LG unveils Velvet smartphone with water drop camera and 5G

After weeks of teasing, LG has finally unveiled their new mid-range phone, the LG Velvet.

The Velvet is a shift in focus from specs to design for LG with a focus on elements included in the Velvet like the 3D arc design which helps the front and rear flow together more easily, and the  ‘water drop’ camera, a ‘design in which three rear cameras and a flash are arranged in a vertical direction as if water droplets are falling’. 

The phone may be mid-range but LG has used the 5G compatible Snapdragon 765 processor and comes with a generous 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage which can be expanded with microSD cards. There’s a large 6.8-inch OLED display featuring prominently on the front of the phone, with a small cut-out in the centre of the display for a 16MP selfie camera. 

The back of the phone features the ‘raindrop’ triple rear camera array which contains a 48MP sensor, supported by an 8MP sensor with ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP depth sensor.

The Velvet  is also incredibly thin at just 6.8mm, but still packs in a 4,300 mAh battery with support for fast charging as well as wireless charging.

The Velvet will be able to take advantage of the  ‘LG dual screen’ accessory, which we’ve seen attached to phones such as the LG V60, which hasn’t launched here in Australia. There’s also stylus support as well, though both accessories are sold separately.

The phone will come in the usual black and white colour choices, as well as a funky green and orange colour which appears to transition in the light.

LG hasn’t announced where the Velvet will launch beyond their home country of South Korea where it’s priced at ₩899,800 – that’s over $1,100 AUD – a price tag which will likely need some work if it launches here in Australia. LG will be announcing global availability details for the LG Velvet in the coming weeks, so we may see more about a local launch then.