LG G8X ThinQ first look

Introduction

IFA kicks off to the public in a few hours, but announcements have been flying in from left and right for the past few days. LG wouldn’t be one to miss the opportunity to announce a new phone, and we now have the G8X ThinQ for a quick first look.

The G8X (one ThinQ per article is enough) is sort of a follow-up to the G8, announced at MWC in the spring, with some spec changes. Plus, it has a secondary display accessory – a concept borrowed from the V50 ThinQ.

For starters, the G8X has a larger display than the G8, but this one is lower-res – 6.4″ FullHD+ here vs. the G8’s 6.1″ QHD+. This new display comes with a fingerprint reader embedded, a first on an LG high-end phone.

The main cam is the usual 12MP unit and is joined by a 13MP ultra wide angle shooter (the G8 and V50 have a 16MP ultra wide, so this is a different one). Over on the front a 32MP Quad Bayer cam replaces the unremarkable 8MP snappers of the Spring-time models.

LG G8X ThinQ specs

• Body: Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass 6 on front and rear. 159.2×75.8×8.4mm, 192g. MIL-STD-810G compliant (14 categories of tests); IP68 rated for dust and water resistance.
• Screen: 6.4″ FullHD+ OLED; 19.5:9 aspect ratio with a waterdrop notch, 403ppi; HDR 10 support.
• Camera: Primary: 12MP, 1/2.55″ sensor, 1.4µm pixel size; f/1.8 aperture, 78-degree FOV lens, 25mm equiv. focal length, OIS, dual pixel PDAF. Ultra wide-angle: 13MP, 1/2.8″ sensor, 1.0µm pixel size; f/2.4 aperture, 136-degree FOV lens, 16mm equiv. focal length, fixed focus.
• Selfie cam: 32MP, 1/2.8″sensor, 0.8µm pixel size, f/1.9 aperture, 79-degree FOV lens, fixed focus.
• Chipset: Snapdragon 855 chipset, octa-core processor (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 485 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 485), Adreno 640 GPU.
• Memory: 6GB of RAM; 128GB storage; microSD slot.
• OS: Android 9.0 Pie with LG UX.
• Battery: 4,000mAh Lithium Polymer (sealed); Quick Charge 3.0/Power Delivery fast charging; Qi fast wireless charging.
• Connectivity: LTE-A, USB Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; Bluetooth 5.0; FM radio.
• Misc: Under-display fingerprint reader; Hi-Fi Quad DAC; 3.5mm headphone jack; stereo speakers.
• DualScreen: Optional snap on secondary display: 6.4″ FullHD+ OLED (same as main one), 165.9×84.6×15.0mm, 134g, no battery.

The G8X keeps the Snapdragon 855 chipset (so no 855+), and will be available in a single 6GB/128GB configuration, at least at launch. One notable upgrade over the G8 is the G8X’s battery capacity – the 4,000mAh capacity looks promising.

Well, not if you intend to use the optional DualScreen – it lacks its own battery and feeds off the main phone’s power pack. LG does say it’ll only contribute an extra 20-30% additional battery draw, so things shouldn’t be that bad, maybe.

But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves – there’ll be no battery testing anytime soon. What there will be is an early look at the LG G8X on the next page.