LG have officially announced their next flagship device, the LG G2. This was done at a launching event in New York earlier today. Some key points of interest were the use of a Snapdragon 800 processor and the design choice of placing the volume rocker and power button on the back face of the device. Also, it was revealed that the phone will be released in North America in Q3 2013 to the four major carriers with South Korea being the first to receive the new smartphone.
The LG G2 certainly matches up and in certain areas exceeds its competitors when we look at the base specs. Boasting a monster Quad Core Qualcomm 800 Snapdragon processor at a speed of 2.26 GHz this device is certainly no slouch. In fact, these specs alone will ensure that this phone will not have any trouble dealing with apps and other software out on the market now. In addition to this, it comes with a 5.2" full 1080p HD display at 423ppi. Not bad, not bad at all. The material used for the display is the scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3. This phone runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
G2 Video Courtesy Phonedog
The G2 comes with a 3000mAh battery, which LG have stated should last about 1.2 days without needing to charge. On this front the G2 definitely outperforms both the S4 and HTC One. The G2 also has 2GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of storage. One noticeable drawback though is that there is no place for an external micro SD card to increase storage capacity. Another noteworthy point is that LG have placed some emphasis on GRAM in their smartphone design which I personally feel is a smart move as many of us do love to play games on our phones.
Without a doubt, the most interesting feature of this phone is the design. Placing the volume rocker and power button on the back of the phone is a bit of a daring move. LG have stated that this was done because of research that showed it was easier to reach for many people when dealing with large phones. While this may be true, reprogramming oneself to reach for the back of the phone instead of the side might take a while. Another aspect of this phone's design are the very narrow bezels.
In terms of new and innovative features the G2 has a few worth mentioning. Firstly, there's Answer Me which is supposed to automatically answer any call as long as the phone is raised to your ear. I must say, that does seem pretty interesting. Another feature has been termed Guest Mode. Basically, what this does is show certain apps on screen based on whether it's the phone's user or someone else that unlocks the phone.
The G2 comes with a 13MP rear facing camera and a 1.2MP front facing one. It packs a punch in this regard with optical image stabilization and eight times zoom. Added to this there is an LED flash and camera modes such as Beauty mode, Panorama and Burst mode.
Overall, I feel that LG have definitely made a positive statement of intent with the G2. In terms of the specs, it is definitely up there with the best of them and in terms of design they've gone ahead and tried something new. It is just a matter of time now to see whether LG can truly challenge the big boys in the lucrative smartphone market.
So, what do you think? Will you be buying an LG G2 when it comes out later this year?
* Image courtesy Javier Ferreiro
