LG officially announced the Optimus Vu ahead of MWC, their direct challenge to the Samsung Galaxy Note. The 5-inch phablet took a different approach with a 4:3 aspect ratio rather than the Note’s 16:9 display, making it wider and better suited for reading documents, web pages, and e-books with less scrolling. It launched in Korea in March before a broader rollout.
Key specs: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a 5-inch 1024×768 IPS display, 32GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera with AF and LED flash, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, Android 2.3 Gingerbread (ICS update planned within three months of launch), a 2080mAh battery, HDMI, DLNA, and a Rubberdium pen for note-taking. At 8.5mm thin, LG said it was the slimmest LTE phone on the market at the time. A QuickClip button enabled quick screenshot and memo capture.
