Recent years have brought increasingly larger smartphones with equally large displays.
“All the better for your media consumption” say the hardware manufacturers, but not everyone wants or needs a larger display. Some people want the power and appeal of a flagship device without the bulk.
This gave rise to the “mini” smartphone ranges touted by many handset makers such as Samsung, Sony and LG.
LG’s G4 has gone on to be one of the best selling handsets ever released by the South Korean company, thanks largely to the groundbreaking camera with it’s ability to save images in RAW format.
At R9500 though, the G4 wasn’t for everyone.
On Tuesday, LG Mobile South Africa unveiled the G4 Beat and the G4 Stylus.
The G4 Beat is the G4’s slightly smaller sibling, coming in with a 5.2 inch display; while the G4 Stylus has a whopping 5.7 inch display.
G4 Beat
The G4 Beat carries on the design ethos of the G4, featuring a removable leather back with subtle curve and the same angular design found on LG’s 2015 flagship device.
That’s not where the similarities end though, LG made sure to include to manual camera mode that was so loved in the G4.
During our limited time with the devices on display at launch, the G4 Beat has a vibrant display, with snappy response time. There was no stuttering or lag when opening or switching between apps.
The 8MP rear facing camera takes more than adequate photographs thanks to the manual camera mode as well as the colour spectrum sensor that we first saw in the G4.
G4 Stylus
The G4 Stylus was a surprise announcement at the launch.
LG has touted the G4 Stylus as a Note competitor. While both the Stylus and the Note have a large display and a stylus, the Note is a premium, business oriented device, while the G4 Stylus has less power and less built in storage.
The G4 Stylus is aimed at budget conscious consumers who are looking for a larger display for media consumption.
The problem with a larger display is the feel of it in your hand, LG has ensured that the G4 Stylus has slim side bezels and an ergonomic rounded back.
The stylus is housed in the top of the device opposed to the bottom of Note range.
For the fashion conscious, the G4 Stylus will unfortunately not have a leather back option.
The G4 Beat will be available at the end of August with an estimated cost of R4899.00 with the G4 Stylus expected to retail for R3499.00 when it goes on sale in November.
G4 Beat specs
￭ Chipset: 1.2GHz Quad-Core
￭ Display: 5.0-inch HD IPS (294ppi)
￭ Memory: 1GB RAM / 8GM ROM / microSD
￭ Camera: Rear 8MP / Front 5MP
￭ Battery: 2,540mAh (removable)
￭ Operating System: Android 5.0 Lollipop
￭ Size: 139.7 x 69.8 x 10.2mm
￭ Weight: 136g
￭ Network: LTE
￭ Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.1 / NFC / A-GPS / Glonass / USB 2.0
￭ Colors: Metallic Gray / Shiny Gold
￭ Other: Gesture Shot / Glance View / Knock Code™
G4 Stylus Key Specifications:
￭ Chipset: 1.2GHz Quad-Core (LTE) / 1.4GHz Octa-Core (3G)
￭ Display: 5.7-inch HD IPS (258ppi)
￭ Memory: 1GB RAM / 8GB ROM / microSD
￭ Camera: Rear 13MP (LTE) or 8MP (3G) / Front 5MP
￭ Battery: 3,000mAh (removable)
￭ Operating System: Android 5.0 Lollipop
￭ Size: 154.3 x 79.2 x 9.6mm
￭ Weight: 163g
￭ Network: LTE / 3G
￭ Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.1 / NFC / A-GPS / Glonass / USB 2.0
￭ Colors: Metallic Silver
￭ Other: Stylus Pen / Laser Auto Focus / Gesture Shot / Glance View / Knock Code™