Optimus just went Pro

LG’s Optimus phones had a busy MWC, with a new L-Series, F-Series and an update to the Optimus G

LG’s Optimus G Pro is one of the most exciting new smartphones we played with at MWC 2013, cramming tons of fantastic and original new features into a sleek and powerful frame. Although it isn’t currently confirmed for UK release (the original Optimus G sank before arrival on these shores), we’re really hoping it makes it over here – and this is why.

                                    First, let’s admire that 5.5-inch body, which keeps the same slick, glossy design of the Optimus G. The screen takes up a generous portion of the front panel, with a very thin bezel either side. It’s pleasingly slender with a silver bar running around the edge, and a shiny white back sporting the LTE logo – this is a 4G phone, so you’ll be able to make full use of the new speedy network that’s rolling out across the UK.

                             The camera lens protrudes ever so slightly, but you’ll barely even notice. The Full HD IPS display packs in 400 pixels per inch, which makes the LG Optimus G Pro’s screen sharper than Apple’s iPhone Retina display, and although the likes of Asus’ Padfone Infinity rocks an even crisper 441ppi, we’d be hard pressed to notice the difference. 

                                 The Optimus G Pro’s screen is incredibly vibrant with beautifully rich colours, and at 5.5 inches it’s a great way to play with your apps or take in a movie, and the 3,140mAh battery will hopefully keep you going for a day or more. You’d expect the LG Optimus G Pro to pack a quad-core processor, and of course it does, running at 1.7GHz for speedy performance. 

                                          Rounding off the  specs is a 13-megapixel camera on the back, and a sharp 2.1-megapixel front-facer. We’re massively impressed with the sheer number of excellent features LG has thrown into the Optimus G Pro. For instance, its new dual recording option allows you to film with both the front and back cameras at once (with one of them showing as a boxout window) – a great way to film a commentary as you shoot a place you’re visiting, or some family activity. 

                              When you’re playing the movie back, you can watch it in a resizable window while you play with apps or compose an email, and you can also fade the movie while keeping it fullscreen, to do something else in the background. With three or four apps running side-by-side at once, the Optimus G Pro never stuttered. Filming HD movies in noisy environments is also much easier thanks to a clever zoom feature, which picks up sound from a central subject while ignoring everything else around it. 

            We saw footage shot in a hotel room with a stereo blasting music, and when the shot zoomed into the TV, the music faded and the TV audio was picked up with surprising clarity. There are plenty more features to talk about, but we’ll save them for the full LG Optimus G Pro review, coming soon.