AT&T previously announced it would sell the LG Optimus G, but held off on price and availability details until Monday. The Optimus G, AT&T’s first quad-core smartphone with support for carrier’s LTE network, is available on Nov. 2 for $ 199 with contract. Online pre-orders begin tomorrow, Oct. 16.
The Optimus G is what I’d call a powerhouse of an Android phone based on the specifications. LG has paired Qualcomm’s 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chip with 2 GB of memory. I have an early review unit of the phone — it arrived a short while ago — and the handset’s general speed is impressive. The phone also comes with 32 GB of storage capacity (16 GB internal and a 16 GB microSD card , 8 megapixel camera and runs Android 4.0.4 on the 4.7-inch IPS touchscreen with 1280 x 768 resolution.
I’ll have a video look and review of the Optimus G for AT&T later this week, but my first impressions show a well designed and made handset that’s thin and fast. Even with a 4.7-inch display, the phone isn’t too difficult to use with one hand and one of the keyboard options is a Path keyboard where you swipe out words without lifting a finger. As noted, the device won’t ship with Android 4.1, known as the Jelly Bean version of Android.
