LG G2 officially enters the super phone ring, headed to all major U.S. carriers

By Jeffrey Van Camp Published September 16, 2013

Check out our review of the LG G2 smart phone.

We’ve been discussing the rumors for months, but LG has finally unveiled its flagship phone for 2013 and it’s called the “G2.” All of its previous phones have had the name “Optimus” in them, but LG is going for simplicity this time around. The G2 will be the first premium LG smartphone to launch on every U.S. wireless carrier – AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon. It joins the ranks of the Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One (almost), and Motorola Moto X. It will hit shelves in the next few weeks. LG will follow this up by launching in 130 countries in eight weeks.

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The first thing you’ll notice about the G2 is that the Power and Volume buttons have moved from their shifting positions on the edges of the phone to the back. Right under the camera, completely centered, are the Volume up, Power button, then Volume down, stacked vertically. LG says this is a more comfortable design and allows the user to always know where the buttons are located.

The G2 will come with a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS screen with a very thin bezel, 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8974 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera (covered in sapphire glass), 2.1-megapixel front camera, 32GB of internal file storage (24GB are usable), 3000mAh battery (1.2 days of life), and all the standard bells and whistles (sadly, no MicroSD).

But LG doesn’t want you to focus on the specs.

Here are the new software features of the G2:

Instant Access to QuickMemo and Camera: Hold the Volume Up button for 3 seconds and you can launch the QuickMemo app, which lets you doodle with your finger or a stylus. Hold the Volume Down button for 3 seconds and the Camera will launch. Upon launch, the Volume Down button can also act as a Shutter button.
Knock Knock (Double tap to unlock): You can “knock knock” or tap the phone screen twice to wake up your phone or put it to sleep.
9 Multi-point Auto-Focus: When you are taking a picture, the G2 can focus on nine separate objects or people at once, like a DSLR, representatives say.
Audio Zoom: When you zoom in on someone in a video, the audio recording will zoom in and listen to them more accurately, blocking out other sound.
Hi-Fi Music and Audio: The G2 is the first smartphone that can play 24bit, 192kHz FLAC and WAV files. International models of the phone will come with special headphones for hearing advanced audio.
Guest Mode: Like new versions of standard Android, the G2 supports a guest profile, allowing you to share your phone with a kid or friend without fearing they will mess with your stuff.
Answer Me: If you get a call, just put the phone up to your ear and it will automatically answer. We’ve seen this feature on other phones.
Quick Remote: LG is refining its infrared remote control abilities. Now you can teach your LG phone how to control your TV by aiming the TV remote at the G2’s infrared port.
Quick Window Case: Like the Galaxy S4 (though LG had a version of this in one of the Spectrum phones), the G2 will have cases that allow

We’ll have full hands-on impressions later today.

Jeffrey Van Camp

Former Deputy Editor

As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

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