LG Optimus G Pro review: Hands-on

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The LG Optimus G Pro is the first phone to feature one of the latest, fastest Qualcomm processors. And it's big, slim and attractive

Korean manufacturer LG has had great success with Android recently with Google's current flagship handset the Nexus 4. That has a 4.7-inch display. And now the company had revealed a phone with a high-resolution 5.5-inch screen, advanced processor and lots of innovations.

As so often with LG, there's no definite release date for UK users, but we live in hope.

LG Optimus G Pro: Size & build

The 5.5-inch display of the G Pro tells you it's going up against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and HTC One rather than the iPhone 5 with its comparatively diddy 4-inch display.

It means the phone is pretty hefty though it doesn't feel an impossible hold. It measures 150.2 x 76.1 x 9.4mm and weighs 160g. Though that's not light, it's far from the heaviest phone out there. The Nokia Lumia 920, for instance, weighs 25g more even though its screen is a full inch smaller.

LG Optimus G Pro: Features

There are lots of features on the G Pro including an infra-red connector on the top edge so you can use it as a TV remote (and, hey, if you lose it down the back of the sofa you can call it to hear where it is). It's also easy to throw content from the phone's screen to your telly.

Then there's QSlide which allows multiple apps to run together. Launch the apps list and tap one of the ones that supports QSlide, like the calculator and you can place it where you'd like on the screen. You still have access to the grid of apps underneath so you can launch another alongside. It wouldn't work with displays much smaller than this but it's successful here.

The camera is a 13MP model, so expect sharp images – though we weren't able to test this in any situations other than the super-bright lights of the trade show. There's also a relatively hi-res front camera, too – 2.1MP.

What's more, you can use both at the same time. If you're struggling to see the point of that, the example LG offered was when you're recording a gig, say, you can film your own reaction, too. Hmm.

The camera also has a feature called Audio Zoom which lets you touch the screen to show where you're focusing and the phone will use the microphone nearest to there for its audio source. The phone has three microphones on it.

The model on display at MWC came from Korea, so it had the charming but unusual addition of a thin extendable aerial. This is for Korean markets only so if and when the phone reaches these shores this detail will be missing.

LG Optimus G Pro: Screen

This large-screened phone (or phablet, if you insist) has a Full HD resolution screen with a pixel density of 400ppi.

It's colourful and sharp – you really can't see individual pixels. True, there are some other phones like the Sony Xperia Z and HTC One which have higher pixel density, though that's because they squeeze the same 1920 x 1080 resolution into a smaller space. This looks great.

LG Optimus G Pro: Performance

As you'd expect with a phone as well-endowed in the processor department, this phone is fast and smoothly responsive. The chip is the Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 which has a quad-core 1.7GHz Krait 300 CPU. It's very quick.

Our usual caveat applies: so far there are few applications which will really test a processor this nippy but in the coming months app developers may find something to take it on. Even so, it's hard to see it causing this chip much grief.

LG Optimus G Pro: Battery

Across its new range of mobiles LG is stressing that it wants to target battery life, stressing that smartphones should be able to last a couple of days between charges.

This is a great aspiration and it means that this phone has a whopping 3140mAh cell squeezed into it. Although we can't test the battery life until we have a review unit, this size battery is likely to prove effective.

LG Optimus G Pro: Verdict

This is a highly promising super-phone with strong styling and decent feel. The display is bright and attractive and the fast chip is unsurprisingly up to the job of making the handset speedy and responsive.

The unusual extras such as audio zoom on the camera and infra red to make the phone work as a TV remote work well, though the facility to shoot both front and rear cameras at once may not seem crucial. None the less it's a potentially exciting phone which we hope will reach the UK.

LG Optimus G Pro release date: TBC

LG Optimus G Pro price: £TBC