LG has recently announced that it will be bringing the Wine Smart handset with a flip-phone design to the international market.
The device, which was previously unveiled exclusively in South Korea, will debut in various countries including the U.S., Japan, Spain, France and Italy, 9to5Google reported.
The smartphone features the unique flip or clamshell design that gained popularity during the mid-90s to early 2000s. This type of form offers users the full features of a mobile device while maintaining a compact and very portable design.
Although some may consider it as an outdated design, LG decided to bring back the flip design through its latest device due to its nostalgic effect on users. But, despite its appearance, the Wine Smart carries modern features that can also be seen in current smartphone models.
The device features a 3.2-inch HVGA display with a resolution of 480x320 pixels. Although it has touch screen support, flipping the device open will reveal an alphanumeric keypad. It also has special keys that provide instant access to commonly used features including the camera, inbox and contact list.
According to LG, it decided to retain the keypad feature to provide users an easier and more familiar way of typing messages or navigating through the device.
The Wine Smart is powered by a 1.1GHz octa-core processor and packs 1GB of RAM. It also houses 4GB of internal storage which can be expanded using a microSD card.
Unlike modern smartphones, however, the device only has one camera with a 3.15-megapixel sensor. It runs on a 1,700mAh battery and its connectivity options are supported by Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth 4.1 and USB 2.0.
Impressively, the device comes with the latest version of the Android Lollipop as its stock operating system. LG said that with version 5.1.1, the device can run various apps without any issues.
"Our goal with LG Wine Smart was to create a smartphone that fans of flip phones could embrace," Chries Yie, an executive from the company said in a press release.
"Consumers shouldn't have to miss out on the smartphone revolution because they prefer a particular design over another," he added. "With LG Wine Smart, they won't have to."
There are no official dates yet regarding the arrival of the Wine Smart in the U.S. but according to Gizmag, LG will begin releasing the device in various countries this month.
The company will also release the pricing information and other details about the device within the next few days.
