Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Vs LG Optimus G Pro: Will The New Korean Giant Dwarf The Phablet King?

On the heels of announcing the new Optimus G pro smartphone for the Korean market a few days ago, South Korean conglomerate LG has revealed details about the device Monday. The company has said that the device will be launched in Korea this week, followed by launches in North America, Japan and other markets in the second quarter of 2013.

Sporting a large 5.5-inch full HD IPS display (1920 x 1080 pixels at 400 ppi), the LG Optimus G Pro does look like a stunner. What makes the device even more special is the fact that it is the first of its kind to feature the 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor from Qualcomm.

As Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications, pointed out, the LG Optimus G Pro was “developed specifically to deliver vivid and superb picture quality in a large display smartphone form factor.” With that in mind, it would be interesting to see how the latest LG biggie stacks up against the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 – the current market leader in this particular segment of “phablets.”

With 5.5-inch display, both LG Optimus G Pro and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 indeed go head-to-head with each other.

Form Factor

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 comes with a dimension of 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm and weighs 183 grams. On the other hand, LG Optimus G Pro is a bit thinner and lighter when compared to the Samsung device. It comes with a dimension of 150.2 x 76.1 x 9.4mm and weighs 172 grams.

Yet another significant differentiator could be the S Pen stylus that makes the Note 2 stand out. The LG Optimus G Pro lacks any such feature.

Display

When it comes to the display quality, the screen that LG Optimus G Pro has could be the standout feature. The device features 5.5-inch full HD IPS display with capacitive touchscreen and 16M colors. At a pixel density of 400 ppi with 1080 x 1920 resolutions, the Optimus G Pro’s display is considerably sharper than 720p screens.

Featuring Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and 16M colors, the 5.5-inch display of Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has 720 x 1280 pixels at 267 ppi. As Sam Byford of The Verge noted, “the 5.5-inch, 720p Galaxy Note 2 felt like it was stretching its pixels a little thin.”

Processing Power

Even with some extra pixels to render, the LG Optimus G Pro seems to be more responsive than the previous Optimus G thanks to the powerful 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor under the hood.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2, on the other hand, is powered by an Exynos 4412 quad-core Cortex-A9 processor, clocking at 1.6 GHz.

Memory

When it comes to memory, both the handsets equal each other with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage capacity. The storage capacity in Note 2, however, can be extended from 16GB to 64GB with the help of microSD card.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash and a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera. The LG Optimus G Pro seems to have an upper hand in this regard with a 13-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and 2.1 megapixel front-facing camera.

The LG device also has dedicated UX features like Dual Recording and Virtual Reality (VR) Panorama. While dual recording allows users to record videos with the front and rear cameras simultaneously, VR Panorama allows shots of entire horizontal and vertical environments for a full 360 degree view.

Cameras in both the handsets have features like geotagging, face detection and image stabilization.

Data

The LG Optimus G Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 feature HSDPA, HSUPA and LTE connectivity. In terms of wireless local area network (WLAN), both the devices come with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA and Wi-Fi hotspot.

Other data related details for both include Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP and microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB Host.

Operating System & Battery

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 comes with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box, which can be upgraded to version 4.1.2. On the other hand, the LG Optimus G Pro runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

The Galaxy Note 2 has Li-ion 3,100mAh standard battery, while the LG Optimus G Pro features a removable Li-Po 3,140mAh battery, which according to LG, is “the largest battery capacity in its class.” It also has wireless charging option.

The LG Optimus G Pro is going to make its official European debut at the MWC event in Barcelona later this week. The device will be available on Korean carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus Wednesday for 968,000 won (around $900).

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