Sprint wins exclusive edition of LG G3, T-Mobile offers free beta models

LG is the brand carried by more U.S. smartphone users than any other save Apple and Samsung, and LG’s newest flagship is an effort to establish the company as a maker of ultra high-end Android devices. Sprint has won the exclusive right to sell the gold version of the G3, coming in July, but the carrier has no word yet on pricing. AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile U.S. will also have the LG G3, but those carriers have not yet specified a price yet either.
Sprint is promoting the LG G3 as a complement to its growing LTE network, and its HD voice services. The carrier is also offering those who pre-register to receive the G3 a chance to win a free version of the phone. T-Mobile U.S. is offering the chance to win an advance-release beta model of the smartphone to those who register on the carrier’s website. T-Mobile said the beta models will ship during June.
The G3 is an LTE phone with a 5.5-inch screen, a metallic body, and a 13 megapixel camera that features laser auto focus for high speed picture taking. It runs Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, clocked at 2.46GHz. The phone weighs 149 grams and has a 3,000mAh battery. The battery is removable, which presumably means that users can buy a backup.
Of note, the Korean manufacturer contrasted the quality of the G3 to that of some “Chinese made” phones, highlighting a handset market dichotomy when it comes to China. China is expected to be the world’s largest mobile phone market in terms of revenue this year. Many if not most of the phones sold in China will be made there as well, but phones made elsewhere command a price premium based on their components and design.