The year has not yet drawn to a close, but just like clockwork, the rumour mills are already spilling out the turbocharged Android smartphones of 2013. We already have a pretty good idea of what the next Samsung flagship, the Galaxy S IV, will be like, so what about the rest?
Full HD screens, Android 5.0, octa-core processors and more after the break.
LG announced the world's first 5-inch Full HD touchscreen way back in May. Could this be in the LG Optimus G2?
One of the most powerful smartphones to be launched since the Galaxy S III is LG's Optimus G smartphone. In fact, it must have impressed the folks at Google a lot, considering that Google's Nexus 4 is based on LG's flagship smartphone. As it stands, the Optimus G rocks some pretty powerful hardware: 4.7 IPS HD+ screen, Quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. However, LG clearly aren't going to let the HTC Deluxe DLX to capture the crown of most powerful Android smartphone, and are reportedly already planning the LG Optimus G2. Supposedly shipping in Q3 of next year, it is rumoured that it will sport a mind-blowing 2.0 or 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Prime processor, a 5-inch Full HD screen developed in-house, as well as a 13MP shooter. It will also run on the latest Android 5.0 OS – hardly surprising though, given the launch date.
Not to be outdone, Chinese company ZTE are reportedly planning the ZTE Apache, which is scheduled for a May 2013 launch – months ahead of the LG Optimus G2. ZTE plans to tantalise the tech world further by employing an octa-core processor made by Mediatek for the Apache. Yes. Eight cores. GSMarena reckons it will be the same big.LITTLE ARM architecture currently being developed by Samsung, which is essentially one powerful quad-core processor coupled with another, more power-efficient quad-core – which in theory is similar to NVIDIA's 4+1 approach to its Tegra 3 architecture. Besides that, the Apache will also reportedly have a full HD screen and a 13MP camera.
However, the earliest Android superphone of 2013 could be Huawei's Ascend D2. Confirming the trend that flagship smartphones will now sport five-inch Full HD screens, the D2 will be the second five-inch flagship after the HTC Deluxe DLX. With the Ascend D2 most likely to make an appearance at January's CES, many will be interested in its in-house designed quad-core processor. Besides that, it will run on Android 4.1 with Huawei's Emotion UI on top, and are widely expected to bring a 4.2 update shortly after its launch.
So there you have it, people. With so much raw power in tomorrow's smartphones, we're really wondering just how the battery life would be like, or whether they're even necessary in the first place – just like the race to be the thinnest and lightest smartphone.
