We’ve been eagerly anticipating the first flagship smartphone with a built-in fingerprint scanner. Some reports have suggested that would be the iPhone 5S this fall, while others believed LG’s upcoming G2 might narrowly beat Apple to it. But it appears Pantech has beaten them to the punch.

The South Korean company has just announced the Pantech Vega LTE-A, which boasts high-end specifications inside a pretty attractive package. Not only is it one of the few high-end devices compatible with Korea’s new LTE-Advanced networks, but it’s also the only one with a fingerprint scanner on its back.

The Vega LTE-A sports a 5.5-inch 1080p display, a 2.3.GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, and 2GB of RAM. It has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, and a “fast charge” 3,100mAh battery that needs just 94 minutes to fully charge.

The Vega LTE-A also supports LTE-Advanced technology — like the new Galaxy S4 LTE-A — which provides data speeds of up to 150Mbps. There’s also an official “Smart Cover” accessory like the Galaxy S4’s S View case that allows you to see notifications at a glance through a little window in its front cover.

Its most interesting feature, however, is the small touch panel on its back that incorporates a fingerprint sensor. So you can do away with face unlock, snazzy patterns, and boring unlock codes and simply scan your finger tip to unlock the phone.

The Vega LTE-A will come in black and white, but Pantech hasn’t yet confirmed pricing or availability.

• SourcePantech