LG bring the G Pad 10.1 to Australia

After what seems an age since it was first announced, LG are bringing their 10.1″ G Pad tablet to Australia. Like the LG G3, the tablet is due to hit Australian stores in early August where it will set you back $399 (Cough, it’s $249 in the US).

The G Pad 10.1 comes with a 10.1″ 1280X800 resolution IPS display in Black and Red colour options, although the red has been tied up in an exclusive with Harvey Norman for at least 6 months. The Black G Pad 10.1 however, will be available through Aussie retailers such as The Good Guys, Betta Electrical and Bing Lee, as well as through Harvey Norman.

The G Pad 10.1 is powered by a 1.2 GHZ Quad-Core Snapdragon 400 SoC, with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal Storage, but will support microSD Cards up to 32GB. The tablet includes an 8,000 mAh battery, which will give up to 8 hours of battery life. There’s all manner of connectivity options included Wifi 820.11 a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0 BLE, GPS.

There’s a 5MP Rear Camera on the tablet and a 1.3MP camera on the front which can take advantage of the ‘Selfie’ feature from the G3 which uses a fist clenching gesture to initate a countdown, but there’s more goodness from the G3 baked into the G Pad for the camera including the Touch & Shoot, which allows you to take a picture by simply tapping on the screen, unfortunately unlike the G3, there’s no Laser Auto-Focus here.

The G Pad 10.1 comes with Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), LG are looking at pushing out security updates that Google included in the Android 4.4.3 and 4.4.4 updates but can’t share timelines. As well as selfie mode, the G Pad 10.1 also rocks other features from the LG G3. First up is the Security focused Knock Code function, Knock Code can be set for up to four users, with the LG guest mode function also available to access via Knock Code.

LG has also been looking at pairing tablets and phones for a while now, the G Pad 10.1 brings Q Pair 2.0, software which will allow you to connect and interact with your phone including the ability to receive and reply to SMS messages, as well as view caller information and reject and respond via SMS (unfortunately you can’t answer calls on the tablet yet).

Also included is the Smart Keyboard, which lets you re-size the keyboard, and change the layout of the keyboard to your liking, as well as easily slide suggested words into the flow of conversation.

With a 10″ tablet there is obviously a lot of screen real-estate, LG has worked to bring Dual-Window multi-tasking to the G Pad 10.1, which allows you to run multiple applications on the tablet from a selected list of apps. Dual-Window also allows you to drag and drop from one window to another.

In terms of accessories, LG will be providing a G Pad Quick Cover to both protection and a way to prop the tablet up for viewing media or surfing the web for $69 in Black. The cover acts as a smart cover and will wake the device when you open it and send it to sleep once it’s closed.

Even taking into account that price markup, the 10.1″ G Pad is a nice looking device. The unit feels a little plasticy to hold, but it’s not actually a total negative, in fact compared to the G Pad 8.3, which was a little cold the G Pad has a softer more comfortable feel. The device has nicely mounted rear speakers which should do quite nicely when watching a movie with the sound turned up.

The tablet will be available in early August from The Good Guys, Betta Electrical and Bing Lee in Black and in Red and Black for Harvey Norman, the Smart Cover will also be available at launch for $69. If you’re in the market for a 10″ tablet, the G Pad 10.1 is a nice device and worth a look.