Last of the 845s - LG Style 3 announced

williamcll · April 11, 2020

Featuring a chip, despite more than two years old already, still competes with many mid-high range phones. Nothing much else about the phone really stands out.

Quote

LG just unveiled a curious mid-ranger for Japan’s DoCoMo – the Style3. This is not to be confused with the Stylo series, there’s no stylus on this one. The phone will be released in June at a price of just over JPY 38,000 ($350/€320).

The curious part is this - the phone is powered by a Snapdragon 845 chipset. It may be two generations old now, but it’s still a flagship chip. The CPU still holds its own against modern Snapdragon 700 offerings and the GPU is noticeably faster. You only get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, though there is a microSD slot supporting cards up to 512GB. Still, a few more gigs of RAM couldn't have hurt.

The LG Style3 has a relatively small 6.1” OLED display with high resolution, 1440p+. The phone’s dimensions are not listed, but it should be pretty compact. We're not fans of the wide notch and it only houses an 8MP selfie camera.

Source:https://www.gsmarena.com/lg_style3_unveiled_in_japan_a_midranger_with_s845_chipset_61_qhd_oled_display-news-42579.php

https://onlineshop.smt.docomo.ne.jp/products/detail.html?mobile-code=004At

Thoughts: I do wonder how much stock of olders SoCs are still in storage around the world. I feel like they could be better used as SBC rather than phones.

kokakolia · April 11, 2020

9 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Looks to be made out of leftover parts

If it wasnt for the ugly notch and low RAM, it could actually be stand to be a popular value buy even at $400

Because flagship chipset and high resolution OLED screen

Duuude! You're still complaining about the specs? You get a lot for your money with this phone. 4gb of Ram and 64gb of storage is plenty for most people. And the Snapdragon 845 is still a beast. And you get an OLED screen too!

You could honestly fool people on the street into thinking that this phone is the latest 1000€ flagship from LG.

IMHO the only thing that sucks with this phone is the brand. LG kinda drops the ball when it comes to software. And that really brings the phone down.

I am so enthusiastic about this idea of leftover parts from older flagships at a bargain price. Phones aren't really getting better every year, only the prices seem to go up inexplicably.

kokakolia · April 11, 2020

@huilun02You're clearly a power user who would flash a custom ROM anyways. So you only care about specs. I suppose that there's not a single universe where you'd buy an LG phone over a Chinese phone with greater specs due to razor thin (i.e. non existent) profit margins. And of course you'd buy your phone used or an a "blue moon" flash sale event. So a worthwhile product for you is one that a manufacturer cannot offer (in a profitable way).

Can't you just admit that as a deal-seeking tech enthusiast you're not the target audience?

I will concede that 128gb of storage would have been a nice plus.

And yeah, there's a always a company that will take lower profit margins than LG (which is kind of a "premium" brand like Samsung or Sony). So the annoying argument of "This phone has better specs for the price, therefore other phones in the same price range do not exist" (i.e. Pocophone is better) will always exist.

And I'm bummed that you win the argument because we're talking about LG, a company which has a poor reputation with its software and user experience. Even Xiaomi does a better job, despite its lower profit margins.

But I would gladly buy that phone if Samsung made it.

divito · April 11, 2020

Unless people are new to using a phone, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage is more than enough for most people. The people that have most issues with "low" RAM or smaller storage are those that don't know how to close apps, or are too afraid to change OS/app settings or use alternate services to limit or offset their RAM and/or storage consumption.

kokakolia · April 12, 2020

@huilun02 The battery argument is an interesting one. You could get it replaced, you know? I admit that I made an error buying a used iPhone 7. The battery was noticeably degraded (87% max capacity), the screen had some deep scratches and the price was only about $150~$200 less than a new unit at the time. Or I could have gotten an Apple certified refurbished model (Apple guarantees a new screen and battery) for $100 more. Anyways, any phone repair shop will gladly replace an iPhone 7 battery for $40 or less. The issue is that these batteries don't perform as well as the original (which Apple won't sell to anybody). I gotta say that used iPhones on the cheap like the 6S and 7 offer a ton of value and a great user experience, but the battery is a huge pain (even if replaced for $40). I can't wait for the iPhone XR to be a bit outdated and very cheap (second hand), at the very least this phone has a long-lasting battery.

That said, I'm sure that some tech savvy power user would buy an older unit, replace the battery and flash a custom ROM on it. Linus did just that (and he even struggled a lot):

Spoiler

Ugh, I don't know why I'm talking about power users so much. They're so insignificant when it comes to smartphones. I think that we're obsessing too much over a spec sheet and that a real-world test and comparison would settle this argument once and for all. Further, I doubt that the notch is a huge deal. Most people don't care.