At a Glance
Our Verdict
The LG Q6 has an attractive price but lacks many of the features of its bigger brother.
Best Prices Today: LG G6
A lot of fans will be excited for the launch of the LG V30 but for now there’s a new and cheaper version of the G6. Here we explain the difference between the LG G6 and LG Q6.
While smaller and cheaper models of flagship phones are pretty much a thing of the past, the LG Q6 is as close as we’re going to get to an LG G6 Mini. You could also think of it like an LG G6 Lite but what’s the difference in price, design and specs?
Note that the Q6 isn’t out yet and we haven’t seen in in the flesh so this is comparison based on specs. Take a look at our list of the best smartphones of 2017 .
Price
The LG Q6 is now on sale in the UK at £269.99 from Carphone Warehouse . There will be three different models – Q6, Q6+ and Q6 α .
LG said the Q6 will arrive during August in Asia, followed by Europe and North America later in the year. Also see our LG G6 vs G6 Plus comparison .
Design and Build
It’s probably a good thing that the Q6 isn’t called the LG G6 Mini because it’s not much smaller than the flagship. In fact, it’s a little thicker at 8.1mm vs 7.9mm but is a few millimetres smaller in other dimensions and weighs 14g lighter at 149g.
Although the Q6 looks pretty much the same at the front, the back has the appearance of a different phone almost entirely. Instead of the dual-cameras, fingerprint scanner and glass you get a much more plain layout.
There’s but one camera tucked in the corner, no fingerprint scanner and the glass is replaced with a ‘metallic frame’ made from ‘ultra-strong’ 7000 series aluminium. As the fingerprint scanner is also the power key, the Q6’s is on the side like most phones.
A cost cutting measure on the Q6 is that there’s no waterproofing, not even a lower IP rating compared to the G6. Across the different LG Q6 models there will be five different colours.
Specs
With a 5.5in screen, the Q6 doesn’t warrant a ‘mini’ tag in the name. It’s only 0.2in smaller than the LG G6 and while it retains the 18:9 aspect ratio, the resolution drops from Quad HD (1440×2880) to Full HD+ (1080 x 2160).
Inside the Q6 is a much lower spec Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor compared to the flagship Snapdragon 835 which powers the G6. Things get a little complicated on the storage and memory fronts as there are three variants of the Q6.
The G6 has 4GB of RAM and either 32- or 64GB of storage depending on the market. Below is what the Q6 offers – both phones have a microSD card slot.
- Q6+ : 4GB RAM / 64GB ROM
- Q6 : 3GB RAM / 32GB ROM
- Q6α : 2GB RAM / 16GB ROM
Like the G5, the LG G6 offers dual rear cameras that are both 13Mp with varying fields of view. Meanwhile, the Q6 has just one 13Mp shooter and is missing features like OIS and the ability to record video in 4K resolution. Both phones have a 5Mp front facing camera.
LG kept features like wireless charging for the US model and an audio DAC for the Korean model. It’s no surprise that the Q6 doesn’t have any of these things. However, it does have USB-C and a 3000mAh battery which isn’t far behind the G6’s 3300mAh.
Last and probably least is the fact that both phones run Android 7 Nougat with LG’s latest UX 6.0 interface.
Here’s a full spec comparison of the LG G6 and LG Q6:
Specs
LG G6: Specs
- Android Nougat 7.0
- 5.7in 18:9 2880×1440 Quad HD display, 565ppi
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor
- Adreno 530 graphics
- 4GB RAM
- 32/64GB storage (region dependent)
- 13Mp dual rear cameras, Wide (F2.4, 125°) / 13MP Standard OIS 2.0 (F1.8, 71°) LED flash
- 5Mp front camera, Wide (F2.2 / 100°)
- 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth 5.0
- 4G LTE
- Nano SIM (Dual SIM in some regions)
- GPS
- NFC
- Hi-Fi Quad DAC (Korea only)
- 3,300mAh non removable battery
- Wireless charging (US only)
- Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
- IP68 water resistant
- 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9mm
Best Prices Today: LG G6
Author: Chris Martin, Managing Editor, Tech Advisor
Tech Advisor Managing Editor Chris got his break as a reporter at infamous site The Inquirer and has been with us for more than 12 years. With a BA degree in Music Technology, audio is his specialism, but over the years he has reviewed all kinds of gadgets, from smartwatches to mesh Wi-Fi to coffee machines.
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