LG Electronics announced Q8, the second device in its Q series line, which it said “inherits core features from LG’s flagship line – in particular with the ‘prosumer’ V series”.

“The Q8 gets much of its DNA from past V devices but is designed for one-handed use and ease of portability,” said Juno Cho, president of LG’s mobile unit.

The company said the smartphone “delivers Hi-Fi sound, prosumer quality video and photo capabilities and water and dust resistance in a compact package”.

The most obvious V series carry-over is the secondary display: a 160×1040 panel on top of the main display. This customisable screen is said to offer users a “handy shortcut to contacts, tools and apps”.

Its main display is a 5.2-inch QHD (2560×1440 pixel) screen.

Q8 has a rear-mounted dual camera, with 8MP wide (135°) lens augmenting a 16MP standard (78°) one.  It also has a 5MP wide (120°) front lens. Other features include Steady Record 2.0, for “smooth, judder-free video recording”.

And as with some of its flagship devices, LG also talked up the audio capabilities of the new smartphone. On the recording front, it has two high acoustic overload point (AOP) microphones to minimise crowd and background noise when recording outdoor events, and audio files are saved in 24-bit/48kHz LPCM (linear pulse code modulation) format – the same format used in the movie industry.

For playback, the device has a Hi-Fi Quad DAC from ESS Technology, “a world leader in high-performance audio products”. It is said to cut white noise by 50 per cent and up-sample music files to Hi-Fi quality, “to deliver crisp, lush sound uncharacteristic of smartphone audio systems”.

The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage (with microSD slot).

It will be available in “key European markets” starting this week followed by markets in Asia next month. Pricing details were not revealed.