The LG Optimus, arguably the most forgettable device at Mobile World Congress, is going on sale today in South Korea. It’s going to cost 999,900 won, which comes out to roughly $885. That’ll get you a 4:3 aspect ratio 5 inch display that pushes 1024 x 768 pixels, a dual core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, an 8 megapixel camera, a stylus, and arguably one of the most impractical designs we’ve ever seen on a mobile device. Anyone who is even considering picking up the Vu should take a look at the 5.3 inch Samsung Galaxy Note. Because the Note uses the same 16:9 aspect ratio that every other smartphone on the market uses, it’s actually less wide than the 5 inch Vu. It even has more pixels (1280 x 800), so text appears sharper, and because it’s AMOLED the colors pop and the blacks and truly black. The only reason we’d prefer the Vu to the Note is … shit, there is no reason, you’d have to be an idiot to buy it.
This bring up an important question, did LG release anything at MWC last month that was actually worth purchasing? On the latest episode of “The Vergecast”, which is a weekly podcast about technology, when it came time to discuss LG’s lineup the entire crew from The Verge basically said “LG is silly”, and then moved onto the next topic of discussion. That’s how little the people in charge of one of the most popular technology sites on the internet feel about LG. Hint: We feel the exact same way.
If you’re interested in a large screened device then you should consider HTC’s 4.7 inch One X. It has a quad core processor from NVIDIA, 720p HD screen, and guess what, it actually fits inside your pocket! In America there’s even going to be a 4G LTE variant, though you’ll have to give up that quad core processor to have it.