This entire
mini flagship game is turning into a bit of a joke. When Steve Jobs announced
his first iPhone back in 2007, he sang praises of the phone’s “giant” 3.5″
display.
Today, even
the so-called “Minis” have larger displays than iPhones.
LG’s new
mini flagship suffers from this same dilemma. The G3 Beat – smaller sibling of
LG G3 as it is called – comes with a 5″ HD display. Not exactly mini,
is it? about three-quarters of the front is screen, so at least it looks quite
striking.
Under the
hood is a 1.2Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, the same class as in the
Moto G but with a more complex display to handle. Accompanying it is Adreno
305, 1 GB worth memory and 8 GB internal storage. That last bit is expandable.
Like the
Galaxy S5 Mini, exclusive features (and gimmicks) are retained. The 8 megapixel
rear-shooter comes with the same, advanced Laser AF system, as well as LED
Flash. It also does 1080p video. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.0, 4G
LTE and NFC.
Here are the specs again:
Chipset:
Qualcomm®Snapdragon™ 400 processor 1.2 GHz Quad-Core
Display:
5.0-inch HD IPS (1280 x 720, 294ppi)
Memory: 8GB
/ 1GB RAM / MicroSD slot
Camera: Rear
8MP with Laser Auto Focus / Front 1.3MP
Battery:
2,540mAh (removable)
Operating
System: Android 4.4.2 KitKat
Size: 137.7
x 69.6 x 10.3mm
Weight: 134
g
Network: 4G
LTE / HSPA+ 21Mbps (3G)
Connectivity:
Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0,
A-GPS/Glonass, NFC, USB 2.0
Colors:
Metallic Black, Silk White, Shine Gold
Others:
Touch & Shoot, Smart Keyboard, QuickMemo+, Gesture Shot
Again, just
like the G3, you can take a selfie by clenching your fist in front of the
camera for three seconds while the smart keyboard helps you type more
accurately. Finally, like all other mini flagships, the design is the virtually
the same, which is a good thing.
Yet, the
fact remains that LG has basically destroyed the entire purpose of a mini
flagship. These phones are supposedly for people who are lacking in space and
don’t want to feel awkward holding a giant-sized phone to their face.
While LG
isn’t blatantly marketing the phone as a mini flagship, it is following the
trend followed by numerous others: skimp down on features, add only the
gimmicks and retain the design.
When Steve
Jobs announced the iPhone in 2007, even he couldn’t have imagined that his
creation would fail the “mini” criteria just 7 years later. Today, we have the
G3 Beat.
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