LG has launched an Android 2.3-based smartphone with a slide-out, full QWERTY keyboard called Optimus Q2.

The Optimus Q2 features a 4-inch, WVGA (480 x 800 pixels), IPS-based LCD with 700 nits of brightness above a four-row, slide-out keyboard. Despite having a physical QWERTY keyboard, the Q2 is only 12.3mm (0.48inch) thick and weighs 147g (5.2oz). It is powered by a dual-core, 1.2GHz processor and sports 1GB of RAM. There is 8GB of built-in storage available to the user. A 5 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus can be found on the back, while a VGA camera sits up front. The Q2 is powered by a 1,500mAh battery. LG has equipped the Q2 with Android 2.3 Gingerbread with its custom user interface on top.

No word on release or pricing details yet, but there are murmurs that it could hit South Korea, and even Europe, as early as next week.

Are you a fan of physical keyboards? Or are you a happy touchscreen covert? Let us know in the comments.