LG takes on Samsung with G Pro 2 phablet

LG Electronics unveiled its G Pro 2 on Thursday, its latest effort to gain traction in the smartphone market against rival Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 3.

The G Pro 2 is a phablet sporting a 5.9-inch screen, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera, 3 GB DDR3 RAM and a 3,200 mAh battery.

Running on the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system, LG’s latest handset is equipped with Qualcomm’s 2.26 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, which was also utilized on the G2 smartphone.

Power and volume buttons are placed on the back, a feature appearing on other products in the G lineup.

The cameras’ Optical Image Stabilizer Plus technology enhances image stabilization and allows users to take crisp images even in low lighting.

LG’s flagship hybrid product has adopted an ergonomic design so users can hold the phablet in one hand with ease, according to the Korean tech giant.

The full-HD IPS display, which takes up about two-thirds of the handset, offers true natural colors, crisper text and a full-fledged immersive viewing experience, according to LG Electronics.

The latest product also features a user-oriented, easy-to-use unlocking function named the “Knock Code.”

By using a combination of up to eight taps on different areas of the screen, the user can activate and unlock the screen at the same time, eliminating the two-step process of turning on the screen first and then entering in a code.

“The big screen G Pro 2 will become a trendsetting product,” Cho Sung-ha, executive vice president of LG Electronics, said at a press briefing held at the tech company’s head office in Seoul on Thursday.

The phablet will be released next week in Korea, and next month in global markets starting in Asia.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)