LG Optimus G Pro Android phone (preview)

LG only recently launched its flagship Optimus G smartphone in Australia but all signs point to that model soon being surpassed by the Optimus G Pro. This new phone is best described as a minor upgrade to the Optimus G, offering a much larger screen with a higher resolution and a bigger capacity battery.

The LG Optimus G Pro isn't exactly new. The company first released this handset in Japan back in January, where it was sold through Japanese telco NTT Docomo. The smartphone has also been launched in the US through AT&T, but the US-only model has a 5.5in display, pitting it directly against the Samsung Galaxy Note II. It's not yet known whether the potential Australian model of the Optimus G Pro will include a 5in or a 5.5in screen.

If it does come with a 5in screen, it will hardly be a surprise. Minor specification upgrades are nothing new in the smartphone world. Apple seemed to kick off this trend when it released the iPhone 4S back in 2011, a phone that looked identical to the iPhone 4. Samsung has done the same with the Galaxy S4, which makes only minor changes from the design of the Galaxy S III. In the Optimus G Pro, LG is bringing the specifications of its flagship device in line with successful rivals.

The Optimus G Pro is likely to have a 5in, full HD screen with a pixel density of 440ppi, so it matches competitors such as the Sony Xperia Z and the HTC One. In addition to a larger screen with a higher resolution, the LG Optimus G Pro also has a bigger battery (3000mAh compared to 2100mAh) and a faster processor (1.7GHz compared to 1.5GHz) than the Optimus G.

There is a slight trade off with these new inclusions. The Optimus G Pro is 15g heavier and slightly thicker than the Optimus G. The thickness won't make too much of a difference, but the weight of 172g means the Optimus G Pro will one of the heavier smartphones on the market. You should keep this in mind if you're longing for a light device.

The phone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 CPU and 2GB of RAM and should feature up to 32GB of internal memory. There's also a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera.

It's not yet known if the Optimus G Pro will support 4G networks in Australia, but given the Optimus G is 4G capable, this seems like a good bet.

LG continues to deny that Optimus G Pro will be released Down Under but the company recently lodged an Australian trade mark application for the device, so we expect it to be released in the coming months.

Related articles

• LG lodges Australian trade mark for Optimus G Pro
• LG Optimus G review
• Hands-on with the LG Optimus G
• LG confident in late-arriving Optimus G "superphone"
• No Optimus G Pro for Australia, confirms LG