LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen review

GSMArena team, 01 Nov 2019.

Notched 6.4" P-OLED display(s)

The LG G8X has a 6.4" P-OLED panel with rounded corners and a droplet-shaped notch for the selfie camera. The screen resolution is 1,080 x 2,340 pixels or 403pp - quite common, yes, but lower than G8's 1440p.

The display is protected with the most recent Gorilla Glass 6.

LG G8X ThinQ review

The OLED panel enjoys 100% DCI-P3 coverage and HDR10 support as long as you have access to HDR video content, of course. There is no word on Dolby Vision support, another something that seems to have gone since the G8.

Our screen measurements captured 330 nits of maximum brightness on the G8X main screen by using the brightness scrubber. It is not the brightest we've seen, not by a longshot. The good news is the screen almost doubles this in Auto mode, and it achieves 600 nits under bright sunlight, so outdoors legibility should not be an issue.

The screen on the Dual Screen case can either match the main screen brightness or be configured via its proprietary brightness scrubber. Its maximum output is 371 nits.

LG G8X ThinQ review

There is no Auto-Brightness option for the Dual Screen only. But even if it is set to match the main display and that one is on Auto, the maximum brightness is still 371 nits.

Display test 100% brightness
Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio
LG G8X ThinQ 0 330
LG G8X ThinQ (Max Auto) 0 603
LG G8X ThinQ (Dual Screen) 0 371
LG G8 ThinQ 0 391
LG G8 ThinQ (Max Auto) 0 655
LG V50 ThinQ 0.002 388 194000
LG V50 ThinQ (Max Auto) 0.008 533 66625
Samsung Galaxy S10+ 0 385
Samsung Galaxy S10+ (Max Auto) 0 793
Samsung Galaxy S10e 0 389
Samsung Galaxy S10e (Max Auto) 0 803
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max 0 820
OnePlus 7T 0 525
OnePlus 7T (Max Auto) 0 743
OnePlus 7T Pro 0 429
OnePlus 7T Pro (Max Auto) 0 596
Sony Xperia 5 0 353
Sony Xperia 5 (Max Auto) 0 574
Sony Xperia 1 0 391
Sony Xperia 1 (Max Auto) 0 665
Huawei P30 Pro 0 571
Huawei P30 Pro (Max Auto) 0 605
Huawei Mate 30 Pro 0 464
Huawei Mate 30 Pro (Max Auto) 0.028 683 24393

Speaking about matching screens - we found both screens to have an identical color presentation. Both panels offer an average deltaE of 3.6 when the Screen Color option is set on Auto. The whites are bluish (maximum deviation of 7.6), but other than that - we can say they are mostly accurate to the DCI-P3 color space.

If you opt for Cinema color, you'd get even more accurate screen(s) with an average deltaE of 2.1 and a maximum deviation of 3.8. This mode offers much more natural white and gray hues.

Battery life

The LG G8X is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery - a 15% increase over G8's 3,500 mAh cell. The phone supports Quick Charge 4.0 though its bundled charger is rater 5V/1.8A (9W) and 9V/1.8V (16.2W) - meaning there are faster compatible chargers you can buy, say rated 18W or 21W.

Anyway, with the supplied adapter you can replenish 33% of G8X's depleted battery in 30 mins.

We completed our battery test, and the LG G8X aced everything. It did fabulously on the onscreen tests clocking over 14 hours of web browsing and more than 18 hours of looped video playback. Adding the excellent 3G calls time and the frugal standby power draw, the G8X scored an overall endurance rating of 111 hours.

LG G8X ThinQ review

Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the LG G8X ThinQ for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

LG's assessment that the DualScreen adds 20% to 30% to the battery draw and, assuming you won't be using it all of the time, the 4,000mAh battery should be enough for when you do want to use it.

Speaker test (old, new one below)

The LG G8X ThinQ has two speakers for stereo sound - one is at the bottom of the phone, and the other is the earpiece. The loudness is very decent, and the G8X scored a Very Good mark in our test.

The output is quite different from the two speakers - the bottom offers mostly bass and mid-tones, while the earpiece is responsible for the high-pitch sounds. But it seems those two tweeters are positioned rather well and unless you cover one of them - you will enjoy a balanced and rich sound.

Speakerphone testVoice, dB Pink noise/ Music, dB Ringing phone, dB Overall score
Sony Xperia 5 68.1 73.8 79.5 Very Good
Sony Xperia 1 69.8 74.5 81.0 Very Good
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max 71.3 74.3 79.7 Very Good
Xiaomi Mi 9T 70.6 74.8 81.2 Very Good
LG G8X ThinQ 69.8 73.2 83.7 Very Good
Samsung Galaxy S10e 71.2 76.8 80.6 Excellent
Samsung Galaxy S10+ 74.4 74.2 83.6 Excellent
Huawei Mate 30 Pro 78.4 74.4 79.9 Excellent
LG G8 ThinQ 68.0 74.5 92.0 Excellent
Huawei P30 Pro 70.9 73.8 90.9 Excellent
LG G7 ThinQ 78.3 76.4 82.3 Excellent
OnePlus 7T Pro 90.4 75.3 82.4 Excellent
OnePlus 7T 79.8 77.4 91.6 Excellent

Speaker test (new)

Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.

Audio quality

The LG G8X ThinQ delivered perfect sound output in both parts of our audio quality test through the jack. All of its scores were top-notch with an active amplifier and headphones caused basically no damage - we’ve seen higher stereo crosstalk readings from other phones without headphones than the G8X managed with.

The loudness wasn’t quite as impressive - the G8X ThinQ was below average, which is somewhat disappointing for a flagship these days. Even enabling the QuadDAC option, which helped boost the loudness on the G8 ThinQ, didn’t do much good this time around.

TestFrequency responseNoise levelDynamic rangeTHDIMD + NoiseStereo crosstalk
LG G8X ThinQ +0.02, -0.02-93.292.80.00170.0090-93.4
LG G8X ThinQ (headphones)+0.05, -0.09-90.692.50.00190.053-88.3
LG G8 ThinQ +0.01, -0.03-94.193.50.00130.0069-87.6
LG G8 ThinQ (headphones)+0.05, -0.05-93.893.10.00410.063-61.8
Oppo Reno Ace+0.03, -0.06-92.092.70.00130.0073-93.3
Oppo Reno Ace (headphones)+0.48, -0.06-90.791.80.00670.313-50.5
OnePlus 7T +0.02, -0.13-94.094.00.00130.0081-93.6
OnePlus 7T (headphones)+0.18, -0.11-85.684.80.00620.108-52.6
Sony Xperia 5+0.02, -0.02-93.092.80.00120.007-89.4
Sony Xperia 5 (headphones)+0.25, -0.30-91.891.70.00450.312-57.3
Huawei P30 Pro +0.04, -0.02-90.590.40.00140.013-93.0
Huawei P30 Pro (headphones)+0.14, -0.23-90.490.30.00460.211-47.0
Samsung Galaxy S10+0.03, -0.04-92.292.00.00150.0079-92.7
Samsung Galaxy S10 (headphones)+0.06, -0.03-91.991.70.00200.037-77.0

LG G8X ThinQ frequency response
LG G8X ThinQ frequency response

You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.

Reader comments

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  • Asas
  • 31 Jan 2024
  • Nue

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  • Anonymous
  • 05 Aug 2023
  • rRU

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