LG Optimus G officially launched

LG officially announced its next flagship phone, the LG Optimus G, today in Korea. Not only does it possess a whopping 13-megapixel camera and a 4.7-inch HD display, but LG has also said it'll be the "world's first" LTE device with a quad-core CPU.

The Optimus G will go on sale next week in Korea, and will be offered in other countries in October. Because LG is holding an event tomorrow in New York, we anticipate that the device is slated for a U.S. release as well. Until we get some hands-on time during said event, however, we only have the specs to go by. But, judging by its specs and LG's recent devices, it has plenty of superphone potential.

Design

The LG Optimus G measures 5.19 inches tall, 2.71 inches wide, and 0.33 inch thick, making it slightly wider and thinner than the Optimus 4X HD (which measures 5.19 inches by 2.69 inches by 0.38 inch). Because of the screen's new Touch Hybrid Display technology, the Optimus G's display is also thinner than those currently on the market.

The phone weighs 5.11 ounces, making it a bit lighter than the 4X HD as well, but the height remains the same. In other words, tall. It won't be able to fit in small front or back pockets of jeans comfortably, nor will it be easy to use with one hand, but it's thin and light enough to throw in a clutch or small bag without much fuss.

The Optimus G comes in black and white, and sports a 4.7-inch True HD IPS+ display with a 1,280x768-pixel resolution and an aspect ratio of 15:9. Given how impressed I was with the 4X HD's touch screen (which also measured 4.7 inches and was HD IPS), I find the sound of this very promising. Especially considering that it also has a 320ppi pixel density, which means we can expect bright, vivid colors and crisp images.

Display

The Optimus G features a gorgeous 4.7” display with an ultra-high resolution of 768x1280 pixels. All of this makes for a beautiful pixel density of 318 ppi, which is slightly higher than that of its rivals.

As we said, the screen is gorgeous. It uses the in-cell touch technology (also present in the iPhone 5), which allows for even more saturated IPS-LCD display. We really like these colors, because they are very vivid and lively, but also quite natural. Color temperature seems to come extremely close to the real deal, but it should be noted that the display obviously isn't the brightest one around. Not that it lacks in brightness, but it's not dazzling either.

The viewing angles of the screen are also quite impressive. What we didn't like about it, however, is that it seems to lack any sort of fingerprint-resistant coating. Once we started using it, it was immediately covered in nasty fingerprints, kind of marring the device's pristine look. It's worth noting that we've been using a pre-production unit for this preview, so with a little bit of luck, things might stand differently in the final unit.

When it comes to toughness, though, LG has made sure to include Corning's Gorilla Glass 2 for extra sturdiness and scratch-resistance.

FULL SPECIFICATION:-

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA
	4G Network	LTE
	Announced	2012, August
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2012, September

BODY	Dimensions	131.9 x 68.9 x 8.5 mm
	Weight	145 g

DISPLAY	Type	True HD-IPS + LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	768 x 1280 pixels, 4.7 inches (~318 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
		- LG Optimus UI v3.0

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
		- Dolby mobile sound enhancement

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
	Internal	2 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, HSUPA, LTE
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
	NFC	Yes
	USB	Yes, microUSB (MHL) v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	13 MP/8 MP (market dependent), autofocus, LED flash
	Features	Geo-tagging, face detection, image stabilization
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, LED video light
	Secondary	Yes, 1.3 MP

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), planned upgrade to v4.1.1
	Chipset	Qualcomm MDM9615/APQ8064
	CPU	Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait
	GPU	Adreno 320
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
	Browser	HTML5, Adobe Flash
	Radio	TBD
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MicroSIM card support only - SNS applications - MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV/DviX player - MP3/WMA/WAV/FLAC/eAAC+/AC3 player - Photo viewer/editor - Document viewer/editor - Organizer - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 2100 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 335 h
	Talk time	Up to 15 h