LG is challenging Samsung's Note smartphones with a new stylus-equipped handset of its own. While the Stylus 2 was announced earlier this year, the Stylus 2 Plus builds on that phone's design and improves the guts for a more powerful device.

The two biggest improvements are in the Stylus 2 Plus' screen and processor. Rather than the 5.7-inch, 1280×720 display on the first model, the new model has the same size screen but with a 1920×1080 resolution. The processor has also been upgraded to a 1.4GHz octa-core chip from the first phone's 1.2GHZ quad-core CPU.

The Stylus 2 Plus will also have 16GB of onboard storage, a 3,000 mAh battery, and a fingerprint sensor on the back of the handset. The cameras will change depending on where the device is sold: some markets will get a 16-megapixel rear camera and an 8MP front-facing camera. Others will have the same 13MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing camera in the original Stylus 2. RAM will change depending on region as well, with some countries receiving 3GB of RAM and others getting 2GB.

According to some reports, the included pen has a "nano coating" of some sort that will make writing on the screen feel more like writing with a pen on paper. The stylus isn't rubber-tipped, and this coating should make its input more accurate than other pens. We'll have to test this out to see if it's true, of course, and we'll need to look at how it compares to the writing experience on the Samsung Note.

LG has not yet provided pricing information for the Stylus 2 Plus, but it rolls out in Taiwan today and then in "other key markets in Asia, South America, Europe, and North America in the weeks to come."