LG hits refresh button with its new India-first W series, launches W10, W30 and W30 Pro phones starting at Rs 8,999

LG and budget phones don’t usually go hand in hand. The South Korean major has seemingly been content launching premium and ultra-premium flagships in India for some time now – while its budget offerings have been rather scarce. All this changed on Wednesday as LG hit the refresh button with its new India-first W series of budget smartphones – launching not one, not two, but three phones under the lineup all in one go. LG’s W series is kicking things off with the W10, W30 and W30 Pro phones. The W10 is the cheapest of the lot at Rs 8,999 while the W30 has been launched at Rs 9,999. LG isn’t announcing pricing of the W30 Pro just yet, but it should be around Rs 15,000 (or lower). 

One look at its new W series phones, and it’s evident, the W10, W30 and W30 Pro are LG’s answer to Xiaomi’s Redmi range of smartphones. LG’s W series will also be taking on Samsung’s newly minted Galaxy M series, as well as phones from Realme, Nokia and Asus.   

“The W-series is a demonstration of LG’s continued commitment to setting new performance standards and inspiring creative expression. We are confident that it will be a game changer in the category as it provides an elevated experience for our tech-evolved consumers coupled with the right pricing. The LG W Series will not only enable our consumers to capture brilliant images but with customizable notch feature it will also give users flexible options when it comes to setting up the display to fit their tastes and style,” Advait Vaidya who is business head, Mobiles, LG India said while launching the W10, W30 and W30 Pro phones in India.  

LG’s debut W series phones have a subtle gradient design and will be available in a slew of colours – while the W10 will be available in Tulip Purple, Gray and Smoky Gray colours, the W30 will be available in Thunder Blue, Platinum Gray and Aurora Green options. More specifically, the W10, W30 and W30 Pro, all come with a plastic body with rear-mounted fingerprint scanners and micro-USB port for charging and data syncing. The W30 Pro, in addition, will come with LG’s stereo pulse sound tech that “utilizes the internal space of the smartphone as a resonance chamber to deliver double the bass of conventional smartphones for powerful sound without the need for external speakers.” 

While the W10 has a standard iPhone X-style notch, the W30 (and W30 Pro) comes with a teardrop or dewdrop notch. LG is offering software tweaks, so users will be able to simulate a range of waterdrop-style notch designs on the W30/W30 Pro – U-shaped, V-shaped, or no notch at all. More specifically, while the W10 has a 6.19-inch display, the W30 and W30 Pro come with a 6.26-inch and 6.217-inch screens – all the phones have a resolution of 720p+ or HD+. 

Under the hood, while the W10 and W30 are powered by a MediaTek Helio P22 chipset, the W30 Pro will pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor. Here’s a quick look at the configurations on offer: 

W10: 3GB/32GB (expandable via dedicated slot) 

W30: 3GB/32GB (expandable via hybrid slot) 

W30 Pro: 4GB/64GB (expandable via hybrid slot) 

An interesting thing about LG’s new W series is that the W10, W30 and W30 Pro all run stock Android 9 Pie software out-of-the-box – and not LG’s custom UI.    

Moving on, the W30 and W30 Pro have three rear cameras (with different specifications) one of which will use a wide-angle lens. Should this wide-angle camera be anywhere close to LG’s more premiere phones, it could be the best in the business at its low price point. LG is one of the few companies that has been able to crack the issue of fish-eye distortion that amounts from such a lens setup – after having set the trend of wide-angle cameras in smartphones in the first place. Speaking of specs, while the W30 comes with 12MP+13MP+2MP setup, the W30 Pro will come with a 13MP+5MP+8MP setup.  

The W10 meanwhile has a dual rear camera system consisting of one 13MP sensor and another 5MP sensor. 

While the W10 has an 8MP front camera, the W30 and W30 Pro have a 16MP selfie camera. 

Lastly, all the three phones pack 4,000mAh batteries but there’s no fast charging on-board.  

Photos by Saurabh Singh