LG G3 preview

The LG G2 earned itself both the Smartphone and Gadget of the Year accolades at the 2013 Stuff Gadget Awards, and it’s currently sitting at the number one spot in our Top 10 Smartphones list. That’s quite a bit of pressure to put on its successor, the G3, and it’s got a lot to live up to if it wants to do LG proud once again.

Leaked specs courtesy of Korean site Asia Economic state that the G3 will have a 5.5in display (slightly larger than the G2’s 5.2in offering), along with a stunning 2560 x 1440 Quad HD (QHD) resolution.

LG G3 preview

That’s an eye-watering 534 pixels per inch, and goes well beyond earning its Retina Display medal.

If true then the G3 will boast the most pixel-packed display out of all of its major competitors. Both the Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 have retained their 1080p displays, and the HTC One (M8) is expected to keep its full HD resolution as well.

Update 13/03/14: Twitter tech leaker @evleaks has outed part of a user agent profile for an LG device which goes by the model number LG D850, and it has a 2560 x 1440 screen nestled in its specs.

The model number doesn't match up with any known LG devices, so it's likely that D805 points to a newer, unreleased device, most likely the LG G3. This number doesn't match the LG D972 G3 model number found in the EXIF data of a leaked picture (see below for more information), but given @evleaks' track record and previous rumours of a QHD screen, we remain cautiously optimistic.

Instead of choosing Qualcomm’s beastly Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor, LG will apparently opt for its very own octa-core Odin processor.

That means the G3’s brain will have four 2.2GHz Cortex-A15 cores and another four 1.7GHz Cortex-A7 cores for less demanding tasks.

The end result will hopefully be extra battery life, thanks to the division of labour between the specialised cores.

We also expect to see 3GB of RAM in the G3 at the very least, which should be the minimum amount present in flagship smartphones this year.

More megapixels might not necessarily mean better snaps (just look at the impressive iPhone 5s’ 8MP camera), but the G3 is still expected to land with a 16MP sensor.

The G2’s, optical image stabilisation (OIS) will return to ensure that low-light performance remains as impressive as before, allowing the shutter to suck in more light with longer exposures without causing blur.

We fully expect the G3 to bring 4K video recording to the table too. While the G2's Snapdragon 800 processor is capable of recording at 4K resolution, LG chose to omit it due to storage issues. We can't see LG not including it this time around.

FINGERPRINT SCANNING

 LG G3 preview

While we know little about the G3’s actual design and build, the latest rumours suggest that it will join the iPhone 5s, HTC One Max and the Galaxy S5 with a fingerprint reader of its very own.

The type of reader and its location remains a mystery, but it would make sense to incorporate it into the G2’s rear power button, where your index finger naturally rests anyway.