Flashback: the LG G8 lost the plot

15 October 2023
A huge notch? A separate fingerprint reader on the back? No telephoto lens? That was not a good look for a flagship in 2019.

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  • ASL
  • Fvd
  • 16 Oct 2023

I had lg g8! I had many LGs! What a legendary phones and so unhappy they are no more.

    • H
    • Hg
    • w4G
    • 16 Oct 2023

    Gsmarena blasted g7 and g8 for nonsensical reasons then.... and are doing the same now. While they praised Samsung s7 and s8 nonstop.
    In those days Lgs g7 and g8 was ahead of samsung in terms of hardware and software but lost to PR campaigns.

      Osiris, 16 Oct 2023Yeah bootloop LG didn't stand a chance against the oth... moreWith all due respect, respected sir, you neither read the article, nor did you own the G8x.

      I'm an actual owner so I know.

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        • Danny
        • 0@H
        • 16 Oct 2023

        I still have LG Velvet, it's a pretty good phone, but the cameras and processors are its weakest points. And the fact that there are no software updates doesn't do it any favors.

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          • Osiris
          • JhV
          • 16 Oct 2023

          Yeah bootloop LG didn't stand a chance against the others, rip

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            • Anonymous
            • CbG
            • 16 Oct 2023

            I loved lg phones. Always came up with something new ! While maintaining well tested normal phone range . It died because people like it when their mobile OS spoonfeed them everything in exchange for unrestricted data access to Chinese companies. Everyone in India frowns at stock Android . LG was a victim of that

              Why I still keep my G8x:-

              1. Its dual screen shines in front of any competition even today,
              2. The audio quality is unmatched by anything else available today.
              3. No unnecessary bloatware
              4. The dual screen is removable, when the novelty comes off, you don't need to carry it.
              5. Cameras may be basic in specs, but they give great results. The slow motion videos too come out nice! 4K60 is supported, with dual mic stereo recording. Plus, manual and RAW modes are savage.
              I prefer the reasonably big 12MP sensor, with big pixels, I don't like 48/64/108 MP's.
              Sorry to say, but a lot of phones still leave a gap here and there, when it comes to cameras.
              6. Ability to use a 512GB microSD card which has 100 of my favourite movies, and all the videos/ photos right on the phone. This resulted in my internal memory being 60GB free anyways. ;)
              7. 3.5mm jack.

              A suitable replacement is not yet found due to these reasons. Even Google and Apple for some weird reason have shied away from improving audio experience on smartphones, and have started taking decisions like removing microSD and 3.5mm.

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                • Anonymous
                • UPq
                • 16 Oct 2023

                This is what happens when a person who made washing machines his whole life takes over the mobile division

                  Anonymous, 15 Oct 2023Velvet 2 did not exist. Just unreleased Velvet 2 Pro. Two things my friend. Yes it ws LG Velvet 2 pro which i mean and it does exist.
                  Around 2000 devices been made for high end officials of China and LG company.
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gbOHhqWVs

                    For some reason LG somehow lost focus in their mobile phone business and ultimately they had to give up.
                    If they only managed to focus on the excellent V series and leave everything else - they would have survived.

                    The V10/20/30 were brilliant phones, at their time, and they excelled with outstanding audio quality and modern cameras.

                    LG was the first manufacturer to offer a dual camera setup - they just needed to beef their cameras up, add one or two more tele camera modules, and keep the 3.5mm audio jack, expandable memory and user replaceable battery: they would arguably be better and more successful till this day than Sony's Xperia line of phones.
                    That being said, LG was onto something with their ecosystem of gadgets and hardware add-ons such as the battery replacement, the stereo speaker add-on etc.
                    What they lacked was a long-term vision and a long term plan. If they made their add-ons in a way that they would fit over several generations of smartphones they would have been attractive and worthwile investments for millions of customers.

                    The V-series could have become their concert recording masterpiece with superb audio and video recording, surrounded and aided by a plethora of useful additions, e.g. tele lenses or super microphones.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • D6e
                      • 15 Oct 2023

                      LG G8 was and still is one of the most complete phones, it pretty much had everything. IP rating, wireless charging, sd card slot, headphone jack, triple camera, both fingerprint scanner and face ID unlock, good size, beautiful raspberry color too.

                        Anonymous, 15 Oct 2023IR = infrared To prevent phone from being unlocked by p... moreIR could be handy too, if you want to use your phone as a TV remote or for your AC

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                          • Anonymous
                          • 0p}
                          • 15 Oct 2023

                          Anonymous, 15 Oct 2023if yall talking about ir scanners then wouldnt the lumia 95... moreIR = infrared

                          To prevent phone from being unlocked by photos.

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                            • Anonymous
                            • 0p}
                            • 15 Oct 2023

                            Cpt.Power, 15 Oct 2023Honestly Velvet 2 was best phone made by LG and by so far o... moreVelvet 2 did not exist. Just unreleased Velvet 2 Pro.

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                              • Anonymous
                              • gCB
                              • 15 Oct 2023

                              MikeDW888, 15 Oct 2023I usually don't comment on these but when this article... moreHold it

                              LG G8S does have a OLED too, you are mistaken with older G series.

                              Also the G8S was a EU only phone, just like the G8 never came to EU.

                              Above that:

                              - G8S has lower resolution
                              - Has no Quad-Dac branding, but the DAC is same (just no branding in the phone)
                              - G8S is wider, taller, heavier and thinner
                              - G8S has a telephoto camera the US G8 does not have (korean one does)
                              - G8S notch is larger because the earpiece speaker is under the glass on the G8
                              - Battery life is miles ahead of the G8, mostly due to the lower resolution
                              - Technically the G8 didn't have true stereo speakers like the G8S did
                              - G8S had slower charging

                              Those are the biggest changes, I had both back in the day and sold the G8 due to the G8S being better (no Quad-Dac didn't bother me because it was just the branding, and while the G8 had a more sleek design the 2K display caused some terrible battery life, I was getting 8 hours of heavy SoT usage on the G8S when it was new, my G8 never went beyond 5 hours unless I cheated and watches vidoes all day)

                              Don't get me wrong both are great, but actually the G8S is the better phone, but people think otherwise because of the quad-dac branding and the 2K display.

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                                • Skipper
                                • 0fC
                                • 15 Oct 2023

                                Remember when mkbhd ended up being very critical of LG G8 calling it master of none that was absolutely unnecessary for that but in the end LG did it's best with updates but I guess that's what happens when you rush yourself and not take your time or find someone to collaborate with someone else that would of benefited LG and not make it feel like a gimmick hopefully LG finds someone that will be interested in bringing them back on the mobile because only LG and vingroup only why their deal fell flat and withdrew from selling them because we are in need of new competition against motorola cuz apparently doesn't care about software os updates and don't seem on putting that on practice and top off take their sweet time or sometimes backtracking on a os version similar with motorola one 5g ace from at&t cricket t-mobile metro etc Amazon and other retailers.

                                  Honestly Velvet 2 was best phone made by LG and by so far one of best designs ever made by any cell phone company.

                                    This article is just here to make Samsung the winner again by saying the same things that were already said by big Youtubers who got a fat cheque from Samsung. I have 2 Velvet and 2 V60 and 4 DS case to go with the phones. No other phones offer as much as these 2 (especially the V60). Unfortunately the phones that innovated always disappear (Moto Z family, LG with DS case).

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                                      • Kaki
                                      • 7j}
                                      • 15 Oct 2023

                                      Anonymous, 15 Oct 2023What's wrong with newer models? They run fine.They lack innovation and freshness. Also they are just mildly incremental upgrade over the previous models.
                                      This wasn't the case before.

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                                        • ikek
                                        • GBh
                                        • 15 Oct 2023

                                        I think its unfair GSMArena says the G8 notch was useless, considering it packed a lot of tech inside of it.

                                        Its not cool to bash devices that actually tried to do new stuff. I can agree on the lineup being a mess tho, but that was always a LG thing. Even the G6 had like 3 variants

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