The LG Optimus G is an odd phone, sort of announced months ago at the same time as the Nexus 4. It never made it to these shores and has only just been made available. It has better specs than the Nexus 4 and a higher price as well. The Optimus G has 32GB internal memory and also has a 13MP camera.
Here are the specs for the Optimus G
System: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Processor: 1.5 GHz / Quad Core / Qualcomm (APQ8064)
Memory: Internal: 32 GB / RAM: 2 GB
Display: 4.7″ / TRUE HD IPS+ LCD / Resolution: 1280×768 pixels / 315 PPI
Camera: 13 Mpixels / Flash: LED / Video: 1080p full HD / Front: 1.3 Mpixels
Network: 4G: 800/900/1800/2100/2600 Mhz / 3G: 900/2100 MHz / GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
microSIM
Wireless: Bluetooth: 4.0 / Wifi: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n
Connection: Jack 3.5 mm / micro USB
GPS: aGPS
Sensors: Digital compass, Accelerometer, Gyro sensor, Proximity sensor
Crystal Reflection finish
Battery: 2100mAh
Battery life: Standby time: 456h / Talk time: 15h
Weight: 145 g
Dimensions: 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.45 mm
Whether this will compete with the next generation devices from HTC and Samsung is yet to be seen. If you’re interested though you can pre-order over at Expansys who are getting stock on Monday the 18th of March. The current price is £479.99 including free delivery.
If you want to read some marketing blurb about the Optimus G hit the “show press release” button
Another LG failure. With them coming so late to the party
where rival devices such as iPhone 5, Nexus 4, S3 and the huge baffling range
of capable phones from HTC and others have taken up residence, just where do LG
fit in here? On paper the Optimus G is certainly up there but arguably so is
their 4X HD. Against this background how does a cost of £480 sit? Frankly not
very well. With the Nexus 4 at £280, the 4X HD at £295 and without benefitting
from a premium supported by the blind following of Apple, £480 is just too
much. That’s ~£100 more than the S3, approaching iPhone 5. More like £380 would
be more realistic so unless the price point is here I’ll be ordering a Nexus 4,
4X HD or S3 by Easter.
Since writing this I’ve read elsewhere (14th March) that during the launch of the Optimus G at Mobile World Congress, Andy Coughlin (LG’s UK Head of Mobile) said ‘a decision on price for the Optimus G is yet to be made, but he said it will be “nowhere near” as expensive as devices such as the Galaxy S III and iPhone 5’. To me this means much less than £480 and more like £380 or less. Perhaps when official handsets are available prices from ‘grey’ suppliers will have to be slashed too, though I’m not holding my breath.