LG Has A New Flip Smartphone

LG, the Korean smartphone maker, has made a special flip phone for the South Korean market. The new flip phone is exactly just that – a flip phone – reminiscent of flip phones like the Motorola Razr but with a cool new twist. Called the LG Gentle, it is the first and only flip phone that runs on the latest Android operating system.

According to a report in The Huffington Post, the new phone is like a hybrid, a cross between the classic flip phone and a smartphone. Apparently, there is a huge market for flip-type phones in Asia, particularly in South Korea. The report says that the demand for phones such as this is simple functionality, for calling and sending SMS. Some businessmen are said to prefer them over high-tech and high-end smartphones because they are less distracting. Smartphones tend to take up some precious time that could otherwise be used for more productive tasks.

With the new LG Gentle, users can get this functionality with some benefits. According to a Tech Times report, the first benefit is that it has the functionalities brought by an Android OS. Second is it sports better specifications than the usual flip phone. This new device has a faster 1.1GHz quad-core processor, 4G LTE connectivity, 4 GB of storage and 1 GB of RAM. But much like a regular flip phone, it can only sport a small 3.2-inch screen and the camera is not great at only 3 MP.

It also comes in two colors variants – black and maroon - with a faux leather cover. Its keypad however is the traditional numeric keypad with T9 or predictive text functionality.

The phone is selling for only $179 in South Korea, making it an attractive alternative for those who want the simple functionality of the flip phone but cannot do without some of benefits of a smartphone, such as access to the Internet and basic apps for email and productivity.

This phone however is not likely to find its way to Western markets, according to the report.