LG is always rumored to unveil a new smartphone toward the end of each year. the company’s history backs up these expectations thanks to the unveiling of multiple different handsets in the September-October timeframe. This year, things don’t look much different, although LG won’t be following its normal routine of releasing a new V series phone.
That’s because rumor has it, LG will be releasing what’s called the G8X ThinQ, a successor to the early 2019 LG G8 ThinQ. It isn’t clear why LG is revamping its G series already, but it does make sense not to unveil a new V series phone since the V50 ThinQ already exists.
OnLeaks and PriceBaba have published what they claim are CAD-based renders of the G8X, and below, we’ve included them so you can get your first look at this mysterious device.
As you can see, the G8X is a fair bit different compared to the standard G8. Right off the bat, it’s easy to tell the notch at the top has shrunken significantly. Because of this, it appears LG has dropped its Z Camera from the G8 and replaced it with a single selfie shooter on the front of the G8X. The Z Camera enabled features such as facial recognition and palm scanning. Admittedly, both of these features were kind of terrible when I tested them, so I don’t blame LG for dropping the feature.
Still, in an Android world where a proper Face ID competitor is scarce, it’s tough to watch LG stop competing altogether.
On the back of the phone, you’ll find a couple of cameras that should be similar in quality to what we got with the G8. Missing from the back of the G8X, however, is a fingerprint sensor. This is because, for the first time ever, LG will be including an in-display fingerprint reader with its phone. We’re not sure if it’s gonna be an optical sensor or something ultrasonic like Samsung, but we’ll know soon.
The front of the phone houses what’s reported as a 6.2-inch display, while the bezels around the screen appear to be roughly the same size as they are on the G8. The G8X also comes with a USB-C port, a headphone jack, and a loudspeaker on the bottom. Interestingly, there’s a normal earpiece at the top of the phone, hinting at the possibility of LG dropping its Crystal Sound OLED speaker it had with the G8.
The renders also depict volume buttons, a power button, and a Google Assistant key on the sides.
Under the hood of the G8X, LG is expected to include either a Snapdragon 855 or an 855 Plus chipset. there will probably also be a Quad HD resolution associated with the display and either 6 or 8GB of RAM. Other specs like battery life and software have yet to surface.
The LG G8X ThinQ, according to the information we have so far, appears to be a less gimmicky version of the G8 that focuses more on getting the basics right first before jumping to any crazy flash-bang features. Admittedly, I’ve wanted LG to do this for quite some time. They’ve never really stepped up their game when it comes to crafting an overall solid smartphone. their phones are fine, don’t get me wrong, but they certainly aren’t as good as a Galaxy S10 or Pixel 3.
In the same breath, I’m kind of tired of crossing my fingers. I have this weird place in my heart that wants LG to do nothing but succeed. I want them to make a phone that could propel their mobile division to success once again. But every time LG drops another device, it’s riddled with the company’s ways of the past, complete with useless stock apps and slow camera experiences. Certain aspects of recent LG phones have been nice, but I can’t say any of those devices are particularly great all around.
Maybe the G8X will change that. Maybe it will be the phone that people latch to if they want a solid phone experience from LG. Or maybe it’ll let me down again. We won’t know for sure until the phone is unveiled at IFA 2019, likely on September 5th or 6th.
