Samsung Galaxy Note vs LG Optimus Vu: Battle of the ‘Phoneblets’

LG has officially unveiled Optimus Vu which, according to many, is a competitive reply to Samsung's newest smartphone, Galaxy Note.

LG's newest smartphone, which will be serving in the South Korean market from March, will look to give Samsung in the coming months when it arrives in North America.

Here is a head-to-head comparison of both the devices.

Display: Galaxy Note is a 5.3-inch device that features a typical Samsung Super AMOLED 800 x 1280 pixels capacitive touchscreen (285 ppi pixel density) with Corning Gorilla Glass. It weighs about 178 g and has dimensions of 146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm.

The 5-inch LG Optimus Vu, on the other hand, features a HD-IPS LCD 768 x 1024 pixels capacitive touchscreen (256 ppi pixel density). Optimus Vu weighs around 168 g and has dimensions of 139.6 x 90.4 x 8.5 mm.

Operating System: Both Galaxy Note and Optimus Vu run on Android v2.3.5 or Gingerbread juice. However, many Android fans believe that the Note will receive an Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich update in the future. Nothing can be said about the Optimus Vu at the moment.

Camera: Galaxy Note features a primary 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash rear-facing camera with Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, and video capabilities of 1080p at 24-30fps. A secondary, front-facing 2 MP camera has also been provided for video chats.

LG Optimus Vu, in reply, also boasts a primary 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash rear camera with Geo-tagging, face detection, image stabilization and video capabilities of 1080p at 30fps with additional LED video light. A secondary 1.3 MP front-facing camera is also found.

Processor: Samsung Galaxy Note is powered by a dual-core Mali-400MP Exynos 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor with 1 GB of RAM for a faster output and smart response.

Optimus Vu, however, is powered by a Qualcomm MSM8660 Snapdragon dual-core 1.5 GHz Scorpion Adreno 220 processor with 1 GB of RAM that makes it compete head-to-head with Note.

WLAN and Bluetooth: Optimus Vu's WLAN features showcase a Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot with Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP and HS. The device has a Rev A speed of up to 3.1 Mbps, HSDPA and LTE.

Galaxy Note currently has WLAN features Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot (similar to that of the Optimus Vu) and Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP and EDR. It boasts HSDPA speed of 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE.

Memory (SD and Internal): Galaxy Note is available in both 16GB and 32GB avatars and can later be extended up to 32GB via the device's microSD slot.

Optimus Vu is available only in 32GB at the moment and can be expanded to another 32GB via microSD.

NFC and Other Features: Although NFC is optional for the Galaxy Note, it is officially available with Optimus Vu.

Galaxy Note can also run on 4G LTE 700 network depending on the region while Optimus Vu will run LTE 800.

The Samsung-made device has a Standard Li-lon 2500 mAH battery with standby up to 960 h for 2G and up to 820 h for 3G.

LG Optimus Vu, on the other hand, has a Standard 2080 mAH Li-lon battery.