Hi everyone,
I received the final version of the G8X ThinQ very beginning of November even though I already had the possibility to use a prototype version since end of September.
I made during November an unboxing review in french on YouTube, here it is : https://youtu.be/EKixuVWQraE
It replace my LG G8S ThinQ which I really loved and compare it a lot like a V40 ThinQ updated to match G8 series (unfortunately, no Moroccan Blue version).
Lots of things to say about this phone but lets start on some + and - points :
What's positive :
+ Optional Dual Screen (as it's only a case)
+ Very good battery life (decent when Dual Screen activated)
+ Updated AI camera with also a good camera quality improvement
+ LG UX 9 is more or less like Samsung One UI, Black theme included (finally !)
What's negative :
- 32MP selfie lens seems very great but I don't see huge improvements (really faster but not a very high quality improvement)
- No more Facial recognition
- Why only 2 lens at the back (main + wide) ?
(- Only black, seriously ?)
Now, let's talk a little bit further about the phone itself.
Firstly, the new UI experience is great. I was expecting the black theme to arrive by the end of the year (as an LG Ambassador, I knew it would arrive quite soon) and even though I don't really like Samsung One UI, when you use it, you understand why this new interface is liked by customers in general.
Some of LG apps are not anymore present, which is a shame… I prefered the LG Calendar app in comparison to Google Calendar and Outlook but let's say it clearly, no LG widgets are compatible with 3rd party launcher (ex: Nova) so, that's not a problem anymore
For a flagship phone, it's interesting to see LG pursuing the included silicon case even if Dual Screen case is by default included for my country (and the price rise a bit, hello 949€ at launch ) :good:
By the way, the Dual Screen case has a proprietary connectivity port and you have right in the box a magnetic adapter to USB-C ; I tried file transfer and didn't see lower performance rate but as it's magnetic, don't move the phone when connected.
In terms of performance, if you already touched a G8 series LG smartphone, you will find a very similar performance; just a little more juice thanks to the +450mAh in comparison to the G8S.
The screen is HDR10 but Full HD (1080 x 2340), nice for battery and performance improvement as we don't see visually any difference.
The under display optical fingerprint sensor is not as fast as the fingerprint sensor on G8 series and V40 but it's nice to see LG following the evolution of that. I hope next device will switch to an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor from Synaptics or Qualcomm.
Basically, I kind of prefer the iris/facial recognition and seeing the smartphone not giving this option anymore is sad… Surely a choice made for better security as facial recognition isn't a secure as fingerprint sensors or iris recognition.
For the rest, it respect LG principles : 3.5mm jack connectivity, stereo speakers, Quad-DAC, DTS:X Surround (G8S hasn't), IP68 rated, MIL-STD-810G, etc.
Please note that Dual Screen case isn't IP68 nor MIL-STD-810G !
I received the final version of the G8X ThinQ very beginning of November even though I already had the possibility to use a prototype version since end of September.
I made during November an unboxing review in french on YouTube, here it is : https://youtu.be/EKixuVWQraE
It replace my LG G8S ThinQ which I really loved and compare it a lot like a V40 ThinQ updated to match G8 series (unfortunately, no Moroccan Blue version).
Lots of things to say about this phone but lets start on some + and - points :
What's positive :
+ Optional Dual Screen (as it's only a case)
+ Very good battery life (decent when Dual Screen activated)
+ Updated AI camera with also a good camera quality improvement
+ LG UX 9 is more or less like Samsung One UI, Black theme included (finally !)
What's negative :
- 32MP selfie lens seems very great but I don't see huge improvements (really faster but not a very high quality improvement)
- No more Facial recognition
- Why only 2 lens at the back (main + wide) ?
(- Only black, seriously ?)
Now, let's talk a little bit further about the phone itself.
Firstly, the new UI experience is great. I was expecting the black theme to arrive by the end of the year (as an LG Ambassador, I knew it would arrive quite soon) and even though I don't really like Samsung One UI, when you use it, you understand why this new interface is liked by customers in general.
Some of LG apps are not anymore present, which is a shame… I prefered the LG Calendar app in comparison to Google Calendar and Outlook but let's say it clearly, no LG widgets are compatible with 3rd party launcher (ex: Nova) so, that's not a problem anymore
For a flagship phone, it's interesting to see LG pursuing the included silicon case even if Dual Screen case is by default included for my country (and the price rise a bit, hello 949€ at launch
) :good:By the way, the Dual Screen case has a proprietary connectivity port and you have right in the box a magnetic adapter to USB-C ; I tried file transfer and didn't see lower performance rate but as it's magnetic, don't move the phone when connected.
In terms of performance, if you already touched a G8 series LG smartphone, you will find a very similar performance; just a little more juice thanks to the +450mAh in comparison to the G8S.
The screen is HDR10 but Full HD (1080 x 2340), nice for battery and performance improvement as we don't see visually any difference.
The under display optical fingerprint sensor is not as fast as the fingerprint sensor on G8 series and V40 but it's nice to see LG following the evolution of that. I hope next device will switch to an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor from Synaptics or Qualcomm.
Basically, I kind of prefer the iris/facial recognition and seeing the smartphone not giving this option anymore is sad… Surely a choice made for better security as facial recognition isn't a secure as fingerprint sensors or iris recognition.
For the rest, it respect LG principles : 3.5mm jack connectivity, stereo speakers, Quad-DAC, DTS:X Surround (G8S hasn't), IP68 rated, MIL-STD-810G, etc.
Please note that Dual Screen case isn't IP68 nor MIL-STD-810G !
