LG Launched the Velvet smartphone in South Korea back in May and announced that the device will be made available to global markets in June. The device is the company’s successor to the G- and V-series offerings. The firm redesigned the phone from the ground up to offer “meaningful” new devices instead of spec upgrades.
While the phone starts being sold in the United States for a starting price of $599 from today, it is currently available only through AT&T, with more carriers such as T-Mobile and Verizon expected to offer the device for purchase later this summer. However, if you were hoping to get an unlocked variant of the phone without being tied to a carrier, you are out of luck. The firm confirmed to 9to5Google that it will not be selling its new premium offering through unlocked channels.
With flagship phones from the likes of Samsung and Apple costing upwards of $1,000, the Velvet packs high-end specs – if not flagship specs – such as a 5G-capable Snapdragon 765G chipset, a 6.8-inch OLED display, IP68 and MIL-STD-810G certification for water and dust resistance, and more, for close to $600 from carriers. Assuming an unlocked version could have been sold for about $700, it still would have been a viable option for those on other carriers or for those who prefer to purchase devices without a carrier contract.
Those interested in the AT&T variant can get the device for as low as $10/month if they are getting the device with a new line, or for $299 for a two-year contract. When the device does arrive on Verizon, it will come with support for both mmWave and sub6, in comparison to other carriers that only support sub6.