LG's mobile division has been going through hard times in recent years, but it doesn't intend to give up so easily. The Korean manufacturer continues to introduce new smartphones, and at the Mobile World Congress this year it brought two new flagships at once: the G8 ThinQ and V50 ThinQ 5G. You already see what the last feature is, right?
And I would like to say right away that these are very controversial devices. At first glance, they look like quite good flagships, with powerful hardware and even a claim to innovation, which no one else offers. Externally, the novelties also turned out to be quite attractive. In the style of previous LG smartphones, but still somewhat different.
But, as you know, the devil is in the details. And when you start to study LG's new products closer, certain questions arise. In particular, about those same innovations. Therefore, I could not unequivocally answer the question of what LG actually offers us. Let's try to find the answer together.
Appearance
First, let's talk about the common features of both new products and start, of course, with the design. Smartphones LG G8 ThinQ and V50 ThinQ 5G are made in the same style and are generally very similar to each other. Only the V50 is slightly larger than its counterpart. Unfortunately, they were located on different racks, so there was no way to compare them side by side.
Both novelties are made in the form of a now traditional βsandwichβ of an aluminum frame enclosed between two glass panels. Used shock and scratch-resistant glass Gorilla Glass 5. It looks very nice, but it also collects fingerprints perfectly. Actually, like all other smartphones with a glass back panel.
Smartphone LG G8 ThinQ will be available in red (Carmine Red), black (New Aurora Black) and blue (New Moroccan Blue) colors. In turn, the LG V50 ThinQ 5G is only available in black so far.
Separately, I would like to note that, like all the latest LG flagships, the new items comply with the MIL-STD-810G standard. This means that they are resistant to some bumps and drops. But, of course, we didnβt throw smartphones at the LG booth, Iβm afraid we might be misunderstood. Also, the new LG flagships are protected from dust and moisture according to the IP68 standard.
On the back of the LG G8 ThinQ is a fingerprint scanner, as well as a dual or triple camera. Yes, LG will release two versions of this smartphone - for different regions. Which of them will be sold in Russia is still unknown. In turn, the V50 ThinQ 5G has a triple camera and a fingerprint scanner.
The location of buttons and connectors on the side faces of LG flagships is the same. On the left is the lock button and volume buttons, and on the right is the SIM card tray and the Google Assistant call button. There is a USB Type-C port on the bottom, and it is claimed that USB version 3.1 is here. Separately, we note that LG did not remove the 3,5 mm headphone jack.
Displays
Despite the difference in size, both smartphones received OLED displays with a resolution of 3120 Γ 1440 pixels, which support high dynamic range (HDR10), and should also cover the DCI-P100 color space 3%. The LG G8 ThinQ has a 6,1-inch screen, while the LG V50 ThinQ 5G has a 6,4-inch display.
For each of the smartphones, the display at the top has the same notorious βbangsβ. The LG V50 ThinQ 5G has a dual front camera and an earpiece. The LG G8 ThinQ has only a front camera, which is also double, but it is made differently - it uses a ToF camera for gesture control, but more on that below.
Externally, the displays look quite good. As befits OLED, the picture is contrasty and the colors are juicy. However, at first, and even at second glance, it seems that the displays lack brightness. Even at maximum brightness, the picture within the stand looked dull. And what would happen in the bright sun? I hope LG will somehow fix this shortcoming before the release.
It is worth noting that the display also plays the role of a speaker in the LG G8 ThinQ. That is, the display panel itself is able to resonate, thereby creating sound - and the sound is stereo. However, it was not possible to fully evaluate this technology within the framework of the stand, yet it is too noisy there. By the way, during a conversation, the sound is also generated using the vibrations of the display.
Hardware component
Both the LG G8 ThinQ and the LG V50 ThinQ 5G are based on the latest 7nm single-chip Snapdragon 855 platform. Here we are offered eight Kryo 485 cores, divided into three clusters. The fastest one has one core at 2,84 GHz, the middle one has three cores at 2,42 GHz, and the energy efficient one has four cores at 1,8 GHz. The Adreno 640 GPU is responsible for graphics processing.
In the case of the LG V50 ThinQ 5G, the processor is complemented by a separate Qualcomm X50 modem, which enables the smartphone to work in fifth-generation networks. The amount of RAM for new products is also the same - 6 GB. For data storage, 128 GB of memory is provided, which can be supplemented with microSD cards up to 512 GB. In general, there is nothing extraordinary here.
The LG G8 ThinQ is powered by a 3500 mAh battery, while the larger LG V50 ThinQ 5G has a 4000 mAh battery. In both cases, Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging technology is supported with a power of up to 18 watts. And the LG V50 ThinQ 5G model also supports Qi wireless charging with a maximum power of up to 10W.
Note that LG has taken care of the sound quality. Both smartphones have a Hi-Fi class 32-bit digital-to-analog converter Quad DAC. Actually, LG has been using it for more than a year. LG also implemented support for DTS: X Surround Sound technology for headphones.
ΠΠ°ΠΌΠ΅ΡΡ
The LG V50 ThinQ 5G is equipped with a photo module with three cameras. The main one is built on a 12-megapixel image sensor, has optics with an aperture of f / 1,5, and also has optical image stabilization. It is complemented by a 12-megapixel sensor with a telephoto lens that provides 16x zoom without loss of quality. Here, we note, there is also optical stabilization. The third camera is built on a 107-megapixel sensor and has a wide-angle lens with an angle of view of XNUMX degrees. There is also an LED flash nearby.
The front camera here, as mentioned above, is double. It is built on an 8-megapixel sensor with standard optics and a 5-megapixel sensor with wide-angle optics. This approach, in theory, should allow better blurring of the background on selfies. In addition, a wide-angle lens will allow you to capture more space in the frame.
As for the rear cameras of the LG G8 ThinQ, there may be two, or maybe three. Different countries will sell different versions. In the case of a triple camera, it is exactly the same here as in the above-described V50 ThinQ 5G. And the version with a dual camera is simply devoid of a telephoto module. Note that, in addition to taking photos with a blurred background, LG has also implemented the ability to record video with a blurred background. However, we did not manage to test this function.
LG G8 ThinQ is that rare case when the front camera is much more interesting than the rear one. It uses a combination of a conventional 8-megapixel sensor and a time-of-flight ToF camera. For the latest LG came up with several use cases at once. Firstly, it helps to recognize the user by their face to unlock the smartphone. And I would like to clarify that the ToF camera should work faster than the Face ID system with an infrared projector from Apple. This will be tested in a full review.
But what is more interesting, a very unusual unlocking technology based on the vascular pattern of the user's palm, called Hand ID, is also supported. That is, the camera is able to recognize the pattern of all lines and veins in the palm of your hand, which is unique for each person. Very interesting, but hardly very practical. Unlocking a smartphone with your face or finger is somehow more familiar. By the way, LG claims that the LG G8 ThinQ can be unlocked with a dirty hand.
The ToF camera also allows you to control some smartphone functions using gestures. To do this, the user needs to bring their hand to the front camera of the smartphone at a distance of about 10 to 30 centimeters. After the smartphone "sees" the hand, it will offer to launch one of the two applications specified by the user in advance. I was shown the launch of an audio player, in which you can also adjust the volume with gestures, turning your palm clockwise or counterclockwise.
You can also use gestures to answer calls by waving your hand in one direction or the other, or take screenshots. I think LG has put a lot of potential into this technology, although it will seem strange to many. But the idea is quite interesting and it works, I must say, very well. That is, the hand "finds" quickly, and captures gestures very accurately. The main thing is to get used to it and remember to keep your hand in front of the camera.
Accessories
And I would like to say a few more words about accessories for new smartphones. Or rather, about one thing - a case with an additional display for the LG V50 ThinQ 5G. The case connects to the smartphone via three pins on the back of the device and adds a second display, making the smartphone resemble a very compact laptop. The second display has a diagonal of 6,2 inches and a resolution of 2160 Γ 1080 pixels.
In general, the idea is very good, and there are many options for using a second display. For example, you can display a note application on it, and a keyboard on the main one, which makes typing much more convenient. LG has also implemented another interesting feature - a game is launched on one display, and a virtual gamepad is displayed on the other. Moreover, several versions are provided for different kinds of games at once. And of course, the second display is convenient to use to work with several applications at the same time. For example, a browser is displayed on one screen, and YouTube on another, or something else. Or you can open two pages at once in the browser.
However, there are also some downsides. The main one is that the additional display turned out to be of lower quality than the smartphone screen. And it's not even a matter of resolution. It can be seen by the eye that it has a different color rendition. And when we took a photo of the device, it turned out that the additional screen has a different refresh rate. Also a disadvantage, in my opinion, is the inability to adjust the position of the second screen. It can either be fixed at an angle of about 90 degrees, or opened 180 degrees. There are no intermediate options.
Oh yes, there is no second display outside the case. It's just glass or plastic. Yes, LG decided to release a case with a lid made of not the most reliable material. A very strange decision. By the way, the case adds weight to the smartphone, and significant, more than 100 grams. Yes, and the thickness becomes noticeably greater.
Conclusion
Having reached this stage of writing the material, I could not understand what happened with LG. On the one hand, there is almost nothing to complain about. On the contrary, I would like to praise for the traditionally bold decisions, the implementation of various unusual technologies, and, at first glance, the implementation is of high quality.
But, on the other hand, with the same gesture control, most users will only indulge for a while and continue to use the smartphone in the old fashioned way. Well, at least the ToF camera can be used for face or palm recognition. But the latter, again, does not look like a very practical solution that few people will use.
As for the sound through the screen, this is quite an interesting technology that requires more careful study. For example, what happens if you put your smartphone face down? Unfortunately, only full-scale testing can answer this and other questions.
In general, LG turned out to be very interesting smartphones. However, the innovations that LG has implemented in the G8 ThinQ, in my opinion, are of little practical use. Although, I may be wrong, and after a while we will all be waving our hands over smartphones. The innovation of the LG V50 ThinQ 5G, which is 5G support and a strange case with a screen, is also very controversial. Well, only time will tell whether these solutions will cause real interest among users.
Source: 3dnews.ru