After launching the Optimus G Pro smartphone earlier this year in Asia and the US, Korean tech company LG now plans to release the device in 40 more countries including South Africa. The Optimus G Pro will be locally available from 1 September from Vodacom and Cell C for a recommended retail price of R8 000.

LG’s Optimus G Pro (150.2 x 76.1 x 9.4 mm; 172 g) competes with phablet sized devices the likes of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and our top smartphone of 2012 - the Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 (review). This is due to its 5.5" true full HD (1080 x 1920; 401 ppi pixel density) IPS Plus LCD capacitive touchscreen.

Powering the G Pro is a snappy Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor that also does duty in the HTC One (review) and US-spec version of the Galaxy S4 (review). This smartphone operates on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, with the latest version of LG’s Optimus UI skin running atop of it. In terms of optics, users receive a 13 MP autofocus rear-facing camera that is supported by a 2.1 MP front-facing snapper for video calls and taking selfless.

Also onboard is a massive 3140 mAh battery, 2 GB RAM, Bluetooth v4.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (newest standard), either 16 or 32 GB worth of internal storage that is expandable by as much as 64 GB via microSD card slot. Just like the Optimus G smartphone (review), the Optimus G Pro sports LTE (4G) connectivity that offers download speeds up to 100 Mbps and upload speed up to 50 Mbps.

LG Mobile South Africa’s Deon Prinsloo commented: “The company has been overwhelmed by the response of the local market to its Optimus smartphone series, and we are excited to bring another smartphone to market for which the demand in the market is already high.”

Read our full review of the LG Optimus G smartphone here.