New LG smartphone shown off in TENAA images, LG’s next flagship?

Samsung’s 2015 strategy has been focused on moving away from past design decisions and aimed instead on a more premium image with toned down software. In contrast, LG’s strategy has largely been the opposite.

While the Galaxy S6 ditched removable backs, batteries, and plastic, the LG G4 offered all those things alongside a more premium leather backed variant for those that weren’t keen on plastic. Now that the Note 5 and S6 Edge+ have arrived with the same design choices, how will LG respond? As it turns out, LG looks to be gearing up for its own phablet-sized flagship, at least if new evidence from TENAA (China’s FCC equivalent) proves accurate.

As you can see, the filing delivers a number of images showing off a previously unknown handset, dubbed the LG LG-H968. The images don’t tell us anything specific about the specs, but the design appears to be made of plastic with a metal frame, and likely packs all the usual things you’d expect from such a device like microSD and a removable battery. You’ll also notice that LG’s iconic rear buttons make a reappearance here. Even more intriguing is the front facing camera, which has the sensors moved behind the glass protecting the display. There also seems to be what might be laser autofocus on the front.

So what exactly is this phone? We already knew LG was working on a “super premium” phone, though they later denied using such language to describe it. There have also been rumors of an LG G Note, suggesting that LG’s next flagship might go directly after the Note 5. That said, the filing here doesn’t mention or show a stylus, and so we can’t say for sure that this device really does pack an S-Pen rival.

Either way, we do believe it is a safe bet to assume that this is a phablet-sized phone and is intended to combat Samsung’s latest, though whether it has a stylus or will actually be called the “G Note” remains unclear. What do you think, do you hope that LG really does offer a Note competitor, is a high-end larger-sized flagship enough to interest you?