LG G8 ThinQ officially announced

The LG G8 ThinQ was made official at MWC 2019, as the company's newest Android flagship. It builds on its predecessor by adding some nifty new features on top of the usual incremental upgrades you'd expect from a 2019 flagship.

Design

The LG G8 ThinQ shares a lot of visual similarities with the LG G7 ThinQ. Its sides are a bit curvier and its camera module on the back has been turned horizontally. Additionally, the camera profile is flush and doesn't add a bump to the back of the device.

The back has a glass panel, which allows for wireless charging, and LG is still using the traditional fingerprint scanner, which also happens to be located on the rear beneath the camera.

On the front of the device is the 6.1-inch OLED display, which has a 1440x3120 pixel resolution. LG calls it its "Crystal Sound OLED" as it's capable of vibrating like a speaker diaphragm, essentially acting as an earpiece. This means you can hold your ear against the display during calls since it doesn't have a speaker in the front.

On the bottom of the device, LG has outfitted its Boombox speaker, which will also vibrate the Crystal Sound OLED to give you a stereo-style experience when consuming multimedia.

Hardware

The LG G8 ThinQ is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset and has 6GB of RAM. It has 128GB of internal storage which can be expanded by an additional 2TB of microSD. You also have a decent 3500mAh battery keeping the device running.

LG has also included quad Hi-Fi DAC, reminding audiophiles that the company still has their back.

Camera

The LG G8 ThinQ features a dual camera setup on the rear. The primary 12 MP has a very wide aperture of F1.5 and the sensor has 1.4μm pixels. This should result in better night shots, as they collect more light. The second camera is a 16MP super-wide-angle camera, which has an F1.9 aperture and 1.0 μm pixels on the sensor.

LG has a feature called "Video Portrait" mode will take that faux bokeh effect we've seen on photos to be applied to videos in real time. LG utilizes what it calls a Dual FOV technology to capture multiple fields of depth — that should make for some pretty awesome cinematic shots.

You also have a dual camera setup in front, which consists of an 8MP sensor with an F1.7 aperture and 1.22 μm pixels, and a ToF camera for depth-perception.


Hand Gestures and Air Motion

LG is calling its front camera combination - Z Camera. This setup includes a ToF (Time of Flight) sensor to quickly and reliably create depth maps of whatever objects it's looking at.

For example, the LG G8 ThinQ can scan your hand down to the veins in your palm. This is used as a biometric unlocking feature — show the phone your palm and it unlocks. The G8 will also support facial recognition through the Z Camera. And no, it's not affected by lighting conditions, so it should, in theory, be as reliable as Face ID.

LG has also introduced a feature called Air Motion, which allows you to interact with your phone simply by waving your hand at the front camera. You will be able to take or reject calls, switch apps, take screenshots, or change volume without touching your phone. This will be great in the case you are cooking or cleaning.

Software

The LG G8 ThinQ runs Android 9 Pie out of the box, with LG's custom interface running on top. LG has further customized the platform with its own interface.

In early 2018, LG launched the Software Upgrade Center, which is a branch of the company specifically tasked with bringing timely software updates to customers' devices. LG said it is committed to playing the long game, and we hope to see this highlighted this year.

Release and Availability

Unfortunately, LG didn't disclose any pricing or release details during the presentation. Instead, they stated that the phone will be "available soon" and pricing will be region-specific.