LG V50 ThinQ 5G and LG G8 ThinQ hands-on review

Introduction

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is in full swing and LG has just announced its flagship lineup for the upcoming season. Two new phones premiered on the stage - the LG V50 ThinQ 5G and the LG G8 ThinQ.

The V-series have always brought us the coolest devices from LG and the V50 is no different. It packs a high-res OLED screen and Snapdragon 855 with a 5G modem into a cool and durable body, there is a triple-camera at the back, a large battery, stereo speakers, among others.

LG V50 ThinQ 5G specs

• Body: Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass on front and rear; MIL-STD-810G transit drop test compliant; IP68 rated for dust and water resistance.
• Screen: 6.4" QHD+ FullVision OLED; 19.5:9 aspect ratio with a notch, 537ppi; HDR 10 support.
• Camera: Primary: 12MP, 1.4µm pixel size; f/1.5 aperture, 78-degree FOV lens, 25mm equiv. focal length, OIS, dual pixel PDAF; Ultra wide-angle: 16MP; f/1.9 aperture, 107-degree FOV lens, 16mm equiv. focal length, fixed focus. Telephoto: 12MP; f/2.4 aperture, 47-degree FOV, 50mm equiv. focal length, 2x zoom, PDAF.
• Selfie cam: Primary: 8MP, f/1.9 aperture, 80-degree FOV lens; Secondary: 5MP, f/2.2 aperture, 90-degree FOV lens.
• Chipset: Snapdragon 855 chipset, octa-core processor (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 485 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 485), Adreno 640 GPU.
• Memory: 6GB of RAM; 128GB storage; microSD slot.
• OS: Android 9.0 Pie with LG UX.
• Battery: 4,000mAh Lithium Polymer (sealed); Quick Charge 3.0/Power Delivery fast charging; Qi fast wireless charging.
• Connectivity: 5G, LTE-A, USB Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; Bluetooth 5.0; FM radio.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (rear-mounted); Hi-Fi Quad DAC; 3.5mm headphone jack; 2 mics, Boombox speaker.

Then there is the G8, which is a more compact but still a very much flagship device with a 6.1" OLED screen of QHD+ resolution, Snapdragon 855 chip with a 4G modem, and the same triple camera as the V50. The G8 replaces the wide-angle selfie snapper with a ToF camera, which works for the new Hand ID unlock. More on that later.

LG G8 ThinQ specs

• Body: Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and Gorilla Glass 6 on the back; MIL-STD-810G compliant; IP68 rated for dust and water resistance.
• Screen: 6.1" QHD+ (1440 x 3120) FullVision OLED; 19.5:9 aspect ratio with a notch, 537ppi; HDR 10 support.
• Camera: Primary: 12MP, 1.4µm pixel size; f/1.5 aperture, 78-degree FOV lens, 25mm equiv. focal length, OIS, dual pixel PDAF; Ultra wide-angle: 16MP; f/1.9 aperture, 107-degree FOV lens, 16mm equiv. focal length, fixed focus. Telephoto: 12MP; f/2.4 aperture, 47-degree FOV, 50mm equiv. focal length, 2x zoom, PDAF.
• Selfie cam: Primary: 8MP, f/1.9 aperture, 80-degree FOV lens; Secondary: Z Camera (3D ToF sensor).
• Chipset: Snapdragon 855 chipset, octa-core processor (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 485 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 485), Adreno 640 GPU.
• Memory: 6GB of RAM; 128GB storage; microSD slot support for up to 2TB.
• OS: Android 9.0 Pie with LG UX.
• Battery: 3,500mAh Lithium Polymer (sealed); Quick Charge 3.0.
• Connectivity: 4G LTE, USB Type-C 3.1; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; Bluetooth 5.0; FM radio.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (rear-mounted); 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC; 3.5mm headphone jack; 2 mics, Boombox speaker + Crystl Sound OLED Stereo Speaker.

And now, it's hands-on time!