LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen review

LG dual-camera equals wide plus ultrawide

LG was the first maker to make the ultrawide camera a mainstream feature with the LG G5, and it's been around ever since. The LG G8X has quite a similar dual-camera setup on its back - wide + ultrawide camera.

So, the main camera is a 12MP imager (1/2.55", 1.4µm pixels) with 27mm f/1.8 lens and OIS. It also makes use of dual-pixel phase-detect autofocus. You will also find a 13MP ultrawide-angle camera with 14mm f/2.4 lens, 1.0µm pixels, and fixed focus. There is no OIS for the ultra-wide camera but it's not really needed with this short focal range.

The selfie camera is pretty promising - it's a 32MP Quad Bayer sensor that shoots 8MP photos. The focus is fixed, as usual.

The camera app is pretty straightforward - swiping left and right will switch between camera modes that include Portrait, Auto, Night view, Manual Camera and Studio with the latter mimicking a studio setting letting you fine-tune the lighting as if it's coming from several sources. The much-appreciated manual video recording mode with a couple of other modes is in the More menu.

Camera settings and menus

If you wish to dive deeper into the settings, you can tap on the Settings icon in the upper-left corner of the viewfinder. All the usual settings are in there as well as the option to select video recording mode and resolution. The same goes for the stills.

The Video option also offers ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) switch for capturing brain-massaging relaxing clips.

Image quality

The main camera of the LG G8X shoots excellent 12MP pictures. There resolved detail is plenty, the sharpness is just right, the colors are very accurate, and the contrast is superb. The dynamic range is above the average but not impressive, and that's why the Auto HDR triggers often.

The second (building) and fourth (tree) shots were taken with HDR on, and you can notice a slight drop in detail and sharpness. It's nothing quality ruining, but noticeable, nevertheless. LG needs to improve its HDR process, as the competition is faring much better with Smart/Auto HDRs and whatnot.

Finally, the noise levels are mostly low, but you can still see traces in areas of uniform color and shadows. We guess HDR would have fixed those, but it would have been at the expense of some fine detail and sharpness.

LG G8X ThinQ 12MP photos

The 13MP ultrawide pictures are among the better ones we've seen. There is enough detail at the center, while the automatic distortion correction is doing a great job around the corners at the expense of added softness and even more purple fringing.

The images are contrasty, the colors are slightly punchier than they should be, and there is more noise here, but with those in mind - the 13MP ultrawide snapper does an excellent job in fitting more in the frame and manages to keep the quality very decent.

LG G8X ThinQ 13MP ultrawide photos

The LG G8X shoots among the best low-light images we've encountered lately from a smartphone. The main camera produces excellent and bright 12MP shots with more than enough detail, very balanced exposure, low noise, and once again - very accurate colors.

Note that the G8X preferred to shoot with HDR most of the time in low-light and we weren't arguing with that.

LG G8X ThinQ 12MP low-light photos

You can opt for Night View, of course, and it takes a second to capture an image. There is little to no difference with the regular shots, and after long pixel-peeping, we noticed a minor drop on the already low noise levels in the shadows. That's it.

LG G8X ThinQ 12MP Night View photos

We often say the ultrawide camera should not be used in low-light, but the LG G8X one is the exception. The photos we shot at night are quite bright and balanced, detailed and managed to preserve the very good colors and contrast.

Sure, these ultrawide photos are noisy and far from great around the corners when looking them in full resolution but are still very much usable and among the better ones we've seen.

LG G8X ThinQ 13MP low-light ultrawide photos

Using Night View on the ultrawide camera introduces more noise and does not improve the photos in any aspect. We suggest staying away from the night mode for this camera.

LG G8X ThinQ 13MP Night View ultrawide photos

Here's how the 12MP unit on the LG G8X ThinQ stacks against the rest of the competition in a more controlled environment.

LG G8X ThinQ against the LG G8 ThinQ and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in our Photo compare tool

Portraits

The LG G8X can shoot portraits with its main 12MP snapper, and those turned out pretty good. The images are detailed, with lively colors, and the subject separation is accurate for the most part. You can adjust the strength of the blur if you don't like the default setting, and whatever you decide - the effect is rather convincing.

LG G8X ThinQ 12MP portraits

Selfies

The LG G8X has a 32MP selfie camera with a Quad-Bayer color filter, meaning it will save 8MP photos after shooting. It's an upgrade over previous 8MP snappers LG had to offer.

Unfortunately, there is something very wrong with the selfie shooter - the focus is fixed at infinity, and instead on the faces, the focus is on the background. We hope this is an issue with our unit only, though we have our doubts.

LG G8X ThinQ 8MP selfies

Portraits are available on the selfie snapper, too, but those are mediocre at best.

LG G8X ThinQ 8MP selfie portraits

Video recording

The LG G8X can do 2160p videos in 30 and 60fps, and the same goes for the 1080p mode. The ultrawide camera supports video capturing on all but 4K@60fps modes. Expanded dynamic range is available on all 30fps modes.

The sound is always captured stereo at 156Kbps bitrate.

Regarding quality, the 4K videos from the main camera turned out to be nice - the dynamic range is commendable, the noise is low, colors and contrast are simply excellent. The image isn't shining with detail, though - we've seen even midrangers resolving more than the G8X. Still, the captured detail is not bad, just average.

The 1080p footage from the main camera, both at 30 and 60fps, is superb in every aspect - detail, sharpness, colors, contrast, and dynamic range.

The 4K@30fps clips from the ultrawide camera match the quality of the main one - they are great in everything but resolved detail.

The 1080p@30fps videos shot on the ultrawide camera are as brilliant as the main ones. But the 60fps footage is rather bad - low in detail and excessively over-sharpened.

Electronic stabilization is available on all modes (4K@60fps included), you just have to enable it from settings (Steady Recording). The EIS works on top of the optical stabilization that's available on the main camera.

The LG G8X also offers a Super Stable mode, which uses the ultrawide camera, captures at 1080p at 30fps, and provides even more stabilized picture, action camera-like.

Once you are done with the real-life scenarios, take a look at our video compare tool to see how it competes against other phones.

2160p: LG G8X ThinQ against the LG G8 ThinQ and Samsung Galaxy S10+ in our Video compare tool