LG India has launched India’s cheapest LTE phone, the LG F60, at a maximum retail price of Rs 15,000.
At present, LTE phones are priced in the Rs 30,000-40,000 bracket.
“Blazing Fast 4G LTE For All,” LG said in its introduction to the 4.5-inch phone, which carries on the oval design seen in the LG G3.
The LTE version in the LG F60 is Category (Cat) 4, implying download speeds of upto 150 Mbps, the same as Samsung Note 4, which was launched last week for Rs 58,000.
However, India has also seen the launch of Cat 6 300 Mbps phones like the Lenovo Z2 Vibe Pro, which is priced at Rs 33,000.
Still Cat 4 is about the global standard in LTE right now.
India will get widespread LTE networks by March next year. At present, only TD LTE networks have been launched in the country. These networks, such as those by Airtel in Bangalore and Pune, are supported only by a handful of phones like the iPhones.
What is not clear is which bands will be supported by the LG F60, also known as the LG D392. But since India is the first market in which this phone is being launched, it can be assumed that it will support 1800 MHz LTE and possibly also 2300 MHz LTE that Indian operators are focusing on.
Other specifications of the cheapest are not great, especially in the display department. For example, the LG F60 comes with a 4.5 inch 480 x 800 px, 207 ppi screen that is just about doable. In fact, in terms of resolution and size, it’s the same screen as found on Android One phones that are priced at Rs 6,500.
Still LG displays have a reputation for being excellent, even in lower-priced phones.
Other good features are 1 GB of RAM and Android 4.4 KitKat. The LTE phone also comes with 4 GB of internal memory, 50 GB of cloud-storage and a 1.2 GHz processor.
Also revealed was the LG Rs 6,500 LG L45, a 3.5-inch 3G-enabled handset.