LG has been dropping teasers and tidbits of information on the G2 for nearly a month and a half now, but today the hype-building finally came to an end as the Life's Good crew finally took the wraps off of its new flagship smartphone.
Just as expected, the G2 is powered by a 2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, which is Qualcomm's current high-end chipset. The majority of the G2's face is taken up by a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS display, complete with a side bezel that measures 2.65mm thick. Also plastered onto the G2's face is a 2.1-megapixel camera.
Moving around to the back of the G2, we're greeted by what's sure to be one of the device's most talked about features. Resting right below the device's rear camera, which is a 13-megapixel shooter with optical image stabilization, is a set of volume and power/lock buttons that LG refers to as its "Rear Key concept." The company says its research found that as smartphones continue to grow in size, users have an increasingly difficult time accessing the side buttons of their devices. Users naturally place their fingers on the back of the phone, LG explains, and so the Rear Key concept allows for better control of the unit.
Getting back to the G2's raw specs, LG has decided to cram 2GB of RAM into its new flagship, and the device will be available with either 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage. Powering the whole package is a 3,000mAh battery.
The G2 will come preloaded with a mixture of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and LG's custom user experience. The software includes features like QuickRemote for controlling home entertainment devices, Guest Mode and Slide Aside, the latter of which allows a user to multitask by sliding apps to the side of the display with a three-finger swipe. And because the G2's power button is located on its backside, LG has also included a feature called KnockON that will activate the device's display when the user taps on the screen twice.
LG will offer the G2 in both black and white, and the company says that its new flagship smartphone will be rolled out to 130 carriers over the next 8 weeks. South Korea will be the first country to gets its hands on the G2, followed by North America, Europe and "other key markets." In the U.S., all four major wireless operators will sell the G2. Sprint says that it plans to launch the G2 "later this year," Verizon promises that the device is "coming soon" and T-Mobile has said that it'll share its G2 pricing and availability details "in the coming weeks."
The best news for LG is that the G2 will be available on all four major U.S. carriers, which is a step up from the Optimus G that was only available on AT&T and Sprint. This gives LG a better chance to compete with flagships from Samsung, HTC and Motorola. With devices like the Galaxy S 4 and One available now, the launches of the G2 and Moto X coming soon and upcoming hardware from Samsung and HTC, it's clear that the Android smartphone war is going to get pretty heated in the coming months.
Via LG Newsroom, Sprint, @VZWnews, T-Mobile
