LG's first Android One phone is a stripped-back G7

LG is embracing Google's Android One program... just not in the way you might have expected. It's launching the G7 One, a device that melds the G7 ThinQ's core design with Android One's streamlined app loadout and focus on timely security updates. Don't think of this as a G7 with less bloat, however. While it has the 6.1-inch QHD+ screen, glass body and quad DAC, it's using last year's Snapdragon 835 processor, reverts to a single 16-megapixel rear camera and carries just half the built-in storage at 32GB (still expandable, thankfully). R eally, it's an upper-mid-range phone in a flagship's clothing.

The company is also using the opportunity to stuff a mid-range phone into the G7 family. The G7 Fit (below) again preserves the screen, but drops back to an older-still Snapdragon 821 and uses a less sophisticated 16MP rear camera (f/2.2 aperture instead of the G7 One's brighter f/1.6). Some countries will get a version of the G7 Fit with 64GB of storage, though, and the rest of the design remains intact.

LG only plans to discuss availability and pricing on a local basis, so it's not certain when these will be available. We wouldn't count on them reaching your part of the globe, either. LG is clearly aiming at cost-conscious buyers who want the basic G7 formula, and that's more likely to involve developing countries.

LG G7 Fit