qualcomm.

Other main specs of the LG Velvet 5G smartphone includes:

4399mAh battery
6GB RAM/ 128GB ROM memory
Android 10 OS
Stereo Speakers enhanced by LG 3D Sound Engine
6.8” FHD+P-OLED display
Snapdragon 765G 5G mobile CPU
128GB internal storage capacity

The LG Velvet has a 20/5:9 aspect ratio which is perfect for playing video games. LG developed it with a Grip Suppression Algorithm that helps differentiate accidental and deliberate screen touches to limit unintended operations.

The retail price starts at R13499 at R699 per month for 24 months.