LG G8 ThinQ

LG G8 has modified some parts of the LG G7 to set its mark as a near-premium handset in the competitive premium market. Priced at Rs. 59,990, the LG G8 may not draw eyes towards it but will be a pleasing phone for LG fans.

Coupled with a robust design and excellent display, the LG G8 comes with a super-fast processor to make things work in its favour. The only problem remains with its weak battery and camera. Since it arrives in a premium market, the processing speed cannot hold the phone strong in the competition. It remains a decent set which pales in the competition that it is going against.

In recent times, most phones are going for a glittery device to attract the audience. The LG G8, however, comes without such dramatic effects – it has gone for simple colour looks with grey, black, and red options. Both front and back panels are fitted with Gorilla Glass to prevent scratches from taking place and it is softly curved at the edge to meet the metal frame. The phone goes for a minimalistic look and feels original. It has an IP68 rating of water-proofing, which puts it ahead of many competitors. The phone, however, seems dated on one end – it comes with a physical fingerprint sensor and not an in-display one as most competitors are going for. In general, the phone is compact and can be easily handled with one hand. Plus, it comes with the 3.5mm headphone jack for nostalgics.

LG G7 used the MLCD+ display which was one of the biggest news since it added a white sub-pixel to boost the brightness. LG G8 ThinQ however, went for the OLED screen which is used on Xiaomi, iPhone and Samsung. There are the vibrant colours and deep blacks present in the OLED display. The phone comes with a 6.1-inch Quad HD+ resolution which you can turn down to save battery. The viewing angles are decent, and the auto-brightness works well, but sometimes it tends to go a bit too dark. Otherwise, it is detailed and sharp. The phone has HDR for videos which lend no significant change, but it also comes with ‘true view’ – an option like Apple’s True Tone display which shifts the colour space to adjust with the environment. All in all, the screen of the phone remains powerful.

The LG G8 ThinQ comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 paired with a sizable 6GB RAM. Regarding running apps, the phone is a beauty. Due to its 800-series Snapdragon processor, the loading times of apps is minimal, and it is possible to switch between multiple apps without getting into slowdown mode. Graphics-intensive games like PUBG can also run in high-settings without any stutter, which makes this phone a true flagship in the performance department. A feature of the phone is Air Gestures which G8 ThinQ achieves due to the Z-axis camera. Here you can open your palm and then make a knob turning motion to turn down the volume. Air features generally work tremendously and can wow you, but it does require you to do it several times before it gets into the Air-feature mode.

LG G8 ThinQ’s comes with a 12MP primary camera with an  f/1.5 aperture along with optical image stabilisation. Plus, the phone comes with a 16MP wide-angle camera which offers 107-degree angle to fit in the frame. The phones come with AI cam which happens to be one of its main highlights. It can identify scenes correctly and tries to do its best to give the proper effect. However, it tends to get a bit aggressive. In daylight, the images turn out to be quite decent, but you will miss the zoom feature.

In low-light, you can adjust the exposure, but there is a decent amount of noise that gets captured. The plus point is that the AI can detect low-light and give you the best setting for that situation too. Even in tricky light situations, the photos turn out ok.

The G8 ThinQ comes with an 8MP front camera which uses time-of-flight depth sensing to get the best bokeh effect for your selfies. It has an excellent overall balancing, but the images lack the dynamic that Google Pixel 3 provides, and low-light performance is quite poor. The AI Cam offers portrait and normal modes but even with the ToF sensor, they are not perfect. Video can be recorded up to 4K with 60fps, and there is also stabilisation to iron out jerks. You can also apply bokeh to the videos though it appears a bit milky.

The LG G8 ThinQ arrives with a 3500mAh battery which is not best when compared to its competitors. The phone can barely survive a day with moderate to light use because of the Quad HD+ display that it comes with. Surfing the web over a cell phone connection drained the phone completely from 100 within about 9 hours, which is not a decent point. It supports Quick Charge 3.0 and has wireless charging too, along with the USB Type-C charging. It takes about 1 hour and 37 minutes to get it from 0 to 100%.

The LG G8 is a capable phone and comes with some delights like the headphone jack and waterproofing. The performance of the phone is good, and the design has something for the minimalists too. However, the phone is paired with a weak battery as well as an inadequate set of cameras which struggles with low-light images. A niche feature is the Air Gesture, but it is not enough to save the phone from its weak points. If you are an LG fan, it could be a capable flagship to go for but you might also try out Huawei P30 Pro as a worthy alternative.