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LG Optimus G brings 13 megapixels of shooting prowess to Sprint on November 11th for $200
Following in AT&T's wake, Sprint has chosen to provide the world with the launch details for the LG Optimus G. Brace yourselves, folks, because the smartphone that wields a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro and a 13-megapixel camera will arrive at the Now Network on November 11th for $200. Naturally, this is certainly one to get excited about, as the phone also boasts a 4.7-inch HD (1,280 x 768) IPS display, 32GB of internal storage and a beefy 2,100mAh battery. While the phone will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, LG has already promised to deliver Jelly Bean in short order. Those looking to score a place at the front of the line may pre-order the smartphone on Sprint's website come November 1st. If you happened to miss our recent hands-on with the Optimus G for Sprint, now would be a good time to get acquainted with the device as you count away the time until Veterans Day.
LG Optimus G for Sprint hands-on (update: video)
Stop us if you've heard this one before, but we had the opportunity to get our hands on the LG Optimus G... again. This would make the excursion lucky number four for Engadget, but this one is a touch on the unique side since it's heading directly to Sprint at some point in the not-too-distant future. Here's what we knew up until today: like the Korean versions, this particular flavor of the G -- also known as the LS970 -- will feature a 13MP rear camera (AT&T's will only sport an 8MP module), and otherwise carries the same set of features such as a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM, 1.3MP front-facing camera, 32GB internal storage, 2,100mAh battery and 4.7-inch 1280x768 True HD IPS PLUS display. Much like it did on the Motorola Photon Q, Sprint has elected to keep its carrier-specific branding off of the device (it's doing this so the handset can make its way to the network's prepaid brands with relative ease), but we were disappointed to see that the SIM card is once again embedded and not accessible without taking the entire phone apart. Aside from these cosmetic differences there's not much that sets it apart from the international models -- something that is a pleasure to see, instead of the standard carrier practice of tweaking OEM designs to their own whimsy. The performance expectations set by the Korean Optimus G seem to be met here, with the 1.5GHz quad-core Krait processor running the show. Despite the G using a custom build of Ice Cream Sandwich (which will be upgraded to Jelly Bean soon, according to Sprint), we were highly satisfied with how quick everything was during our time with the device -- it truly acts and feels the same as its overseas counterpart. The downside that you'll find with Sprint -- as you might imagine -- is Sprint's infant LTE network; customers getting this phone in a city not blanketed by the next-gen network will find themselves frustrated with lackluster EVDO speeds. To get a closer look at the Now Network's flavor of the Optimus G, go below to see a full gallery of images and then head past the break for a video tour. Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
LG teases its new quad-core superphone: Snapdragon S4 Pro is awesome, device still vague (video)
While Qualcomm let the Snapdragon out of the bag a little early, LG's now caught up and launched a (Korean-only) teaser site for its next LTE smartphone. Promising a second-generation quad-core experience, the new flagship device will offer better power management and graphics performance thanks to the Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset beating away at its core. There's space on the site for another five videos, which should hopefully give us a little more detail than what we've been able to glean from FCC filings. Thumb your Korean dictionary ready and check out LG's first taster after the break.
LG Eclipse may be coming to Sprint and AT&T by Halloween (update: more benchmarks)
After initial specs and a few decent pics bubbled up to the surface of the internet, the "superphone" known as the LG Eclipse is shedding its shyness. The device, supposedly sporting a quad-core Krait APQ8064 with Adreno 320 GPU, has been spotted with a User Agent Profile and Bluetooth 4.0 Certification. Even better, it appears to be in two distinct flavors: the LS970 for Sprint and the E970, allegedly for AT&T (according to leaked benchmarks, at least, which we'll discuss in a moment). The User Agent Profile, listed specifically for the E970, confirms the 1280 x 768 screen resolution; if the phone does indeed offer a 4.67-inch panel, this means we can expect a pixel density of a rather respectable 320ppi. Also, the Bluetooth sheet mentions that the device -- referring to both models -- "will be available on North America market around 2012.10.31." We can definitely see this as a potential winner for the holiday season, though we wouldn't be surprised if LG's upcoming superphone faces its fair share of stiff competition when it launches. In addition to the official docs, a keen-eyed tipster also spotted the device making the benchmark rounds: it was seen on GLBenchmark, AnTuTu and Nenamark2. We have to be a bit more skeptical when looking at test results, since they're pretty easy to fabricate. With that disclaimer, the Adreno scores were quite impressive on GLBench, with the LS970 notching 125fps using the offscreen Egypt test (the E970 got a score of 113fps). As for the other tests, the E970 netted an average 58.8 on NenaMark and the LS970 got 11,663 on AnTuTu -- putting it ever-so-slightly higher than the Tegra 3-powered HTC One X. Unfortunately, this test also mentioned that the LS970 uses a screen resolution of 1280 x 720. If this turns out to be true, this means that AT&T's version will offer a tad better display. Not that 720p is bad by any stretch of the imagination; it just probably won't be among the best in the market come this holiday season. The full suite of links can be found below, so have a look and see if anything else pops out. Update: Tweakers.net have fuller benchmark comparison tables, although the caveat about realiability still applies. [Thanks, Ketul]
Mystery LG LE970 claims next-gen Adreno graphics, can't quite prove it
Maybe our skeptic's goggles have fogged over with excitement, but there's something mightily interesting about an entry over at GLBenchmark. First off, the model number and listing info vaguely suggest it could be a variant of the LS970 superphone rumored for Sprint, aka the LG Eclipse, although the ICS build ("geeb_att_us-eng 4.0.4") indicates this 1.5GHz device is one of Ma Bell's. One of the more unusual specs offers some corroboration: the Adreno 320 graphics, which only come in the souped-up Pro or quad-core variants of Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon S4 chipset. That would make the LE970 a rare breed indeed, but unfortunately that's about all we can learn at this point. The actual benchmark scores tell us nothing about the handset's performance other than that it can max out the Egypt Standard test despite its 1280 x 720 screen -- making it impossible to compare it to regular Snapdraon S4 phones like the HTC One X on AT&T or the HTC One S. Oh well, where are those lens wipes? Update: An earlier version of this post confused the benchmark results with the Egypt Offscreen test -- apologies for the error. [Thanks, Ketul]
LG LS970 'superphone' shows up again, flaunts its removable battery and NFC chip
It's only been a few days since we first heard the rumors about an upcoming, Sprint-bound LG quad-core slab, and now that same LS970 "superphone" is back for more action. Thanks to yet another snap acquired by the folks over at BriefMobile, we can now spot a couple extra details on the device, including its previously unknown NFC capabilities. Contrary to earlier beliefs, the alleged LG Eclipse also seems to offer a removable battery, which is likely to make some power users very content. Something tells us this isn't the last we're going to see of this super handset, though, so we'll keep you in the loop if any more noteworthy findings appear.
LG LS970 superphone rumored: Krait quad-core, 2GB RAM, LTE and 13MP camera
Not to be outdone by its Korean rival, LG's reportedly preparing a potent new phone with some of Qualcomm's latest SoC hardware. According to BriefMobile's leak, it'll pack an LTE-friendly MDM9615 alongside the Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM -- something LG has already announced for its Optimus LTE2. A 2,1000 mAh battery will apparently power the 4.67-inch 1280 x 768 LCD display, while a Sony-matching 13-megapixel camera will face out the back. The leak -- which includes the decidedly abstract photo above -- reckons the LTE slab will arrive on Sprint, which tallies with the LS970 model number. We're cautiously holding out for something more official soon -- perhaps once the Now Network's flipped that 4G switch.
