LG has unveiled its latest Android-based flagship smartphone, the G2, with the world’s third-largest smartphone maker placing all of the buttons controlling the device on the back, rather than on the front or side of the device.
“The unique Rear Key concept came from the realisation when studying users that the larger the phone became, the more difficult it was to properly access the side keys,” LG says in a statement.
“Moving the main buttons to the back of the phone gave users more control since this place was where individuals’ index fingers are naturally located. Researchers found that moving the buttons also resulted in fewer dropped phones when adjusting the volume while talking.”
The new device, launched at the Lincoln Center in New York, is positioned at the high-end of the market against Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and Apple’s iPhone 5.
It runs Android 4.2.2 Jellybean and is based on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor running at 2.26GHz, a processor more powerful than either the Apple iPhone 5’s dual-core 1.2 GHz chip or the Samsung Galaxy S4’s quad-core 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Series 600 processor.
The device uses Graphic RAM (GRAM) for its display, which the company claims uses 26% less energy to draw a still frame, potentially increasing usage time by 10%.
It features a 5.2-inch Full HD IPS (high definition in-plane switching) display at 1920 by 1080 pixels, Samsung Galaxy S4’s 1920 x 1080 pixel display and beating the iPhone 5’s 1136 x 640 pixel 4-inch display.
The device measures 138.5 mm by 70.9 mm with a thickness of 8.9 mm, it is comparable in size (although slightly thicker) to the Samsung Galaxy S4 (136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm) and significantly larger than the Apple iPhone 5 at 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm.
According to recent IDC figures, LG was the third largest smartphone vendor worldwide by the number of units shipped during the second quarter of 2013.
The Korean consumer electronics giant shipped 12.1 million smartphones to claim a global marketshare of 5.1%, up 108.6% from 5.8 million with 3.7% marketshare a year earlier.
The company says the new device will initially be rolled out in South Korea, followed by North America and other key markets, with the device set to eventually be offered through 130 mobile carriers worldwide.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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