Upcoming LG Smartphone 2013: LG Optimus GJ brings waterproofing to LG Optimus G in Taiwan

Ever since the Sony Xperia Z showed up at CES, a high-end model that was able to withstand water and dust, we have seen other high-end models take the plunge into waterproofing. For example, Samsung has confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active will be a rugged version of the Android flagship model. However, there is talk that some of the specs will be different. Instead of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 under the hood, which is what the U.S. carrier models of the phone are powered by, speculation is that the Galaxy S4 Active will sport the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960. And instead of the 13MP snapper on back, the rough and tumble variant of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is expected to make do with an 8MP sensor instead.

Fellow Korean OEM LG has announced on Wednesday that it too has a waterproof version of its top-shelf phone coming to market. The LG Optimus GJ is expected to touch down in Taiwan next month priced at $17,990 TWD ($600 USD). Most of the specs match those found on the LG Optimus G including the 4.7 inch LCD screen with 768 x 1280 resolution, the quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ 8064 and the 2GB of RAM on board. The model number of the waterproof model is LG E975W vs LG E975 for the original generation of the device.

Introduced in Taiwan on Wednesday, the LG Optimus GJ is slightly bigger than the Optimus G (131.9 x 68.9 x 8.5 mm vs. 136.9 x 68.9 x 9.9 mm) and its IPX7 designation means it can stay underwater as deep as 1 meter, for 30 minutes. This surely beats out the protection from splashes that Motorola has been putting on models like the Motorola DROID 4 and the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX HD.  The LG Optimus GJ will be available in black and in black/red and there is no word on whether it will be released outside of Taiwan.

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