LG today announced the LG G8X ThinQ, the souped-up revision to the LG G8 ThinQ released earlier this year.
The phone features a 6.4-inch OLED display with a 2,460 x 1,080p resolution. In terms of physical sizing, it’s identical with the LG V50, LG’s enthusiast-oriented superphone.
When we reviewed the LG G8 ThinQ earlier this year, its mediocre 3,500mAh battery hampered its appeal, providing just 5 hours of screen-on time. Since the LG G8X ThinQ has a larger body, LG has fitted a larger, 4,000mAh battery.
Other notable specifications include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, 6GB of RAM, 128GB storage with microSD card slot.
Unless LG has revolutionized the image processing capabilities, then users should expect the same level of image quality from its 12MP wide-angle camera and its 13MP super-wide camera. At the front is a 32MP teardrop camera.
Only half the story
But the phone is only half of what LG is trying to push (literally). The other half is the foldable display attachment. When slotted in the 6.4-inch Dual Screen attachment, the phone opens and closes like a book. Since its announcement at MWC 2019 in Barcelona. LG has added a second 2.1-inch display for glancing at notifications without a phone. The hinge rotates 360-degrees to allow for viewing in tent mode.
LG’s foldable phone solution may appear simple relative to the other foldable phones–primitive, even, but it does have its advantages. First, consumers can purchase the phone and then the attachment later. Second, it’s the closest solution to market and easiest to manufacture. Whether consumers will have an appetite for its foldable phones is another story.
LG has yet to announce a price point for the G8X ThinQ and the Dual Screen attachment, only that they “will be available in key markets in the fourth quarter”. When it launched with the LG V50, the Dual Screen attachment sold for US$180. But since the updated version has a secondary display on the second display, it may increase the overhead. The original LG G8 retailed for CA$1,079 to $1,249 depending on carrier.