Today we will discuss the new LG G8 ThinQ, which looks quite ordinary from the outside, but under its body
LG G8 Review
LG G8 ThinQ could be one of the best andthe ideal smartphone for you, given its price and the abundance of chips inside. Plus, it has one of the most powerful processors today — Snapdragon 855.
The package is pretty standard. In the box you will find the phone itself, a microfiber cloth, a charger, a USB-C cable, a SIM card extraction tool and a manual.
Design
As you already understood, the new LG G8 looks prettyusual, but we can't help but notice how cool the glossy red body looks. The design is similar to the previous generation, so at first glance you might think that you are holding a predecessor. In addition to the red color, there is also the option to buy a black or gray smartphone, but they are not as impressive. The first feeling of the new product — It's quite slippery, like many other glass-bodied phones. But its thick, flat sides provide a nice, comfortable grip. The back of the phone lies completely on the surface.
As in the G7 there is a special buttonGoogle Assistant, clicking on it once calls the assistant; tapping and holding allows you to interact with Google AI in Walkie Talkie mode. The button can be disabled in whole or in part, but it cannot be reassigned to do something else, for example, to open a specific application. Accidental clicks happen, but from the experience of the first users, they were rare.
Like the previous LG flagships, the G8 has protection against water and dust rated IP68. The manufacturer also left his headphone jack, as for many it remains in demand.
Protect, unlock
Owners of the new product will have at least three different ways to unlock the LG G8.
- The classic fingerprint scanner is located on the back of the case. Fast and reliable.
- Face Unlock facial recognition feature that uses the LG G8 Time of Flight Z Camera module on the front panel. Safely, fooling with a photo will not work.
- Hand ID — Palm Recognition, the feature uses the same set of sensors to recognize you by literally scanning your unique palm pattern.
The implementation of the Face Unlock feature works well andin the sun and in the dark, growing a beard does not affect the quality of recognition. There were almost no unsuccessful attempts. Of the six pairs of sunglasses function triggered during testing with only two. You can use all three locking methods at once. I really liked how the Hand ID function works. The function was quite safe, it is difficult to get around. But you need to understand that reading the palm may not succeed if your palm is too close or far from the screen. But it is very convenient to use when the phone is on the table and you unlock it without touching.
Display
LG G8 comes with a 6.1-inch OLED screen,protected by Gorilla Glass 5. The resolution is 1440 x 3120 pixels, but it is set to 1080p by default. This is most likely done with the intention of increasing performance and battery life.
By default, there is a cold color palette here, but if you go into the “Display Settings” menu, you will find the “True View” option, turn it on to adjust the display white balance.
At the top of the display there is a notch forfront camera and all sensors. It does not interfere much, only when viewing content on YouTube. In this case, you can always hide it by applying a black background on the sides.
The LG G7 had a “SuperBright” display capable of reaching a brightness of 1000 nits; in testing the G8, the screen reached only 561 nits. But there are no problems with visibility outside, even on a sunny day.
Software and interface
The LG G8 ThinQ works on Android 9 Pie out of the box. This is the latest available version of Android. Unfortunately, many of the functionality found in Pie, including Digital Wellbeing, was not implemented in the special LG software.
You may also like in the userLG's interface, for example, is that it allows you to turn off the application bar and place all the application icons on the iOS home screen. A fingerprint scanner on the back panel can be used to reset the notification panel. Also, there are familiar features such as Comfort View (blue display filter), Always On Display (time and notification icons are displayed on the screen in standby mode) and a floating panel (always available with labels). And advanced game controls allow you to turn off alerts or control the quality of graphics during the game.
On the other hand, you will not find Dark Mode here, and yet it’s quite a handy thing.
Air motion
Air Motion — This is a unique feature of LG G8,which allows you to perform certain actions without touching the phone at all. Commands are given using gestures. You can set shortcuts for two apps, you can control audio volume or play/pause media in apps like Spotify, Netflix, YouTube or stock music player, you can take a screenshot, and you can dismiss alarms or accept/reject calls ,
Unfortunately, the execution of commands Air MotionIt turned out not so comfortable process. You must hold the palm for a few seconds over the notch on the screen. When the phone detects its presence, you move your hand back and make a gesture. Then a pop-up window appears, and you perform one of two actions by moving your hand left or right. The pop-up window will display application shortcuts if you are on the desktop, or multimedia controls if you are in an application for music or video. Fingering takes a screen shot. If you hold your hand in the middle for a few seconds, a virtual volume control knob will appear, which you control by turning it left or right, which is probably the coolest thing.
Besides the use of Air Motion gesturesrather slow process, they sometimes cause irritation, and in the end they are unnecessary and unnecessary. Perhaps these gestures can be useful in some very specific situations, but now they are just impractical and take too long to get used to them.
Processor and memory
Under the hood is the Snapdragon 855 chip,therefore, the LG G8 is one of the fastest Android phones at the moment, and the results of performance tests clearly reflect this fact (they are all made with a 1080p screen resolution by default). As expected, hard games work without problems. The only time that there was a discontinuity, during the launch of the game PUBG with high graphics settings.
Sometimes there may be slight slowdowns. 6 GB of RAM is certainly enough for the needs of most users, but, for example, delays can be detected when launching applications or displaying the latest applications. Google Pixel 3 and OnePlus 6T are a bit faster.
128 GB of internal memory — the only configuration of the LG G8 that is available at the moment. It is possible to expand the memory using microSD.
Camera
The US version of the LG G8 has dualrear camera One of them — a regular 12-megapixel camera with a fixed aperture of F1.5 and OIS, and the second — 16-megapixel, with super wide-angle lens. The same thing happened in the LG G7. For some regions, the G8 will have a third camera with a 2x telephoto lens.
New is the special Studio mode, which reminds us of the effects of portrait lighting Apple. We also see night mode for shooting in low light conditions.
The camera app is sometimes quite slow and can take several minutes to launch or switch from one mode to another. At the same time, the LG G8 is quite capable of taking beautiful photos.
Night view — this is a new regimedesigned to enhance your low-light photos. In theory, the algorithm works by quickly taking multiple photos and then stitching them together to produce a sharper, cleaner image. Capturing and processing a photo takes a few seconds and requires you to hold the camera still a little longer than usual. In practice, there is no difference in quality between photos taken in Auto and photos taken in Night View mode.
The LG G8 has an 8 megapixel front camera withautofocus. Selfies look good when shooting in the daytime, but when shooting in low light conditions, the details start to suffer, as with any other camera. Pictures in low light are usually slightly blurry. The overall image quality is comparable to what you get from the Galaxy S10.
Thanks to the Z-camera, the G8 can also usePortrait and Studio modes for your selfie. Spotlight Studio Effect is especially useful because it can illuminate your face at a certain angle if the ambient light is not optimal.
Sound
If you look closely at the notch of the LG G8,you'll notice one thing is missing — speaker This is due to the fact that the screen itself acts as a speaker. The sound quality during calls is really good and voices sound loud and clear.
The G8 has a Boombox speaker, placing the phone on a flat surface further enhances the sound, making it even louder. Next to the G8, the Galaxy S10 sounds clearer and more balanced.
As we mentioned earlier, the LG G8 has a headphone jack.
Battery
In the battery test, the LG G8 showed decentresult — 7 hours and 30 minutes. Of course, it is not a record holder, but in fact the phone can last a couple of days if used correctly. Overall, battery life with the G8 is solid. Wireless charging is supported here.
Total
$850 — recommended retailprice of the new flagship. That's about as much as the Galaxy S10 costs right now, but Samsung's smartphone is superior in many ways: it has a more versatile camera set, it runs more polished custom software, and its stereo speakers sound noticeably clearer.
However, now the G8 can be purchased for just $ 600. This is a fair price tag for it.
There are two things that may be confusing about the new product — Hand ID and Air Motion features that feel a bit crude and even unnecessary. But overall the LG G8 — A decent Android phone at a reasonable price.