LG Q Stylus shows why Samsung still leads this niche market
Apple has already vindicated the stylus. At least on tablets. On smartphones, Samsung not only holds strong, it also mostly stands alone. Only one other manufacturer has even bothered to take up the challenge. LG's Stylus/Stylo line, which now includes the newly announced LG Q Stylus, tries to offer a more affordable alternative to a Samsung Galaxy Note. But, depending on what you need that stylus for, you might find it makes too many compromises to meet that price point.
If you were expecting a pressure-sensitive stylus that you could use to express your creativity, you might be better off buying an older Galaxy Note model (just not the Galaxy Note 7). Mind, the LG Q Stylus' "nano-coated" pens are a lot better than the stubby rubber ones you can buy cheap. They're more precise, but not entirely so. It's still pretty much a capacitive stylus like any other.
To be fair, the LG Q Stylus does provide advanced features that make taking notes on the go more comfortable. It has some form of palm rejection, LG promises, so you won't have to worry about accidentally ruining your notes by resting the side of your hand on the screen. It can also write notes even when the screen is off, pretty much like the, well, Screen Off Memo on the Galaxy Note.
In all other aspects, the LG Q Stylus is your typical mid-range LG phone with a 6.2-inch 18:9 2160x1080 FullVision Display. It is powered by a 1.5 GHz or 1.8 GHz octa-core processor, with 3 or 4 GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of storage. The 16 megapixel rear camera (13 MP on the alpha model) comes with PDAF and LG's QLens object recognition. It also runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box, which hopefully means Project Treble compatible.
The LG Q Stylus will launch this month in North America and Asia, pricing to be announced by region. There will actually be three variants of this model. The main LG Q Stylus will come with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, same as the Q Stylusα (alpha). The LG Q Stylus+ (plus), on the other hand, will have 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage.