Our hands-on look at the LG G6 and the date you can get your hands on it.

Tech Guide got its hands on the new LG G6 smartphone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona which has been announced as a Telstra exclusive when it is released in the coming weeks.

The device, which has a 5.7-inch display but manages to fit that inside a 5.3-inch body, will go on sale in Australia on March 28.

Outright pricing is expected to be more than $1,000 while Telstra’s plans for the device are yet to be announced.

The minute you hold the device in your hand you can see why LG has shoehorned such a large screen into a smaller device.

The whole front face of the LG G6 is almost entirely a screen.

There is no physical home button – that would have dramatically altered the size and length of the product.

LG was aware that while customers were asking for a bigger screen to enjoy their content on the move, they weren’t prepared to lug around a large device.

Another thing that helps LG achieve this engineering feat is not only the size of the screen – but the shape of the screen.

It has an aspect ratio of 18:9 so it’s longer rather than wider.

When place alongside an iPhone 7 Plus which has as smaller 5.5-inch screen, the G6 is still clearly shorter and narrower.

When holding it in your hand it is also much easier to grip because of that narrower size.

And that means you can easily use the device with one hand.

The display’s new size means more apps and widgets can fit on the home screen.

Content will be available to watch on YouTube that will fill the screen’s 18:9 shape which is slightly wider than a cinema screen at 16:9.

There is also a setting within the device that allows users to choose to magnify apps to fit the whole screen of the G6 as well.

Now the quality of the screen is also something to note – it has a Quad HD resolution of 2,880 x 1,440 so images and videos look razor sharp.

The G6 is also the first to come with Dolby Vision – a souped-up version of HDR (high dynamic range).

We’ll see Dolby Vision content this year – both for TVs and mobile. The Dolby Vision content looked incredibly sharp with excellent contrast and colour.

Taking photos with the 13-megapixel camera G6 will also be a little easier with the new Square Camera Mode that allows you to see your gallery on one side while still having your live camera viewfinder on the other.

And to prove the G6 is IP67 water resistant. there was a section of the booth where running water was being passed over the device without it missing a beat.

The LG G6 will be available on March 28 exclusively through Telstra.

Key Specifications: 

– Chipset: Qualcomm^® Snapdragon™ 821 Processor

– Display: 5.7-inch 18:9 QHD+ FullVision Display (2880 x 1440 / 564ppi)

– Memory: 4GB LPDDR4 RAM / 32GB or 64GB UFS 2.0 ROM / MicroSD (up to 2TB)

– Camera:

– Rear Dual: 13MP Wide (F2.4 / 125°) / 13MP Standard OIS 2.0 (F1.8 / 71°)

– Front 5MP Wide (F2.2 / 100°)

– Battery: 3,300mAh (embedded)

– Operating System: Android 7.0 Nougat

– Size: 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9mm

– Weight: 163g

– Network: LTE-A 3 Band CA

– Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.2 BLE / NFC / USB Type-C 2.0 (3.1 compatible)

– Colours: Astro Black / Ice Platinum / Mystic White

– Other: Water and Dust Resistant / Fingerprint Sensor / UX 6.0 / Dolby Vision™ / HDR10 / Qualcomm Quick Charge™ 3.0 / 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC

* Stephen Fenech travelled to Barcelona as a guest of Huawei