LG G7 ThinQ hands-on review

Introduction

The LG G7's fate seemed uncertain throughout the last couple of months as the company's new leadership was reviewing past and future projects. Well, the new management also happened to think G7 is what the maker needs to do next, and here is our first look at the LG G7 ThinQ.

It's obvious the ThinQ moniker has stuck since the V30S ThinQ, for better or worse. The AI is handled by Google for the most part, as usual, while the AI Cam is all LG. Everyone is doing AI on their phones, so we aren't sure why LG insists on slapping this ThinQ to the name, but who are we to judge, right?

Anyway, don't let the name fool you. The AI on the LG G7 is just a small part of an all-around flagship-grade package. And while LG didn't release the G7 at the MWC for the sake of the competition, it seems the LG G7 ThinQ employs all tricks we've seen in the current flagship crop.

One thing that stands out, ironically, it's not the ThinQ, but the notched 6.1" LCD display with super-wide 19.5:9 aspect. The resolution is superb at 1,440 x 3,120 pixels, while the LCD panel utilizes RGBW subpixels for a very bright picture.

The latest Snapdragon 845 is onboard, as is an updated dual 16MP camera on the back. The design is more or less the same, but that's hardly a surprise nowadays. There is a new Boombox speaker onboard capable of room-filling loud sound. The full specs sheet follows.

LG G7 ThinQ specs

• Body: Aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass 5 front and back; IP68 certified for water and dust resistance, MIL-STD-810G compliant
• Display: 6.1" RGBW IPS LCD, 3,120x1440px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 563ppi; HDR 10 compliant.
• Rear camera: 16MP f/1.6 primary camera with 71° field of view, OIS, laser phase/contrast detection autofocus. Additional 16MP f/1.9 wide-angle camera with 107 FOV, no OIS, fixed focus. 2160p/30fps video recording on both.
• Front camera: 8MP, 90° FOV; 1080p/30fps video recording.
• OS: Android 8.1 Oreo with LG UX, Android P update scheduled
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: octa-core CPU (4x2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver), Adreno 630 GPU.
• Memory: 6GB of RAM; 128GB storage; microSD slot.
• Battery: 3,000mAh Li-Po (sealed); QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging; WPC&PMA wireless charging; Qnovo battery tech.
• Connectivity: Single-SIM, Dual-SIM available in certain markets; LTE-A, 3-Band carrier aggregation, Cat.16/13 (1Gbps/150Mbps); USB Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; Bluetooth 5.0; FM radio
• Misc: Fingerprint reader; Hi-Fi Quad DAC; 2 mics, Boombox speaker; 3.5mm jack.

And if you wondered what's the difference between the G7 ThinQ and the recently released V30S ThinQ, we've prepared this list for you.

LG G7 ThinQ over LG V30S ThinQ

• Added so-called 'screen horns' around the notch (thus taller display)
• RGBW IPS LCD vs. P-OLED
• 16MP wide-angle camera vs. 13MP
• Snapdragon 845 vs. Snapdragon 835
• 8MP selfie camera vs. 5MP
• Boombox speaker vs. ordinary speaker
• Power key is now on the side vs on the back
• 3,000 mAh battery vs. 3,300 mAh

Obviously the G7 ThinQ isn't a massive upgrade over the first ThinQ smartphone, but it looks as up to date flagship as any. And now it's time to take a closer look at what's coming next month from LG, so let's meet this G7 ThinQ.