Beat by LG: new mid-range smartphone drops the G3's size and specs

Beat by LG: new mid-range smartphone drops the G3's size and specs ,

LG has announced the G3 Beat, its mid-tier alternative to the power-packed LG G3. "Smartphone manufacturers cannot ignore this growing segment of consumers who want the best balance of looks, features, performance and, of course, price," says LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company CEO Dr. Jong-seok Park in a statement. The new smartphone features a 5-inch HD IPS display, with an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 74.1 percent but a significantly lower resolution of 1,280 x 720. Similarly, its rear camera resolution has been reduced from 13 megapixels to eight megapixels, although it retains the G3's unique laser focusing mechanism.

Nonetheless, the LG G3 Beat's comparatively modest specifications are not necessarily synonymous with poor performance. Both HTC's One Mini 2 and Motorola's Moto G demonstrate the 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor can be used to great effect. The LG G3 Beat will debut tomorrow in South Korea, and a global rollout is slated to begin in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the subsequent weeks.