The LG Optimus VU should be a decent competitor to last year’s Samsung Galaxy Note even though it does’t come with its own stylus. At five inches it falls in the “phablet” category but LG has tried a different approach.

The main selling point of the phone is the 4:3 aspect ratio which should allow for better content viewing and note taking. However, you’ll have to use finger input to take notes. The device itself is slim and rather fast thought the unit was running Gingerbread (Ice Cream Sandwich should be installed once the phone starts shipping).