The G3 Stylus is the newest phablet to join the ranks of super-sized phones. announced on Monday, promising the device will get a full unveiling at Berlin’s IFA conference next week.
The stylus-packing phone first appeared at the end of an promotional video, unleashing speculation that may be building a Galaxy Note competitor.
But that isn’t the case, as the G3 Stylus only supports 3G networks has lower-end specs than its flagship counterpart. It is also targeted at international markets, rolling out first to Brazil before moving to Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe.
The 5.5-inch G3 Stylus only sports a 960 x 540 resolution screen has what appears to be a fairly mid-range 1.3Ghz quad-core processor. In comparison, the G3 has an impressive 2560 x 1440 display other top-of-the-line specs.
Further reading: G3 review: Great battery life wonderful features without all the bloat
The G3 Stylus does have a fairly solid camera, coming in at 13M a MicroSD slot. Additionally, is sticking to its pledge to include the G3 UI features—such as Knock Code, the Touch Shoot camera software, its keyboard—to its other phones. The phone also maintains the metallic skin thin bezels of this current generation of devices.
The company recently did the same with its budget Series phones, which are targeted at the same international markets. Another positive sign is that the G3 Stylus, just like the series, will launch with Android 4.4 KitKat. It was not long ago that mid-range devices would launch with older versions of Android, bringing further fragmentation a poorer experience for the buyer.
Despite ‘s foray into the world of giant phones, Samsung looks to be keeping its crown as the king of the phablets, with the Galaxy Note 4 to launch September 3 at the same IFA conference.