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LG is a brand who has one of the best innovations and technology in the phone and overall IT industry. But for last 2,3 years it has been continously failing in the smartphone segment. So in MWC 2019 with again high hopes to turn around its fortunes, it announces flagships LG G8 ThinQ and V50 ThinQ.

Overview of LG

LG is on a sort of flop streak since the modular G5 phone came out in 2016. It was a very hassle task to insert and re-insert the mods like camera mod, battery mod etc. LG finally admitted it that it was not practical atleast for now. But then came the G6 & G7 flagships in 2017 and 2018 respectively, pretty premium with top of the line specs (though G6 used Snapdragon 821 which was almost a year old when the phone launched) and great optics especially the wide angle lense on the back to take great wide angle shots without moving a bit. These phones are one of the most underrated as they were rightly priced( atleast in India) but still couldn’t beat the sales of iPhones, Samsungs and Pixels. This was lack of marketing from LG’s end only. Consumers might not even know that LG phones exist with top specs because LG pretty much never made an appearance in any media. Due to this LG flagships come way down in price as opposed to when they were launched.

Today LG decided to launch both its Flagship series phone at the same time which is surprising. Both phones have their own differentiating feature. LG G8 uses a ToF (Time of flight) sensor beside of the front camera which helps in 3D mapping of the face and hands. This results in enhanced face unlock. But the USP of the device is that hands free gestures. Which means you can hover over the screen (the ToF sensor to be precise) to get things done like Volume control, play/pause video, open apps and much more. This invention was already present in Galaxy S4/S5 but LG takes it to another level in which it control sort of anything except typing and navigating in an app. Though it doesn’t work properly yet as it is in a pre-production unit and optimizing the software would help. Also this phone has no ear piece speaker because the ToF sensor takes its place, therefore uniquely LG implemented that in the OLED display itself by vibrating the display sound can be produced. Rest everything sort of seems same as the G7 ThinQ with quiet thick bezels as opposed to the bezels we are seeing in Flagship phones of 2019. Same old notch and Rear fingerprint scanner, phone sandwiched in metal frame and glass. It comes with the latest Snapdraogn 855 SoC

Now talking about the V50 ThinQ, this also has the same design as its predecessor with 3 cameras on the back and 2 on the phone making it a camera madness. This one doesn’t have the ToF sensor though. The special thing with this is the foldable accessory that LG has implemented. It acts as a second display for the phone which can be used for using 2 apps full screen on each of the display or playing games and making the 2nd display as a joystick. Its just a mere improvement over the V40 ThinQ with bumped up battery and a beastly Snapdragon 855.

Both phones support 5G whenever that hits the market and the V50 has a Sprint (telecom carrier) variant which is among the firsts to bring 5G to the market.

The Gadgets Hub’s opinion/take on this:-

The phones have made a improvement on the inside but still lack behind in the design. Both phones have the same 2018 design i.e full notch and big chins on top and bottom. There’s no difference in terms of design when you compare it with last year’s LG G7 and V40. Though it has Snapdragon 855 which is the latest and opens new possibilities like 5G and vastly improved performance and AI capabilities. But i dont think these phones have what it takes to beat the new Galaxy flagship or upcoming Pixels and iPhones. But the OEM might give us a surprise and come up with a completely new design which packs all the above features in 2nd half the year! Who knows. The pricing is yet to be revealed by the company and if priced right and below other brands flagships the LG can hope it will turn their fortunes.

LG G8 ThinQ specifications

LG V50 ThinQ specifications

Also checkout why you should get the LG G8x ThinQ here