LG's new Wine Smart is an Android Lollipop flip phone made for international markets

LG today announced that it's going to release an Android-based flip phone (aka clamshell) in various markets around the world. Called Wine Smart, the handset is a rebranded LG Gentle - a device that LG introduced last month in its home country.

We all know that the golden days of flip phones are long gone, so why is LG bothering to launch such a device around the world? Well, the company says that the Wine Smart is simply a handset for nostalgic users: those "who are more accustomed to the feel of flip phones."

Running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, the LG Wine Smart is powered by a quad-core 1.1 GHz Snapdragon 210 processor, and offers a small 3.2-inch display with just 320 x 420 pixels, alongside a traditional numeric keypad with four hotkeys. The smartphone further features a 3 MP rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of expandable storage space, and a 1700 mAh battery. Surprisingly, it's also got LTE connectivity.

According to LG, the Wine Smart will make its international debut later in August. The first countries to get the phone will be the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Kazakhstan, and Japan. Right now, we don't know if the device will be available in North America.

Interestingly, this new handset has exactly the same name as an Android flip phone that LG launched last year in Korea. The price of the LG Wine Smart hasn't been announced, but we know that, in South Korea, the LG Gentle is sold for around $170. Would you buy the handset for that kind of money?


source: LG