LG Q Stylus: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Where to buy

As smartphone screens get bigger and bigger, the gap between a traditional phone and a full-blown tablet continues to shrink. But while plenty of modern handsets can double as communication and entertainment devices, few have fully committed to serving the purpose tablets were originally envisioned for: namely, sketching and note-taking via the use of a digital pen.

Samsung's Galaxy Note9 and earlier entries in the Galaxy Note series have an almost complete monopoly on this market, but at upwards of $1,000, they aren't exactly what you'd call affordable. This is where the LG Q Stylus comes in. Priced at a far more accessible $649, the 6.2-inch smartphone offers the same stylus-based functionality with slightly less power at roughly half the cost of Samsung's flagship handsets.

Design

• Plenty of screen to scribble notes on
• IP68 rating provides solid protection against the elements

• Read more on the LG Q Stylus's design

  Unsurprisingly, the LG Q Stylus doesn't stray far from the design of its bigger rival, the Samsung Galaxy Note9. Its large 6.2-inch touch screen covers most of the phone's face with minimal bezels, though it's not quite as expansive as Samsung's edge-to-edge "Infinity" display. Resolution is a little lower, too, clocking in at 2160 x 1080 as opposed to the Note9's 2960 x 1440.

  To justify itself as a premium device, the LG Q Stylus features a slightly curved glass screen that transitions smoothly into a full metal frame around the back. That frame offers protection from more than the occasional bump, too, with its IP68 rating certifying it as completely dust-tight and capable of surviving being plunged into 1 metre or more of water without turning into an expensive paperweight.

  The LG Q Stylus doesn't neglect the core features you'd expect from a modern smartphone, either. Along with the increasingly rare 3.5mm headphone jack, it packs Bluetooth 4.2 support, a microSD card slot for expanding upon the 32GB of internal storage and NFC compatibility for using contactless payment services like Google Pay and Samsung Pay. You've also got support for DTS: X surround sound, a positional audio standard designed to compete with the popular Dolby Atmos standard. For audio, video and games that support DTS: X, this allows the LG Q Stylus to output a virtual surround sound experience both through headphones and its built-in speakers.

  For the note-takers out there, the LG Q Stylus also offers a neat feature called screen-off memo which, aptly enough, let's you start writing notes on the LG Q Stylus's screen without needing to unlock it first. Not only does this make it easier to hurriedly take down important info, it saves on battery life, too.

  Like most 2018 smartphones, the LG Q Stylus runs on Android 8.0 "Oreo". This gives it plenty of flexibility in the software department, with faster boot-up speeds, a picture-in-picture mode for running two apps at the same time and redesigned notifications for clearer communication of when an app has something new to show you.

Camera

• A decent pairing of front and rear cameras for a phone at this price point
• Single-lens cameras puts it at a slight disadvantage compared to many modern handsets

• Read more on the LG Q Stylus's camera

  LG has opted to play it safe with the camera set-up on the LG Q Stylus. Both the front and rear cameras are single-lens affairs rather than the dual-lens approach adopted by many modern premium smartphones – the Samsung Galaxy Note9 included. Around the back, you'll find a 16MP sensor, while an 8MP sensor powers the front-facing selfie camera. Both should be more than capable of producing quality photos with little effort, though photography pundits may find them slightly less versatile than the cameras on higher-end phones like the Huawei P20 or the HTC U12+.

  That said, the LG Q Stylus still provides plenty of functionality for camera enthusiasts. For selfies, there's a portrait mode that uses a depth of field effect to help you stand out from the background. For action shots, the phase detection auto-focus promises to deliver sharp images without any frustrating motion blur. You've also got all the features that have become standard among modern smartphone cameras including HDR support, a panorama mode, a burst-shot mode and the ability to trigger hands-free selfies via gestures or by simply looking directly at the screen.

Performance

• Hardware is a little on the low side for a mid-range smartphone
• Should still be more than suitable for most people

• Read more on the LG Q Stylus's performance

  Where the LG Q Stylus differs most dramatically from its Samsung counterpart is its raw power. The Galaxy Note9 is a top-of-the-line handset with an eight-core 2.7GHz Exynos 9810 processor and 6GB of RAM. The LG Q Stylus, meanwhile, opts for a mid-range MediaTek MT6750 processor and just 3GB of RAM. That's a significant drop in processing power, and it places the LG Q Stylus towards the lower end of similarly-priced mid-range smartphones.

  For many people, this won't matter all that much. The LG Q Stylus is still a reasonably powerful handset, capable of handling standard tasks like browsing the Internet and running the vast majority of apps without issue. It's only when engaging in heavy multi-tasking or demanding 3D games that you're likely to encounter any slowdown or other performance problems.

Battery

• 3,300mAh battery should have plenty of juice to keep you connected all day long
• Fast-charging support

• Read more on the LG Q Stylus's battery

  With such a big screen, it's important that the LG Q Stylus packs an equally large battery to ensure it can get through a full day of web surfing and note-taking. LG doesn't disappoint here, cramming in a sizeable 3,300mAh battery – the same as was present in the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. We saw the Galaxy Note 8 deliver excellent battery life in our testing, and since the LG Q Stylus features a smaller screen and more power-efficient components, it's a safe bet that its stamina will be even more impressive. Suffice it to say, you shouldn't have any trouble getting a full day of use on a single charge.

  When it does come time to juice back up, the LG Q Stylus benefits from fast-charging support over USB-C, so you won't have to leave it plugged in for hours on end.

Pricing and availability

• Price: ~$269
• Where to buy: Amazon | eBay | Catch

Specifications

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