LG Optimus 4X HD launches in Europe

Slow and steady wins the race, right? LG has finally launched the LG Optimus 4X HD, with the Germans scoring the first opportunity to own one. After that, those in the UK, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands will be able to pick one up, followed by Eastern Europe, South America, and Asia later on. Is what's on offer enough to make you think twice about the HTC One X or Samsung Galaxy S III?

A 4.7-inch 720p IPS display is joined by NVIDIA's Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and an eight megapixel camera with 1080p video recording. There's also a microSD card slot for additional storage, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 2,140mAh battery. The phone is around 8.9mm thick and weighs 133g.

The handset will run Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, with LG's new Optimus UI 3.0 skin. The software includes LG's tweaks, such as lock screen shortcut customization, taking photos using voice commands, and the ability to set custom icons for applications. The whole UI should be simpler to navigate, including a "Downloaded" section for apps to help separate them from the sprawling lists.