HTC AND LG 2013 LINEUP

The Deluxe DLX and Nexus 4 are indicative of what we can look forward to.

Last week we revealed what Samsung could have in store for you in 2013. However, fellow Android competitors HTC and LG aren’t sitting still.

The benefit of being a part of the Open Handset Alliance is that with the support of Google, Android OEMs are gaining massive footholds in the consumer market. Being part of the Nexus programme, Samsung, LG, HTC, and now Asus, have garnered massive market shares for themselves. No one knows this more than Samsung. Having been responsible for three Nexus devices – the Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 10 – Samsung’s own products have been seen in a new light.

It seems the same might be said for LG. For its first collaboration with Google, LG took the Optimus G and turned it into the Nexus 4. While very different looking devices, the two share a lot of hardware, and are a testament to LG’s place in the Android OEM line-up. While the jury’s still out on the durability of the Nexus 4’s glass back, it’s still a handsome device.

It’s no surprise, then, that the successor to the Optimus G, which we presume will either be the G2, has already become a buzzword in the rumour mill. Filled to the brim with tech that isn’t even out yet, the G2 will have Qualcomm’s (then) latest chipset, the quad-core 2.0/2.5GHz Krait processor, and a new 1080p display from LG. We’re sure LG will want to bump up the shooter from the Optimus G, but where do you go from 13 megapixels? And, of course, given that this will be a Q2/Q3 release, expect dessert to be a slice of Key Lime Pie.

However, if LG’s not your preferred flavour of Android, and you’ve loved the unibody chassis from HTC, there’s a new phone scheduled for release in early 2013. Based on the much-touted, Japan-only J Butterfly, remarketed in the US as the Droid DNA, the HTC Deluxe DLX could possibly be the next big thing for the Taiwanese manufacturer.

Strangely, the Deluxe DLX won’t be released in Europe, which leaves the phone for Asia (minus Japan, who have the J Butterfly). The first phone from HTC with a 5-inch, full HD screen, the Deluxe DLX will also have a quad-core processor and an 8-megapixel camera. Looks like 2013 is already shaping up to be an even more impressive year for Android phones.