LG G7 ThinQ

LG is known for creating stylish devices with little bits of technical flair that help it stand out. But it still hasn’t been enough to help them take on the big names in the flagship market. With the LG G7 ThinQ, they apply their unique approach to the 2018 flagship formula. Is it enough to oust the top ranking options?

Looking at the phone, you’ll see a design similar to the rest of 2018’s biggest names. The IP68-rated metal and glass chassis with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner is available in a variety of colors and — thanks to the resolution of the display — a long, thin affair despite the size of the screen. This makes it easy to use one-handed. There’s also a dedicated Google Assistant button on the side if you’re into voice assistants.

Perhaps the star of the show is the 6.1-inch 1440-by-3120 pixel IPS LCD panel with HDR 10 support. While it features a notch at the top like other recent big names, LG takes hiding the notch one step further. While most phones will only let you put a black bar at the top of the screen, LG offers a selection of colorful gradients that add a personalized touch to your notification bar. 

There’s also the 1000-nit boost mode for bright daylight. It only lasts for up to 3 minutes at a time but offers one of the highest numbers ever recorded for phone screen brightness. 

Otherwise, colors, viewing angles, and details were good but not exceptional. As an IPS display, the blacks are slightly milky and the colors read a touch cold. 

When it comes to performance, the phone includes the same octa-core 2.8Ghz Snapdragon 845 processor with 4 or 6GB of RAM as many of its competitors. Reviewers had no problems with performance whether they were playing games, multitasking, or recording 4K video.

You’ll find 64 or 128GB of internal storage for your apps, games, pictures, and other media. With microSD card support up to 2TB, adding extra storage space is simple if required.

While the phone runs Android 8.0 Oreo, LG’s skin wasn’t a hit with every reviewer. It takes a very iPhone approach to the user interface with a page-based app drawer. The UI itself is minimalist, with only some slight rounding to icons. Overall, reviewers felt most changes only hindered the Android experience or brought nothing particularly interesting to the table.

Cameras were also slightly lackluster. While the dual-lens 16MP rear camera mixes wide-angle and standard lenses for added flexibility and image quality is good overall, it doesn’t stand up to the rest of the flagship phones it competes with. The camera also has issues with blowing out bright areas, leaving white blocks instead of detail.

While the phone has an AI mode, reviewers found that it was hit or miss. When it worked, it worked wonderfully. But many times, it misidentified objects and left images feeling unrealistic.

The front-facing 8MP lens was simply considered good by most. It’s plenty for video chat and selfies but brings nothing new or exciting to the mix.

While the 3,000mAh battery is smaller than many similarly sized phones, reviewers had no problem pulling a full day from a single charge. While you’ll probably need to top up nightly, the USB Type-C fast charger means it’ll charge up quick.

If you love to stream music or watch media, the quad-DAC offers improved quality when using headphones and there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use for favorite cans. The BoomBox speaker also allows you to lay your phone flat on a hard surface and use it as a sort of resonating subwoofer. While it won’t blow you away, reviewers found it rivaled punch of a smaller Bluetooth speaker and beat most laptop speakers.

Overall, reviews are positive. But some question the price. With the OnePlus 6 priced slightly cheaper, and flagships only slightly higher, it leaves the G7 ThinQ in a tough spot. Expert Reviews UK backs this up, saying, “If you buy the LG G7 now, you’ll likely be very happy with it, but if value is what you’re looking for, then you’re better off waiting a bit.” Stuff is more positive, saying, “The LG G7 ThinQ is one of the best ways to get a top-end phone that doesn’t cost so much it’ll make your bank account crumble to dust.”