This is a little late, but you can’t blame us. With mind-blowing innovative smartphones like the Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone and nubia Alpha wearable smartphone – just to name a couple, kind of makes flagships like the LG V50ThinQ 5G and LG G8ThinQ looks rather mundane. Not that foldable phone or one that’s wearable is any better, but, you know, they just adds the much-needed wow in the otherwise stale smartphone designs we have seen thus far.
Anyways, so yeah, LG V50ThinQ 5G and LG G8ThinQ are official. The former is the South Korea company’s first 5G device featuring a 6.4-inch QHD+ OLED FullVision Display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and yes, it has a notch. Seriously, did LG not get the memo that notch is so yesterday? It’s a 5G device which means it is the future, and the future has no place for notches.
But you have to give it to LG for not having camera bump on this device. Though you’d have to put up with the 8.3 mm thickness. I welcome a flushed back because, camera bump is just plain annoying when it is placed on a flat surface and you tried to tap on the device. Man, the rocking is just epic annoyance. Anyways, moving on…
As expected of a 5G handset, LG V50ThinQ 5G is powered by Qualcomm’s newest flagship SoC, Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform accompanied by a Snapdragon X50 5G modem and bolstered by LG’s optimized software. Here’s a quick rundown of the key specifications of the LG V50ThinQ 5G:
LG V50ThinQ 5G
• Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Mobile Platform with Snapdragon X50 5G Modem
• Display: 6.4-inch 19.5:9 QHD+ OLED FullVision (3120 x 1440 / 538ppi)
• Memory: 6GB RAM / 128GB / microSD (up to 2TB)
• Camera:
– Rear: 16MP Super Wide (F1.9 / 1.0μm / 107˚) / 12MP Standard (F1.5 / 1.4μm / 78˚) / 12MP Telephoto (F2.4 / 1.0μm / 45˚)
– Front: 8MP Standard (F1.9 / 1.12μm / 80˚) / 5MP Wide (F2.2 / 1.12μm / 90˚)
• Operating System: Android 9.0 Pie
• Size: 159.2 x 76.1 x 8.3mm
• Weight: 183g
• Network: 3G / 4G LTE-A / 5G
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 5 / NFC /
USB Type-C (USB 3.1 Compatible)
• Colors: Astro Black
• Other: Full-range Stereo Speakers / Boombox Speaker / AI CAM / Google Lens / Google Assistant / Super Far Field Voice Recognition / 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC / DTS:X 3D Surround Sound / IP68 Water and Dust Resistance /HDR10 / Face Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 3.0 Technology / MIL-STD 810G Compliance / FM Radio
Dual Screen for LG V50ThinQ 5G
• Display: 6.2-inch FHD+ OLED FullVision (2160 x 1080)
• Size: 161.6 x 83.4 x 15.5mm
• Weight: 131g
• Contact Type: Pogo Pin (3)
• Colors: New Aurora Black
And did we mention the LG V50ThinQ 5G has an optional second screen? Yup. It sure does. LG has developed a Dual Screen that looks like a cover case that opens up to a second 6.2-inch OLED display. The second display can be used independently like as a dedicated controller for gaming, multitasking and double viewing. The second screen can be positioned in two angles, namely 104 and 180 degrees, and it is powered by the phone itself.
As for the LG G8ThinQ, it has some worthy mentions, including the world’s first smartphone with advanced palm vein authentication. Yes. Palm vein authentication is exactly what it sounds like: it is a palm recognition technology, on a smartphone. Just thought you thought folding display isn’t crazy enough, LG wants you scan your palm on a cell phone.
Using a combination of the ToF Z Camera and infrared sensors, the so-called Hand ID is able to identify owners by recognizing the shape, thickness and right down to individual characteristics of the veins of the palms – and it all done via the front-facing camera. Talk about ‘talk to the hand’! The Z Camera, which ‘sees’ objects in 3D, also enables Face Unlock, amazing selfies in portrait mode, and a thing called Air Motion that allows you to control the phone, like taking and end calls, take screenshots, switch between apps or adjust volume, without physically touching it.
Looking at the press release, we have no doubt LG has put a lot of R&D into the imaging technology on the LG G8ThinQ, but sadly, that may have distracted it from going the notch-less and a physical fingerprint scanner-less design route. Speaking of which, it still has a fingerprint scanner around the back and it has a notched 6.1-inch 10:5:9 QHD+ OLED FullVision Display. A 6.2-inch display variant will also be offered in some markets. A 0.1-inch difference? Seriously?
The LG G8ThinQ is also driven by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform, backed by 6 GB and 128 GB – expandable up to 2 TB via microSD card. And oh, it has got the display sound technology also, called Crystal Sound OLED (CSO), that basically uses the device’s OLED display as an audio amplifier. Here’s the quick rundown of the LG G8ThinQ key specifications:
LG G8ThinQ
• Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Mobile Platform
• Display: 6.1-inch 19.5:9 QHD+ OLED FullVision (3120 x 1440 / 564ppi)
• Memory: 6GB RAM / 128GB / microSD (up to 2TB)
• Camera:*– Rear: 16MP Super Wide (F1.9 / 1.0μm / 107˚) / 12MP Standard (F1.5 / 1.4μm / 78˚) / 12MP Telephoto (F2.4 / 1.0μm / 45˚)– Front: 8MP Standard (F1.7 / 1.22μm / 80˚ with AF) / Z Camera (ToF Technology)
• Battery: 3500mAh
• Operating System: Android 9.0 Pie
• Size: 151.9 x 71.8 x 8.4mm
• Weight: 167g
• Network: 3G / 4G LTE-A
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 5 / NFC /USB Type-C (USB 3.1 Compatible)
• Biometrics: Hand ID / Face Unlock / Fingerprint Sensor
• Colors: Carmine Red / New Aurora Black / New Moroccan Blue
• Other: Air Motion / Boombox Speaker + Crystal Sound OLED Stereo Speaker / AI CAM / Google Lens / Google Assistant / Super Far Field Voice Recognition / 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC / DTS:X 3D Surround Sound / IP68 Water and Dust Resistance / HDR10 / Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 3.0 Technology / MIL-STD 810G Compliance / FM Radio
LG G8ThinQ
• Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Mobile Platform
• Display: 6.2-inch 18.7:9 FHD+ OLED FullVision (2248 x 1080)
• Memory: 6GB RAM / 64GB or 128GB
• Camera:– Rear: 13MP Wide / 12MP Standard / 12MP Telephoto– Front: 8MP Standard / Z Camera (ToF Technology)
• Battery: 3550mAh
• Other: Hand ID / Face Unlock / Air Motion / Stereo Speakers
We didn’t get the memo on when either device will be available, neither are we aware of the pricing.
All images courtesy of LG Electronics.
