LG’s upcoming flagship, the 1080p 5.5-inch screen Optimus G2 along with others, to be unveiled at CES 2013

With CES around the corner, it seems that smartphones with screens larger than 5-inches is the hot trend lately. As always is the case around CES, the rumor mill is buzzing with rumors about what will be unveiled at CES next week. It is rumored that South Korea-based LG Electronics will be unveiling their newest flagship device, the Optimus G2 at CES in the coming days. The device is rumored to have a 5.5-inch 1080p (Full HD) screen, and sporting a Qualcomm quad-core S4 Prime MSM8974 chip.

LG isn’t the only one who is planning on releasing a phone of this size, it is rumored that China-based Huawei is also planning on unveiling the Ascend D2 with HiSilicon’s quad-core processor and a 13-megapixel rear camera, along with the Ascend Mate. I wrote an article on the rumored Ascend Mate last week, you can find it here. The Ascend Mate is rumored to have a 6.1-inch 1080p screen, a quad-core 1.8GHz chip and a massive 4,000mAh battery.

Sony Mobile Communications is holding a press conference on January 7th to introduce its new Xperia Z, which is said to have the same panel resolution and processor as HTC’s Butterfly/Droid DNA, but with a better camera. It certainly looks like there is going to be a battle for the best 5-inch smartphone in 2013.

I personally have never believed that devices of this size would sell, but Samsung has proven me wrong with their successful Galaxy Note & more recently their Galaxy Note II. I still don’t believe that these devices will ever become as mainstream as the current 4 to 5-inch devices, but I suppose only time will tell. With so many device manufacturers unveiling devices with larger screens, perhaps I’ll be proven wrong again. Market Observers believe that sales of 5-inch (or larger) smartphones among total smartphone sales will increase from under 5% in 2012, to between 10-15% in 2013. What is your opinion on this new trend of smartphones with larger devices? Do you currently own one, or thinking of purchasing one? Let us know in the comments section below.

VIA:ANDROID HEADLINES