Several high-end devices are making headlines lately, such as the HTC M7 and the Samsung Galaxy S IV, but those aren’t the only two companies pushing for media attention at the moment. With just a couple of weeks left before Mobile World Congress 2013, South Korean-based manufacturer LG is making an effort to show off their latest smartphone, the LG Optimus G Pro.

Upon first glance, the Optimus G Pro is nothing short of a hybrid mix of a few notorious devices that are already available today. The phone’s size alone is something that can’t be ignored – at 5.5 inches, the screen on the Optimus G Pro measures at the exact same size of the Galaxy Note II. Looking at the actual design of the device, one of the first things you’ll notice is a single physical home button in the center of the bottom edge of the device, which is reminiscent of one such Galaxy S III. Turn the phone over and you’ll see a “Digital Cube Pattern” design, which looks like a design the company borrowed from their very own Nexus 4. It’s taking components from the cream of the crop and making a big, beautiful device with them.

While the design of the phone is nice it’s what’s under the hood that’s really important. The phone features a 1080p resolution and runs on an unnamed quad-core processor (rumored to be a 1.7-GHz Snapdragon) and will presumably come with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage with microSD card slot. The rear-facing camera is said to be 13 megapixels and a 2.1 megapixel front-facing camera. The device will come out-of-the-box running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Sounds like a top-tier device to me, and it’s easily competitive with other devices we will see unveiled this year.

I like where LG is going. While the company might not have had many top-of-the-line “gotta have it” devices a couple of years ago, devices like the Optimus G Pro shows that they’re really pushing forward with their mobile technology development. The last LG device I owned was an Optimus S, and while it wasn’t the worst phone on the market I knew there were far more advanced devices available at the time. I kind of brushed LG off as an “Eh, they’re okay” company for a while, but after I saw the LG Viper hit the shelves I started to take a little more notice of them.  Then they released the Nexus 4, and the Optimus G, and now the Optimus G Pro (and presumably a new variant of the Nexus line). If LG keeps this up they might just become the next Samsung. Speaking of Samsung…

I’m surprised I haven’t heard a whole lot regarding the fact that the Optimus G Pro is in the very least reminiscent of both aforementioned Samsung devices. When the Samsung vs. Apple lawsuits hit the fan for the better part of 2012 accusations were being thrown left and right. Perhaps I’m overreacting a little bit, but I really couldn’t help but to think of a hybrid Galaxy Note II/Galaxy S III when I first saw the image preview of the device.

With that being said, the device still seems like it could be a shoe in for sales competition (and a lawsuit), and I hope it’s not too long before we see a variant appear here in the United States as the device is currently only schedule for a launch in South Korea (and a 5-inch variant in Japan). I’d really like to see how the device works in person and how it will hold up against other devices like the M7, the Xperia Z & ZL, and the Galaxy S IV. Readers, what do you think? Do you think that the features of this phone is worthy of having “Pro” in the name? Let me know your thoughts!