LG G8 ThinQ Release Date, Price & Specs
LG’s G8 ThinQ is official, following an unveiling atMWC 2019in Barcelona on 24 February. Much of its features came as no surprise, though, as the company had already confirmed it would feature a ‘time-of-flight’ front-facing camera and sound on display.
Here, we bring you everything we know about the LG G8 ThinQ including its new specs and features, but we’ve also managed to get our hands on the phone at MWC itself to bring you anLG G8 ThinQ hands-on review.
LG also used MWC to release a second new phone – theLG V50 ThinQ with 5G.
Best in Show – See our MWC 2019 Award Winners!
When is the LG G8 ThinQ release date?
The LG G8 ThinQ wasunveiled on 24 February, but never went on sale in the UK (here’s hoping theG9will).
The LG G7 ThinQdidn’t launch until May 2018, so this is a bit sooner than we expected.
How much does LG G8 ThinQ cost?
In the US the LG G8 ThinQ launched at $819.
What are the new features of the LG G8 ThinQ?
Rumours suggested that the LG G8 could be a foldable phone similar to those launched bySamsungandHuawei, but it is just another notch-screen full-display phone, lacking an in-display fingerprint sensor and reduced ‘waterdrop’-style notch.
Instead, LG has introduced a Z Camera with advanced palm vein authentication dubbed Hand ID – the first of its kind in a smartphone. It’s designed to be more secure than a fingerprint sensor, identifying owners by recognising their hand when it’s placed in front of the front-facing camera.
The Z Camera, which is LG’s name for a time-of-flight (ToF) camera that is used for depth detection, can also be used for new ‘touchless’ controls. You can control the device using hand gestures including pinching, twisting or swiping in front of the camera.
It also has a Crystal Sound OLED, which is the fancy new term for tech that in essence pumps out audio through a phone’s display. The entire display vibrates in use, and is aided by the bottom-facing speaker for bass.
LG promises impressive audio with a combination of DTS:X 3D Surround Sound, which emulates a 7.1-channel system, Hi-Fi Quad DAC, MQA support and a Boombox Speaker, which uses the internal space of the phone as a resonance chamber – tech it first introduced on theG7 ThinQ.
In common with other 2019 flagships, the G8 carries the newQualcomm Snapdragon 855processor, which is the successor to the Snapdragon 845 seen in the G7.
This chip is significantly faster than the 845, and it also supports 5G connectivity. However, the G8 doesn’t itself support 5G connectivity, since this will add to the overall cost. LG announced a different smartphone alongside the G8 as its first 5G phone – the LG V50 ThinQ 5G, which you canread about in our hands-on review here.
LG G8 ThinQ Specs
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Author: Marie Black, Editorial Director, International
Marie is Editorial Director at Foundry. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she’s worked in tech media for almost 20 years, covering all types of consumer tech from smartphones and their accessories to smart home gear. These days she manages our international editorial teams and leads on content strategy, having witnessed first-hand Foundry’s transition from print, to digital, to online - and beyond.
