LG may shrink its G2 flagship phone by a half inch, call it a Mini

Mobile World Congress

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A smaller LG G2 keeps becoming more plausible. In December last year, rumors spread of an LG G2 Mini smartphone, where the 5.2-inch G2’s screen would be shrunk by half an inch, while the phone would retain an HD resolution and Snapdragon 800 processing power. Although hardly tiny, a 4.7-inch display would make it smaller than the device on which it’s based, therefore qualifying as “mini” in LG’s world.

However, a subsequent report talked about an LG phone with the model number D410, which had a less-than-exciting 960 x 540 pixel resolution, and a Snapdragon 400 processor. If this was the G2 Mini, that spec would bring it closer to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Mini. Would the G2 Mini turn out to be a bit dull, or is the D410 a completely different device? As neither phone made an official appearance during CES, we’ve yet to get an answer.

Now, an FCC document has given us another clue to the G2 Mini’s spec. A phone with the model number D618 has passed through the FCC’s database with a set of dimensions matching the existing Optimus L9 2 smartphone. Why is this important? It’s because the L9 2 has a 4.7-inch display. In mid-January, the D618 model number was also linked to the G2 Mini, when it was leaked to PhoneArena.

The FCC’s document doesn’t provide much additional information, only that the phone should have a removable battery, and will come equipped with Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi. We’d be pretty disappointed if it didn’t though. Apparently, LG may substitute the 13-megapixel camera from the G2 for an 8-megapixel camera on the G2 Mini, although this isn’t mentioned in the documentation.

LG’s model number for the L9 2 is D605, and it’s equipped with a 720p resolution screen, an 8-megapixel camera, and a dual-core Snapdragon processor. The D618 will logically be slightly higher in spec, suggesting a quad-core chip and a resolution of at least 720p could be present. We know LG has the G Pro 2 standing by for launch during Mobile World Congress. Could the G2 Mini (or whatever the D618 ends up being called) join it? We’ll find out from February 24.