LG G8X ThinQ MORE PICTURES

LG G8X ThinQ

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HiFi97, 21 Nov 2020In some forums and articles, I read that the Meridian tunin... moreI own both LG V30+ & G8X. I also own the said Philips SHP9500 over-the-ear open back headphones.

Music lovers like us love LG flagships be it V30+, V40 or G8X due to their superlative audio quality through the implementation of QuadDAC in their phone. LG's QuadDAC is essentially ESS ES9218P audio chip. In any LG marketing material if you find the use of QuadDAC it implicitly means ES9218P. The ES9218P was first used by LG G6 (Korean & Indian versions). Later it was implemented in all of their flagship G & V series models. Starting with V30/V30+/V35 then G7/G7+ then V40 then G8 then V50 and finally ending with V50S/G8X. The only difference between V50S & G8X is the former supports 5G networks. For the latest V60 we have the newer ES9219.

Audio tuning house of ES9218P varied from time to time & model to model. G6 & V30 lineup were tuned by B&O, G7 was tuned in-house while V40, G8, V50 & V50S/G8X were all tuned by Meridian Audio.

Both G8X & V30+ have excellent sound quality rivaling that of dedicated DAPs. However, sound signature of Meridian tuned G8X is dramatically different from my B&O tuned LG V30+. V30+ tuning makes it analytical sounding with an acute knack for detail retrieval. Meridian tuned G8X is more musical and forgiving on headphones while sounding lush and vivid but not loosing anything in terms of details. G8X sounds more like my Vivo NEX S. There is a spatial spaciousness in G8X sound signature which makes for big soundstage on a horizontal plane, while that of V30+ is on a vertical plane. Both V30+ & G8X have their pros and cons in terms of sound signature as both audio tuning houses have their own preferences. Personally I like both.

Meridian Audio as all may not know is a pioneer in Digital Signal Processing (DSP). They made their first digital surround-sound processor back in 1994. They were also the first with DSP-based digital active loudspeakers. DSP can work miracles if you are in AV amplifiers and AVRs as it can create a pseudo sound signature of say music played in a hall in a tiny physical room. The expansive audio sound-stage that all loves and experiences on G8X and the distinctive sound signature which makes all feel like dancing is nothing other than Meridian DSP expertise at work. They have implemented the vast knowledge gained on DSP while tuning G8X's Quad DAC. To an audio purist this type of implementation is a complete NO-NO, as DSP takes you further away from the truth. But for a music lover like me, who enjoys music if it sounds good on ears it is a big YES-YES. So yeah I love the sound of G8X.

The B&O tuned LG V30+ in comparison have the purest form of sound signature, like studio sound. Nothing added, nor subtracted from the audio signal. Play a well recorded track and you are in heaven, play a badly recorded one and you cannot take it. Its all in your face with V30+. If you want to listen music just an the music director intended, V30+ is for you. And I still adore the razor sharp precision studio sound of my V30+.

The SHP9500 is not for everybody. This headphone is known for its detail retrieval capabilities and mainly shines in mids & highs. The highs can be ear piercing sometimes, and the bass is present but very lean. The pairing of SHP9500 with V30+ to me makes it sound too clinical & dry, others may vary. SHP9500 with G8X have better pairing. However the problem of SPH9500 with QuadDACs are in limited headphone drive capability. QuadDACs are capable to drive high impedance headphones by phone standards and it will pump out nearly 2 Vrms through headphone jack when headphone nominal impedance goes above 50 ohms.

The problem with SPH9500 it has a 32 ohms impedance, so V30+ or G8X will re-calibrate its output to only 0.5 Vrms max when playing. QuadDAC does so as not to over-power the headphone and damage our ears. Hence you may feel the SPH9500 not getting enough drive/ power from the phone. Also the fact SPH9500's have big 50 mm drivers and then open back design which requires a lot of power does not help the case. However output power will not be an issue if you use a similar 32 ohm in-ear headphone coz here the drivers are just 10 mm in size and then closed back design, so it has ample power from the phone.

The key of getting maximum from Quad DAC for big over-the-ear headphone is to have headphones with impedance over 50 ohms. Big headphones like Sennheiser HD599, Brainwavz HM5 with over 50 ohms impedance will trigger the high impedance mode in QuadDAC. So now the headphones will have ample power to drive to their maximum.

    RishiGuru, 18 Nov 2020Both LG G8X and LG V40's QuadDAC are tuned by Meridian... moreIn some forums and articles, I read that the Meridian tuning sounds neutral and reference-like compared to the B&O tuning. And personally, I prefer it to be neutral, since I don't like overpowered bass and sound characteristics like these. I want to hear the songs as close as possible to how they actually sound.

    So I was looking for a pair of headphones that cost under $100 with these sound specifications: open back design, wide soundstage, good instrument separation, neutral bass, and accurate vocal and treble.

    After some researches (mostly in RTINGS) I found that Philips SHP9500 ticks all the boxes and it costs around $80.
    What do you think about it? Is it the best sub-$100 option?

      Salil43, 14 Nov 2020How does the lg g8x compare with Samsung s10 plus?G8x is better in terms of audio quality, less bloatware, dual display and multitasking power, Snapdragon 855 performance and temperature advantage over Exynos, battery life, etc.
      S10+ must be better in additional (2x tele) camera availability, super slow motion (960 fps/32x mode, but G8x has 240 fps/8x anyways), 2GB more RAM, etc.

      Front camera in my opinion is better in G8x, although its single camera, still. Rear are roughly equal in day, but in night S10+ must have advantage...

      Although, S10 also has good audio quality, just that G8x is better in my opinion.
      I've used G8x and S10 non plus. Based on that experience, I talk.

        • S
        • Subrata
        • U@$
        • 19 Nov 2020

        Vishal, 20 Oct 2020I'm having several issues with this flipkart sold unit... moreI'm facing same issues

          Salil43, 14 Nov 2020How is audio quality of g8x compared to lg v40? Is the spea... moreBoth LG G8X and LG V40's QuadDAC are tuned by Meridian Audio. Meridian also tuned both their inbuilt speakers. I do not own a V40, but audio chip inside both phones are same, same audio tuning house so they should sound near identical through audio jack. So no improvements here. In G8X, we get stereo speakers, which is an improvement over bottom firing mono speaker of V40. To me G8X currently holds the benchmark in audio performance in smartphone domain. Period.

          V40 had a QuadHD panel, while G8X have two FullHD panel with dual screen case. So you have to make choice between multitasking ability of G8X or raw pixel count of V40. Which ever way I look into G8X seems a better choice as I cannot find any visible difference between FullHD & QuadHD mobile displays.

          LG with V40 rushed into improving the display quality over V30 trying to come one step closer to what Samsung offered. In doing so it sacrificed battery life and the hardware display driver IC of V40's OLED panel had un-usual power draw even on standby. A fact that to some extend was put forward by AnandTech. LG since had rectified this issue for their next gen of flagships like G8X. What I can say the G8X screen is flagship grade but Samsung flagships screens are still a notch better.

          The current generation of LG flagships with Dual Screen Displays weighs a lot. The total combined weight of G8X is a hefty 326 grams. It feels very heavy in hand.

          The price of G8X have fluctuated a lot in India. It was made available on Amazon India back in Dec, 2019 at INR 50K, then went up to INR 55K during COVID situation. Then during Oct, 2020 during Flipkart sale it was available at various prices as below:

          16th Oct, 2020 -> INR 18K (with card discounts)
          17th to 21st Oct, 2020 -> INR 20K (with card discounts)
          3rd Nov, 2020 -> INR 25K (no card discounts)
          12th Nov, 2020 -> INR 28K (no card discounts)

          Now the current price has gone up to INR 40K. I don't know why LG is playing this pricing mind game with us.

            RishiGuru, 12 Nov 2020The point I forgot to mention is I performed the battery ch... moreOk I did perform another battery charging test on my LG G8X, this time with 'Optimized Charging' turned off. This setting can be found on G8X under Battery settings option. LG states when this feature is enabled, it optimizes battery charging speed to reduce heat built up and thus prolong battery life. I found with 'Optimized Charging' turned off, G8X is just able to charge at 5% faster from 0 to 100%. Below are the results:

            Optimized Charging Enabled: NO
            0 to 16% -> 640 mAh -> 15 mins
            0 to 25% -> 1000 mAh -> 25 mins
            0 to 30% -> 1200 mAh -> 30 mins
            0 to 45% -> 1800 mAh -> 45 mins
            0 to 45% -> 1800 mAh -> 50 mins
            0 to 50% -> 2000 mAh -> 51 mins
            0 to 57% -> 2280 mAh -> 60 mins -> 1 hr
            0 to 70% -> 2800 mAh -> 75 mins -> 1 hr 15 mins
            0 to 75% -> 3000 mAh -> 81 mins -> 1 hr 21 mins
            0 to 82% -> 3280 mAh -> 90 mins -> 1 hr 30 mins
            0 to 80% -> 3200 mAh -> 87 mins -> 1 hr 27 mins
            0 to 85% -> 3520 mAh -> 94 mins -> 1 hr 34 mins
            0 to 90% -> 3600 mAh -> 100 mins -> 1 hr 40 mins
            0 to 92% -> 3680 mAh -> 105 mins -> 1 hr 45 mins
            0 to 95% -> 3800 mAh -> 111 mins -> 1 hr 51 mins
            0 to 98% -> 3920 mAh -> 120 mins -> 2 hrs
            0 to 100% -> 4000 mAh -> 125 mins -> 2 hrs 5 mins

            Optimized Charging Enabled: YES
            0 to 15% -> 600 mAh -> 15 mins
            0 to 25% -> 1000 mAh -> 27 mins
            0 to 28% -> 1120 mAh -> 30 mins
            0 to 40% -> 1600 mAh -> 45 mins
            0 to 45% -> 1800 mAh -> 50 mins
            0 to 50% -> 2000 mAh -> 56 mins
            0 to 53% -> 2120 mAh -> 60 mins -> 1 hr
            0 to 65% -> 2600 mAh -> 75 mins -> 1 hr 15 mins
            0 to 75% -> 3000 mAh -> 88 mins -> 1 hr 28 mins
            0 to 77% -> 3080 mAh -> 90 mins -> 1 hr 30 mins
            0 to 80% -> 3200 mAh -> 95 mins -> 1 hr 35 mins
            0 to 85% -> 3520 mAh -> 102 mins -> 1 hr 42 mins
            0 to 88% -> 3520 mAh -> 105 mins -> 1 hr 45 mins
            0 to 90% -> 3600 mAh -> 109 mins -> 1 hr 49 mins
            0 to 95% -> 3800 mAh -> 120 mins -> 2 hrs
            0 to 100% -> 4000 mAh -> 132 mins -> 2 hrs 12 mins

            No matter what I do, G8X will take more than 2 hours to go to 100% battery. However with such small difference, my advice will be to always keep the 'Optimized Charging' turned on so as to further prolong the battery life.

              How does the lg g8x compare with Samsung s10 plus?

                RishiGuru, 06 Nov 2020LG's Quad DAC is ESS ES9218P audio chip. In any LG mar... moreHow is audio quality of g8x compared to lg v40? Is the speaker loud enough? I find the price of the phone have increased considerably from the first sale in Flipkart. Finally LG weakpoint have been always the display compared to Samsung and we do not have quad hd displays anymore. Also the weight of the device with dual display must be same of a small brick.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 4wF
                  • 13 Nov 2020

                  It's stupid that the US market won't get the 5g variant. A lot of people here would appreciate a 5g phone like that. Me included.

                    RishiGuru, 05 Nov 2020The label on the LG G8X retail box clearly states: Voltage... moreThe point I forgot to mention is I performed the battery charging speed test with the "Optimized charging" function set to ON. I forgot to mention this. This function can be found in settings under battery option. According to LG, the whole point of "Optimized charging" is to optimize battery charging speed to reduce heat built up and thus prolong battery life. I have a gut feeling if the disable this setting I will get much faster charging speeds. Though have to re-test it.

                      • a
                      • aby
                      • vwj
                      • 12 Nov 2020

                      Anonymous, 12 Nov 2020You can still get g8x on lg.com, with hdfc cashback.when will i get the cash back?

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • vG$
                        • 12 Nov 2020

                        You can still get g8x on lg.com, with hdfc cashback.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • rb1
                          • 12 Nov 2020

                          Anonymous, 10 Nov 2020Does this smartphone record videos with ois enabled??yes

                            Ahraz, 13 Oct 2020Just bear in mind about the cons that comes along with the ... moreFrom my experience, LG flagship devices gets two major Android version upgrades. LG G8X arrived with Android 9, so we will get Android 11 on this phone. The Android 11 update (with latest security patches) will arrive late compared to say Pixel & Nokia phones, maybe delayed to even Oct, 2021. But the software build will be rock solid no doubt. Don't expect any bi-monthly Android security patch updates on G8X.

                            My G8X got a software update as soon as I received the phone. Below is the change log:
                            1) Phone usability and functionality has been further improved
                            2) Version: V20e-OCT-05-2020
                            3) Size: 184.75 MB

                            Phone came installed with:
                            Software Version: V20d-IND-XX
                            Android Version: 10
                            Android security patch level: 01-Sep-2020

                            After the software upgrade:
                            Software Version: V20e-IND-XX
                            Android Version: 10
                            Android security patch level: 01-Sep-2020

                            Apart from this, there was also a new firmware update for the G8X dual screen. Hence there was two software updates in total.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • QwT
                              • 10 Nov 2020

                              Does this smartphone record videos with ois enabled??

                                Tucking Fypo, 22 Oct 2020i can prove that network connectivity is better with apps l... moreExactly, call reception is great for me. Call reception quality & its strength on my LG G8X is as good as my LG V30+, Honor View 10 & Vivo NEX S. I don't understand what the fuss is all about.

                                Regarding the latest LG UX 9.0 over Android 10 used in G8X, I neither love or hate it. I like the different flavors of UI by different manufacturers and try to accommodate myself with their UI design approach & thought process. I never use any custom launchers in all my phones. In the end it is the UI which provides different user experiences with different phones and I kinda enjoy that.

                                  Before BB sale total ratings are 64 now 32000

                                    Alphaomegainfinity, 15 Oct 2020Snagged one at 248 USD ( 18240 INR) at Flipkart's Big ... moreYeah, I had one too on the same Flipkart (owned by Walmart) sale. On 16th Oct, dead midnight.

                                    However my cart value was above INR 30,000 hence received the full 10% discount using card offer. Final price for me was absurdly low INR 17,998 [$245]. Super happy with the purchase.

                                      Pank1432, 15 Oct 2020lg phones are only for ppl who knw them My first phn was l... moreI am inline with your views.

                                      LG smartphones are not for people with half baked knowledge about phones. It is not for those who makes buying decision just by looking at spec sheet & latest Android version. And how fast the wall charger can charge at 10C rate to destroy the battery.

                                      It is for those who admires built quality, longevity and overall user experience. Been using a pair of LG V30+ and very satisfied. On the other hand my pair of Nokia's with latest version of Android and security patch and bloat free OS and what not are the most unstable phones I ever had.

                                        • M
                                        • Mohan
                                        • 7tR
                                        • 09 Nov 2020

                                        Need to be improve signal receiving quality

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