Remember the strange looking square phone that LG recently teased in a video? In a rather surprise move, the company has decided not to wait until next week’s Mobile World Congress event to announce the device, instead outing it a week early.
The Optimus Vu is LG’s answer to Samsung’s mighty Galaxy Note; a phone-come-tablet, or ‘phablet’, if you will. However, the Vu has a twist: rather than having a conventional widescreen 16:9 aspect screen like the Galaxy Note, it features a more squared profile with a 4:3 display. That display is 5-inches in size and of the Super IPS variety, with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. Being a Super IPS display, it’ll offer an extremely crisp and bright picture which will be visible from an almost 180-degree angle.
Again, like the Galaxy Note, the Optimus Vu is both touch and stylus-friendly. It comes with a “rubberdium” stylus, as LG calls it, and a “QuickClip” hotkey located on the edge of the phone, which captures screenshots and memos instantly.
The Optimus Vu is a bit of a powerhouse, packing a Dual-Core 1.5GHz processor, 32GB of internal storage space, an 8-Megapixel rear camera, 4G LTE connectivity (for Korean markets) and a hefty 2080mAh battery. All this tech is crammed into a svelte profile which measures just 8.5mm thick, with rounded sides for easier gripping. Speaking of gripping, we’re intrigued to find out how easy or comfortable this square gadget is to hold, as its size and shape hints at being rather cumbersome, especially in smaller hands.
Initially the phone will be launching in Korea next month on the SK Telecom and LG+ mobile networks. It will run Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) initially, although LG has promised an update to Ice Cream Sandwich will come within three months of the release.
Samsung started a mini revolution with the Galaxy Note, with the term ‘phablet’ coined to describe it’s unique phone/tablet size and functionality. Now LG wants a slice of that action, and we’re eager to see how the Optimus Vu squares up to its established competition.
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