LG G3 release date, price in the UK and specs - coming 27 May

You've got to hand it to LG. A few years ago, the company was a small player in the handset market, but with last year's LG G2 the company showed that it could play with the big boys. It also makes the prospect of the follow-up handset, the LG G3, even more exciting, as it could provide some stiff competition to the established Android crowd, such as theSamsung Galaxy S5.

Here we're rounding up everything we know about the phone, ahead of its official launch.

LG G3 RELEASE DATE

While the other smartphone manufacturers tend to jealously guard their phone's release dates, with LG we've known about the G3 since the 30th April. On that date the official invitations for the launch event were sent out, with the date marked as the 27th May.

Marked with the quote, "To be simple is to be Great", the invitation hints that LG will be taking the phone back to basics, providing a simple, fast and high-spec smartphone.

Simultaneous launch events are planned to take place in London, New York and San Francisco, with follow-up events in Seoul, Singapore and Instabul the next day. We'll be on-hand in London to bring you the news as it breaks.

LG G3 SPECIFICATIONS

It's almost as though LG doesn't want us to have any surprises, with the full specifications leaking online back in April. Since then, further leaks have brought more detail to the picture.

Core specs are what we'd expect from a powerful Android smartphone, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 CPU, at least 2GB of RAM, 16GB of integrated storage (plus a microSD card slot) and a 13-megapixel camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS).

The standout feature is the QHD screen with a resolution of 2,460x1,440 resolution. The display was confirmed by LG, when its display vision released a press release that stated, "The certification comes shortly before the new Quad HD LCD panel will be unveiled with the forthcoming LG’s flagship smartphone to be launched in the first half of the year."

This resolution will be packed into a 5.5in screen, which means a staggering pixel density of 538PPI. There's no doubt that this will be the higest-resolution screen available on a smartphone, although there's a good argument as to whether this resolution is required and if you'll be able to tell the difference compared to a Full HD screen. We'll bring you our impressions when we go hands-on with the phone at the launch.

We're also likely to see a Fingerprint Sensor, as the LG G3 keeps up with theiPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S5. Software leaks show that the phone will ship with PayPal, McAfee Mobile and other security-related apps. Given that the Galaxy S5 also has PayPal, which is fingerprint-ready, we wouldn't be surprised to see a fingerprint reader on the LG G3.

LG G3 BUILD QUALITY AND LOOKS

There's no doubting that this is a high-end phone and it looks to have the build quality to match. First we had a teaser trailer showing off the phone's metal body, but now LG has released official shots of the G3, complete with a brand new QuickCirle Case.

LG G3 PRICE

While the QHD meant that we expected the LG G3 to be expensive, recent leaked retail pricing shows that the 16GB version of the phone could be available for as little as €631 (£499), although another retailer has the phone selling at €678 (£552). That's a little more expensive than the LG G2, but not by much, and a small premium for the screen is to be expected. Either way, we're genuinely excited by the new phone and can't wait to get our hands on one