LG’s HD flagship Optimus G coming to Australia in 2013

Previously announced at IFA in Germany several weeks ago, LG’s quad-core and 4G friendly smartphone will hit Australia at the end of the year, supporting our LTE networks and offering some competition to the HTC One XL, Samsung Galaxy S3 4G, and Apple’s iPhone 5.

A flagship phone from a company that has yet to release one this year in Australia, LG’s Optimus G is looking to steal the throne from the current premium kings, with high end features, a big screen, and some unique points of difference that the company suspects other players won’t be able to match.

“The Optimus G is a premium, groundbreaking device, not only in the history of LG, but also in the smartphone industry,” said LG’s Head of Mobile Communication, Ben Glimmerveen.

“With the Optimus G, users will be able to benefit from a feature packed device that will keep them at the forefront of design and technology innovation.”

The LG Optimus G pushes the smartphone experience with a 4.7 inch HD screen with the slightly unorthodox 15:9 aspect ratio, resulting in 1280×768 and 317ppi, just ten pixels per inch under the iPhone 5 with a bigger size.

Like the 4G Galaxy S3, it features a quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz and still manages to support the LTE networks operated by Telstra and recently Optus, meaning we should get some high speeds when it’s launched here.

Storage inside sits at 32GB, and while a microSD slot is missing from the device, LG is filling the gap with lots of connection options, including Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, GPS, DLNA, Near-Field Communication (NFC), and a big 2,100mAh battery.

Google’s Android operating system is being used here, with 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” provided out of the box, though LG plans to release 4.1 “Jelly Bean” later on.

LG is spending a bit of time on the camera – which in this part of the world is of the 8 megapixel variety – throwing in low-light noise reduction, and three types of shots that allow you to take multiple shots before the shutter is hit, one that senses subject movement and changes the shutter speed to provide the best photo, and a “cheese” shutter that acts as a voice activated camera firing when a word is spoken.

Other features that LG hopes to differentiate itself from other devices out there include screen zooming to make it easier to see what’s happening on the screen, an automatic application launcher for various times, personalised icons, and LG’s QSlide which can show two separate screens – such as Twitter and a video – at the same time in much the way a laptop could.

We reached out to LG to find out whether pricing or launch details could be spoken about, but as of right now, all we’re hearing is 2013, with no information on which carriers we’ll see partnered for the launch of this handset.

Given the feature set, though, we’d be willing to say that this will be a premium phone with a price between $799 and $999 when it comes out next year.

Over in Korea, the LG Optimus G has a 13 megapixel camera, while we get the 8 megapixel model.