LG Optimus Vu hands-on

Since it was first introduced back in February, the LG Optimus Vu hasn’t made many appearances stateside. That changed today when we were able to get our hands on the 5-inch behemoth here in New Orleans at LG’s CTIA booth. The Vu is unlike anything we’ve seen before, even the Galaxy Note, due in large part to its 4:3 aspect ratio. That feature is a result of LG’s market testing, which showed that customers tend to use larger-screen devices for reading rather than for multimedia playback. We’re not here to debate that claim (though you certainly can in the comments below), but we find it fairly interesting nonetheless.

The Vu’s screen uses LG’s IPS technology and packs 1024x768 pixels, which doesn’t translate to the highest PPI on the market, but certainly looks stunning regardless. Under the hood you’ve got a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S3 processor, a full gig of RAM, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread underneath a custom LG skin. Ice Cream Sandwich is coming, LG says, and the custom skin isn’t nearly as bad as you might think. Oh, and that antenna on top? It can stream live TV, a feature that may or may not be dropped by the time the Vu expands beyond Korea to other markets.

LG has included a pretty cool note-taking feature on the Vu, which can be activated with the touch of a small button on the top of the device. It can be used on any screen on any app: simply turn it on and start drawing on the screen with your finger or your stylus. Then, save it to your “notebook”, which can be organized based on category or date. As an LG rep pointed out, it would be a perfect tool for taking my notes here at CTIA.

Surprise! LG hasn’t said anything about US availability or pricing, though thanks to its LTE radios, the Vu would certainly be able to find a home on a whole host of US carriers. We’ll bet that the Vu will eventually arrive on US shores, but until then, you can catch some shots and a hands-on video after the break below.

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