phone 37 – lg g8 thinq

the 8th phone i acquired this year, 2021. hopefully, the last one. ha! this is also the last g series of lg. this might also be the last chance to expand my portfolio of lg mobile devices. i started with lg g4, acquired in 2016. then continued with lg v50s thinq with its dual screen in 2020. in 2021, i acquired lg wing 5g and this lg g8 thinq.

lg g8 thinq was released in 2019. same year when sony entered a new era in smartphones, releasing the first generation of xperia 1, xperia 5 and xperia 10 series. i was still using xperia z1 compact (a) as a personal phone, and xperia z5 premium as a work phone, still satisfied back then. so, despite of exciting announcements from sony, lg, nokia and some other makers, i was not encouraged to upgrade or expand my collections. but the headline features revolving around the z camera (tof sensor) caught my attention. i will tell the experience with it along the tasks for the battery tests. i will also relate my experience on biometric securities present on lg g8 thinq.

but, before those, here is the result of the battery test. charging duration results to 2 hours and 3 minutes. it performs better than most of my phone collection and falls near my preferred charging duration, which is 2 hours. but battery life fell quite short resulting to a day, 4 hours and 36 minutes. 7 hours and 36 minutes of those is the screen on time. not bad at all even for 2021 casual usage. besides it is just 2 years since the release. for continued casual usage, this phone requires daily charging.

battery score card

music play on lg g8 thinq is as good as the lg v50s when it comes to 3.5mm wired audio and bluetooth wireless audio. but loudspeaker is better on lg v50s and way better on some of my xperia collection with front stereo loudspeakers (z3, z5 premium, xz2 compact, 1 ii), at least when we talk about being immersive and quality. this might be because of the speaker setup. one is downfiring like the v50s. the other is on the display. the vibration is on the 30%-40% part of the display, from the top. by default, the speakers does not fire left and right separation, at least, based on how i hear it. it sounds like i am playing two mono speakers side by side. and that the speaker display is not as loud as the downfiring speaker. but there is dts audio setting to customize sound output. this is not to say that music experience is inferior. it still offers better experience than many smartphones on the market in 2021.

still on the music experience, z camera made it more fun and unique. with features, hand id and air gestures, i was able to play music without touching the phone. i tried it with wet hands, too. no, not what you are thinking, maybe, ha! i was washing the dishes, then. first, hand id lets me unlock the phone. then, using air gestures, i was able to open the music app. next is to play music using air gestures. though, this is limited to play or pause the most recent play list. then, again, using air gestures, i can turn the volume up or down. all those, without touching the phone. i think, i have to bring this phone for “no phone touching” challenge with my friends. then, play music, watch youtube videos and answer a phone call. ha!

i also appreciate the default music app of lg mobile as there are onscreen options to turn the volume, and change the pitch and speed of the song. nothing to do with air gestures. the volume option saves the physical volume keys from further abuses. i have been enjoying such accessibility since lg g4 and it is available on my other lg mobile devices, too (v50s thinq, wing 5g).

web browsing is an ordinary affair. i get sharp images and texts. good color rendering. snappy browsing and jumping from one tab to another. no disappointments here.

on gaming, this phone excels, too. still, in 2021. game launcher is present here. there is an option to customize refresh rates and resolution. though, it is limited to 60hz. no stutters. performance is similar to xperia xz2 compact, xperia 1 ii, lg v50s thinq and lg wing 5g.

for photo shoot and video recording, you might want to read my post on lg v50s thinq as the experience is very similar. except that my lg g8 thinq has a telephoto lens and that the front camera has variable focus. it has an autofocus, but also lets you manually control the focus which is good if you want to capture those little pores on your face as it is really sharp. ha! it gladly humiliates my other phones in that department. of course, including xperia 1 ii, which is criticized for having too soft selfie camera.

video playback on lg g8 thinq is not my cup of tea, though. color rendering is actually great. display brightness is ideal in both bright and dark environment. it also has a high resolution display. with 6.1 inches 19.5:9 display, 1440p is sharp. it gives 564 pixel density. already near xperia 1 ii with 643 pixel density. what makes the tea quite cold? it is the iphone grade notch. the same notch that brings headline features on lg g8 thinq. aside from lg g8 thinq, lg v50s thinq is the only phone i have with undesirable notch. though, the latter has smaller one. that is one compromise to make. besides, not all videos are affected by the notch. only videos shot and produced on 21:9 aspect ratio are affected. 16:9 contents are safe. workaround? pinch to zoom out and you will be watching the movies and videos on a screen diagonal less than 6 inches.

aside from the usual device security like pattern, password and personal identification number, this phone also has knock on code and biometric device security measures. the last is the most interesting security this phone has. first, it has fingerprint sensor that is widely used on android devices, placed on the rear. it is as fast as the fingerprint sensors on my xperia 1 ii and xperia xz2 compact. even a quick pat on the sensor unlocks it. second, the face id, which is used on iphones and some android devices. this is not the traditional face id or face unlock that i have on my xperia miro and other older xperia devices. the traditional approach can be fooled with a picture and it needs adequate lighting. face id on lg g8 uses z camera (tof sensor) to save 3d data. so, unless they can make a wax version of your face, nobody else can fool the face id, at least, ideally. it also works even without adequate lighting. third is the hand id. i never saw this feature on other phones – making some people dismiss it as a gimmick since “you will still touch the phone after using the hand id anyway”. some people even complain of steep learning curve. however, i was able to play music and turn up the volume without touching the phone, on the first day i have it. no i am not a fast learner. it is just so easy to learn that i thought i can enter the bending world and be a smartphone bender, ha! (but i guess jerryrigeverything is the master of that, in another way). and at least, there are some apps that can take advantage of it. there are some times i really wish my older phones can do like this – while washing the dishes or clothes, or even washing myself in the bathroom. unlock the phone, play music, pause it, turn up the volume – you can also do the same on youtube app. you cannot do this every day on other phones. so, you do not do it every day. but since i now have the g8, who knows.

generally, this is a well rounded phone that has unique features, others call gimmick. i also admire how seamless the chassis is. the flushed camera design and the continuous flow of glass to the frame. but due to sony influence on my preference, i wish it is a bit square. even the display looks a little bit more rounded or curvy on the corners. speaking of the curvy, this also has a curvy display. gladly, it is not as pronounced as other phones. images are not distorted, but still has an annoying way of reflecting lights where the glass curves. you already heard my concern on display notch, too. performance wise, there is nothing to complain here. display is great. audio experience is good, great via 3.5mm wired audio. one hand operation is also doable. but it does not beat my xz2 compact for that matter. thankful that i looked back to 2019 to expand my phone collection and acquired this piece of electronic masterwork.