LG announced the Stylus 2 smartphone at Mobile World Congress back in March and it is now available exclusively through O2 in the UK.

The device arrived alongside the X Series of smartphones, as well as the flagship LG G5 and while its specs aren't groundbreaking, it does have a couple of surprises up its sleeve.

We have put it up against the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 to see how the two phablets with their stylus pens compare.

LG Stylus 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Design

The LG Stylus 2 features a metal frame with a plastic removable rear and measures 155 x 79.6 x 7.4mm. It's a very light device for its size, hitting the scales at 145g and it comes with a pen that slots neatly into the device when not in use.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is a more premium looking device to the LG Stylus 2, featuring an all-metal body with a glass rear. Its solid design measures 153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6mm, meaning it is smaller than LG's device, but heavier weighing 171g. Like the Stylus 2, the Note 5 also comes with a pen that sits comfortably within the device when not in use.

LG Stylus 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Display

The LG Stylus 2 has a 5.7-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720. This puts its pixel density at 258ppi, which is pretty low for a smartphone and especially a device of this size. A Full HD resolution would have been preferable.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has the same size display as the Stylus 2 at 5.7-inches but Samsung opts for Super AMOLED as the technology rather than LCD. It also puts a Quad HD resolution in the Note 5, which delivers a pixel density of 518ppi.

AMOLED display tend to be more vibrant than LCD, with richer colours and blacker blacks but they can also be more unrealistic. The Note 5 will offer sharper and crisper images than the Stylus 2 though, and while it isn't always noticeable, at double the resolution there should be a visible difference between these two devices and their displays.

LG Stylus 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Camera

The LG Stylus 2 features a 13-megapixel rear camera with auto focus and an LED flash. On the front, you'll find an 8-megapixel snapper.

Samsung's Galaxy Note 5 has a 16-megapixel rear snapper with optical image stabilisation and an aperture of f/1.9. The front-facing camera is a 5-megapixel sensor, also with an aperture of f/1.9.

Samsung offers the higher resolution on the rear camera, while LG takes it on the front but as many of us know, a good smartphone camera doesn't just come down to megapixels. The processing power is a big factor too and Samsung has consistently proved itself in its latest generation of devices from the Note 4 onwards. The camera in LG's G5 is excellent, but whether the same will be said for the Stylus 2 remains to be seen for now.

LG Stylus 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Hardware

The LG Stylus 2 features a quad-core 1.2GHz processor under its hood, supported by 1.5GB of RAM. There is 32GB of internal storage, a microSD slot for further storage expansion and a 3000mAh battery to keep things ticking along. It's also worth mentioning that the LG's battery is removeable.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has an octa-core processor, supported by 4GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. There is no microSD support on the Note 5 so once your device is full, it is full, but it has the same battery capacity as the Stylus 2 at 3000mAh, even though it is not removable in the Note 5.

Based on the numbers, the Note 5 is going to be the more powerful device, especially with over double the RAM but the lack of microSD might put some off. Battery life is likely to be within a similar range for both devices but the removability within the LG is a useful option. The Stylus 2 also has DAB radio on board so if you are a keen radio listener, this might be the feature that sways you.

LG Stylus 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Software

The LG Stylus 2 arrives with Android 6.0 Marshmallow with LG's software over the top. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 launched with Android Lollipop but it has since been updated to Marshmallow.

Samsung's device also has the company's own software over the top of Android so both the Note 5 and Stylus 2 will offer different user interfaces and experiences. Both offer software to complement the pens that come with them though.

LG Stylus 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 takes the crown in the majority of departments based on the numbers, although not all. The Note 5 is the smaller of these two devices, it has a sharper, crisper display, a higher resolution rear camera and more powerful hardware.

The LG Stylus 2 is the lighter of the two devices however, while also offering a higher resolution front camera, a removable battery and microSD for storage expansion. It also has DAB radio for those the want it.

The Stylus 2 is the cheaper of the two devices as well and given the Note 5 isn't available in the UK, for those that want a smartphone with a pen, LG is one of your only options.