With all of the exciting talk surrounding the elusive Samsung Galaxy Note 2, there is still the matter of the first Note arriving on new carriers in the US. T-Mobile is now getting the device and although a Galaxy Note on Verizon doesn’t look to be happening any more, Big Red does have another ‘phablet’ device for consumers to consider.
LG has a smartphone and tablet combi in the pipeline after first announcing the device back at MWC 2012 in February, and it looks like the LG Optimus Vu is now ready for launch. The bad news is that the design seems to be coming in for a lot of criticism, as many of you are unhappy with the rectangular design firstly, but also the amount of branding on the device as well.
The Vu is a 5-inch device which Verizon hopes will provide consumers with a Galaxy Note-like experience on their network. Hardware specs are decent, but nothing amazing either – you’ll get a 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of onboard storage and an 8MP rear camera combined with a 1.8MP front camera.
The choice of software may be a disappointment too, especially with all of the buzz surrounding Jelly Bean at the moment. A report filed by Android Police states that the Vu is only going to come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box – a potential warning sign if Verizon make that usual ‘promise’ of an upgrade to Jelly Bean after launch, when in reality it happens half a year later.
Are you willing to look past the suspect design and give this device a go? With the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 a strong possibility for a reveal next month, we would say that you’d be better off holding on to your money for the moment.
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