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"The G8 ThinQ and V50 ThinQ, both are powered by Snapdragon 855, but only the latter offers 5G connectivity"
After Xiaomi, Huawei, and Nokia, LG has also introduced its latest smartphones at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The South Korean tech giant has added the LG G8 ThinQ and V50 ThinQ at the event. Both of the brand's new flagships are loaded with Qualcomm's latest top-of-the-line Snapdragon 855 processor. Notably, the V50 ThinQ has arrived as the company's first smartphone with 5G connectivity. In addition, the new V series offering also sports a modular design that lets you attach an additional screen to it.
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The LG G8 ThinQ will be available in three colour variants including Carmine Red, New Aurora Black, and New Moroccan Blue. V50 ThinQ will come in only Astro Black hue, while its Dual Screen cover will be available in New Aurora Black colour. For the 5G phone's launch, LG has partnered with 10 major telcos in markets where 5G service will be launched this year, including the US, South Korea, Australia as well as several European countries. The operators include Sprint, Verizon, TIM, Vodafone, LG U+, KT, Telstra, SK Telecom, EE, and Swisscom. However, the brand hasn't yet revealed pricing and availability details of either smartphones at the moment.
Talking about the LG G8 ThinQ first, similar to its predecessor, the phone has a wide notch above the screen and a small chin. Just like the G7 ThinQ, the new model gets a dual camera setup at the rear, but it is stacked horizontally instead of vertically. The smartphone is equipped with a 6.1-inch FullVision OLED display with a resolution of 1,440 x 3,120 pixels and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Just like the latest flagships from many brands, the G8 ThinQ also utilises Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 855 processor, aided by 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage, with expansion support up to 2TB.
In the camera department, the LG G8 ThinQ features a 16MP primary camera with a 107-degree field of view at the rear, aided by a 12MP secondary snapper. However, some markets may get a variant with a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto lens added to the mix, the company says. There is a Video Portrait mode that lets users control the bokeh while shooting videos from the rear camera.
On the front, the smartphone houses an 8MP camera. Notably, the selfie shooter is also accompanied by the Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor, which LG calls the Z camera. This tech is capable of detecting objects by firing an infrared light and lets you unlock the device by holding your palm in front of the camera; the brand calls this functionality Hand ID. The ToF camera same also lets you use hovering hand gestures (called Air Motion by LG) to activate registered app shortcuts, swiping to dismiss incoming calls, control the volume, and more. A 3,500mAh battery with fast charging support keeps the handset running.
Notably, the LG G8 ThinQ offers immersive audio experience thanks to the Crystal Sound OLED (CSO) technology, which uses the screen as an audio amplifier. Apart from this, the phone also gets a 2-channel audio setup, DTS:X 3D Surround Sound, Hi-Fi Quad DAC, Master Quality Authenticated, and Boombox speaker. Also, the smartphone has IP68 and MIL-STD810G certifications for water- and dust-resistance and military-grade durability.
LG has also introduced a variant of the G8 ThinQ dubbed the G8s ThinQ at the event. This one offers a 6.2-inch full HD+ OLED FullVision display with an aspect ratio of 18.7:9. While the G8 ThinQ is available in a single memory configuration, the G8s ThinQ can be purchased in 64GB or 128GB storage variants. The G8s ThinQ also differs with the G8 ThinQ in terms of camera and battery specs. The phone has three cameras at the rear — a 13MP wide-angle sensor, a 12MP regular sensor, and a 12MP telephoto lens, and on the front, there's an 8MP sensor. The handset is fuelled by a slightly bigger 3,550mAh battery. Like the G8 ThinQ, the G8s ThinQ is also powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor.
Talking about the specifications, LG V50 ThinQ sports a bigger 6.4-inch OLED FullVision display with QHD+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The 5G-enabled offering packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor under the hood, aided by the Snapdragon X50 5G modem. The phone has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which can be further increased up to 2TB by inserting a microSD card. The Android Pie-powered offering also comes with IP68 rating for water and dust resistance and has MIL-STD 810G certification for military-grade durability.
For imaging, the LG V50 ThinQ flaunts three cameras at the rear comprising of a 16MP super-wide f/1.9 primary sensor. The other two sensors of the device are the 12MP f/1.5 primary shooter and a 12MP telephoto f/2.4 camera. For selfies, there's an 8MP primary camera with f/1.9 aperture and a 5MP secondary snapper featuring f/2.2 aperture. Apart from 5G, the handset offers 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and USB Type-C for connectivity. A 4,000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging support provides the power. The other features include a dedicated Google Assistant button, Super Far Field Voice Recognition, 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC, DTS:X 3D, and HDR10.
Moving on to the design, LG V50 ThinQ from the front looks almost identical to the G8 ThinQ. However, the smartphone features a modular design with a pogo pin connector at the rear, which lets you attach the Dual Screen cover case to the device. The touchscreen case sports a conventional smartphone design with rounded corners, but with thick top and bottom bezels. This display is 6.2-inch in size and offers an OLED panel with 1,080 x 2,160 pixels resolution. When playing a game, the additional display can be used as a game screen, while the smartphone itself can be used as a game controller. Since the two screens work independently, users can operate two separate apps at the same time. The case draws power from the phone's battery and, thus, does not need to be charged separately.