A member of the XDA Developers forum has uploaded apparently leaked pictures of the LG G4 Note variant of the company's upcoming flagship smartphone LG G4, featuring a device that looks very much different compared to LG's previous offerings.
The G4 Note was revealed by LG earlier this month, with rumors stating that the phablet will be featuring a metal body and not the G4.
The XDA member, with username s3rv1cet3ch, wanted forum readers to take a look at what is apparently a stylus that is inserted into its compartment in the top left of the back of the phablet.
And if the pictures are legitimate, then it certainly does look like the G4 Note has been constructed with a metal body. It also looks like the new device will retain the placement of the camera flash, speakers and power button of the G3, in addition to a slightly more square shape of the device's camera sensor and a rounded rectangle shape for the power button.
It could be possible that the company repurposed what would usually be the slot for the antenna for G4 devices to be released in Korea, replacing the component with a stylus for the version to be released in the United States. Either that or the slot is specifically made for a stylus, similar to that found on the G3 Stylus that the company unveiled last year.
In addition, there have been reports that LG filed for trademark ownership of the name "G Pen." It could easily be assumed that the name will be for a stylus, and that the G4 Note name of the device has LG positioning the phablet to challenge the Galaxy Note line of its rival Samsung.
The XDA member that leaked the image of the G4 Note with an apparent stylus also stated that the device is being tested on T-Mobile's network, apparently with 4G LTE network as seen in the images. The images also reveal that the device is being tested under Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, though the XDA member stated that there are still currently some bugs with the device under the latest Android operating system.
Reports revealed that LG is thinking of investing in CNC, or computer precision control equipment for the purpose of manufacturing metal cases, which are components that will be introduced with the G4 Note.
Why will LG introduce such a metal body to the G4 Note instead of the flagship G4? This is because, aside from the cost of the CNC equipment, it is also time consuming to acquire and prepare the equipment. LG will not have the metal cases in time for the targeted launch of the G4.
