LG G7 ThinQ Review: Punchy Display, Big Audio, Smart AI
LG G7 ThinQ Battery Life And The Wrap
Since the introduction of Android 7 Nougat, and even more so with Android 8 Oreo now, our battery life testing at HotHardware has become a real challenge. Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be, Google's mobile operating system is getting more aggressive at killing tasks that are consuming significant power and haven't had any user interaction. As a result, the PCMark Android battery tests fails on some of our test group of devices, though the LG G7 ThinQ was able to make the cut. We also have our usual worst-case, heavy load AnTuTu Battery test that still seems to run fine across all devices and gives us a relative gauge with respect to comparable battery life performance in high-workload use cases.
This test sets the display brightness to high and cranks up workloads for the processor, graphics core, and memory, and runs through many real-world, scripted workloads, including web browsing, gaming and video playback.
The LG G7 ThinQ ranks up in the top quadrant of our test group, holding its own when taxed with both high screen brightness and heavy duty continuous load on its CPU, memory and storage subsystem.
Futuremark's PCMark for Android Work 2.0 Battery test takes workloads from the benchmark itself (image and video editing, email and web browsing) and scripts them in a loop that runs until battery levels drop below 20 percent. This test is more real-world in terms of its setup, because we calibrate display brightness on all devices to 200 Lux and the test then locks that display brightness in for the duration. As a result, with only WiFi and cell radios on (Bluetooth and NFC were off, with DND mode turned on), we're able to see how long a device will last, timed to the minute as it runs down from 100 percent to 20 percent remaining battery life.
All in, the G7 ThinQ is an impressive offering from LG and one that delivers a ton of features in a midsized footprint. Some of those features, like LG's HiFi Quad-DAC, its vibrant, bright and punchy display, as well as its excellent camera setup, help it stand out from the crowd, but there's no question there's stiff competition in the market currently. What's perhaps most interesting to us about the LG G7 ThinQ is its well-balanced and premium industrial design language, the notched New Second Screen notwithstanding (for some folks). It really is a beautiful, well-engineered device overall.
Look Ma, no notch.
Cost-wise, the G7 ThinQ drops in at the higher end of its weight class, retailing for roughly $750 off contract with 64GB of storage, with multiple major carriers supporting it, or a little bit more for the factory unlocked variant. That may sound tough to justify for some, but with the going rate for a top-shelf Android smartphone averaging north of $650 these days, with plenty north of $800, it's not out of line either.
The real question is, does LG deliver the features you're personally looking for with the G7 ThinQ? In terms of its display, fit, finish and form factor, we'd say it's a compelling device to be sure, so long as battery life isn't top on your list of priorities. However, if you're looking for a top performing Android handset, with a gorgeous display, a great camera and all the latest technologies, like wireless charging, Qualcomm's potent Snapdragon 845 mobile platform, and all the AI supported hooks that come with Android 8.0 Oreo, the LG G7 ThinQ is worthy of your double-take consideration for sure.
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