At their launch event here in Sydney today, LG has officially unveiled the LG G6 in Australia, announcing retail and carrier availability.
Availability
First up, at this stage the only retail availability is through Telstra who also have the carrier availability. Telstra will happily sell you an unlocked LG G6 outright for $1,008, or if you want, on a plan. LG is still talking to retailers about making the phone available through this channel, but we have no details on who they are in talks with or when that will happen.
LG is not bringing the wireless charging model to Australia in either the retail or carrier channels, for those looking for the Quad-DAC HiFi model LG has said they are looking to see if they can bring this model to market through retail channel only. The Telstra model doesn’t have the Quad-DAC Hifi sound either, so if you’re really looking at this to sway you to purchase then you’ll have to wait and see if LG can bring this model to retail.
Telstra
As was previously announced, the LG G6 is available exclusively through Telstra. Telstra is offering the G6 in Ice Platinum (Silver) or Astro Black on a range of plans starting at $55 per month with a $27 handset repayment ($82 per month in total), which includes 1GB of data, unlimited talk and text and $550 worth of call credits.
But of course there’s a range of plans, and inclusions you can add on. Telstra and LG have partnered on a bonus for early G6 customers on Telstras $95 per month plan that also has a $6 handset repayment ($101 per month over 24 months) which includes an LG FullHD resolution (43LH600T) LED LCD TV.
Full Plan options:
| S | M | L | XL | XXL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Included Data | 1GB | 3GB | 8GB | 20GB | 30GB |
| Included Talk, TXT, MMS | $550 Talk Unlimited SMS/MMS to Standard Australian Numbers |
Unlimited to Standard Australian Numbers | |||
| International Calls, TXT, MMS | N/A | N/A | Unlimited from Australia to 10 selected countries. | ||
| Plan Cost | $55 | $75 | $95 | $135 | $195 |
| Handset Repayment | $27 | $16 | $6 | $0 | $0 |
| Total per month (over 24 months) | $82 | $91 | $101 | $135 | $195 |
Phone
Announced back at Mobile World Congress, the LG G6 is their latest flagship level phone. After experimenting with a modular design with the G5, LG has returned to a premium all-in-one body with the G6 made of aluminium and glass. It’s comfortable to hold, and has a thinner body with an 18:9 aspect ratio making it easier to hold and operate.
Despite the glass, the G6 is more durable with a design that LG says makes it less susceptible to damage from drops. It’s also water and dust resistant with the phone carrying an IP68 rating. It’s a simple thing, but water resistance is definitely a welcome change.
The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC and comes with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, but that’s bolstered by the inclusion of a microSD card slot with support for cards up to 2TB in size. The processor is a hardy one, currently powering a number of flagships from last year and should handle the day to day running of a smartphone without much issue.
LG has gone wide-angle with their cameras again this year with a dual rear-camera setup offering a 13MP Wide (125°) angle f/2.4 aperture alongside a standard 13MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture. Those dual cameras sit almost flush on the rear with a virtually non existent camera bump. A 5MP front-facing camera completes the setup, and event that gets a 100° field of view to allow for those ‘Groufies’.
LG has released the G6 with Android 7.0 (Nougat), which includes the Google Assistant but also included their own LG UX 6.0. LG UX hasn’t been our favourite in the past, but like most of the OEM skins these days it’s getting better, just how much better we’ll have to find out.
Full Specs:
| Key Specifications: | LG G6 |
|---|---|
| Release date | February 2017 |
| Screen size | 5.7-inch |
| Screen technology | LCD |
| Resolution | 2,880 x 1,440 |
| PPI | 564 |
| Rear camera | 13MP Wide (125°) + 13MP Standard (71°) |
| Front camera | 5MP |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 821 |
| Core config | - |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage |
|
| MicroSD | Yes, up to 2TB |
| Battery | 3,300 mAh |
| Battery removable | — |
| Connector | USB C |
| Headphone Port | Yes |
| Headphone Location | Bottom |
| Speaker Configuration | Bottom |
| NFC | Yes |
| Android OS | Android 7 Nougat |
| Vendor skin | LG UX 6.0 |
| Dimensions | 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9mm |
| Weight | 163g |
| Colours |
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Want to put your order in for an LG G6 on Telstra? Head over to the website and check it out.
Conclusion
We’ve got a retail unit of the LG G6 to review, and the honours for this one will be going to Scott, who will have it in his hands shortly. A full review will be forthcoming but we’ve already had some time with the LG G6 and you can check out our hands-on report here, as well as check out a shootout with the Google Pixel and Huawei P10 over here.
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