The other Korean tech company, LG, has lifted the lid on its new flagship smartphone, dubbed the G2, with which it will take on rivals such as Samsung’s Galaxy S4 (review) and the iPhone 5 (review).  

The G2 (138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9 mm) boasts a tantalising 5.2" Edge-to-Edge IPS (1080 x 1920 pixels; 423 ppi) and thanks to LG’s Dual Routing technology the device’s bezel has been reduced to a mere 2.65 mm on each side edge. In an interesting move, the Korean firm equipped the G2 with buttons on the back of the smartphone, resulting in the first mobile to be completely devoid of side buttons.

LG asserted that this unique Rear Key concept emanated from the fact that users of larger sized mobile devices increasingly found it more difficult to properly access the side keys due to the bigger footprint of these type of devices.

The company’s researchers further found that moving the buttons to the rear also resulted in users dropping their devices less frequently when attempting to adjust the volume while on a call.

CPU and optics

Like the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, the G2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at 2.26 GHz per core, coupled with 2 GB of multitask-accommodating LPDDR3 800 MHz RAM. It operates on Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean), as opposed to the newly released Android 4.3.

On the back of the unit resides a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera with OIS (optical image stabilisation) that is supported by a 2.1 MP front-facing snapper. Users have access to either 16 GB or 32 GB worth of internal storage, and the smartphone should deliver excellent battery life as it packs a large 3000 mAh battery.

Studio quality Hi-Fi sound

Also onboard is “next-generation” LTE (4G) connectivity as well as an improved audio experience to rival the stereo Boomsound speakers and Beats enhancements available on the HTC One (review). According to LG, its G2 is the first smartphone to sport 24 bit/192kHz Hi-Fi playback, allowing it to reproduce “studio-like quality sound, far superior to a CD.”

Unlike with the Moto X, customisation is not the name of LG’s smartphone game since the G2 will only be available in either black or white.

No local release info is available yet. LG did state that the G2 will be rolled out by more than 130 global wireless carriers over the course of the next eight weeks, starting in South Korea. The smartphone will then become available in the US, Europe as well as other key markets, with more specific dates for market availability varying by region and carrier.

“Our definition of innovation today is technology that truly resonates with consumers,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of the LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “We have always listened to and learned from consumers in pursuit of innovation. We took these insights to new heights in developing LG G2, the most exciting and ambitious mobile phone in our company’s history.”

In related news, LG also recently launched its second generation Optimus L series in South Africa, with the Optimus L7 II and L5 II the first of the new series to be locally available.