LG G8 ThinQ Review: An Affordable, Capable Flagship Smartphone

Since the introduction of Android 7 Nougat, and even more so with Android 8 Oreo and 9 Pie, our battery life testing has become a bit of a 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, our usual PCMark Android battery test now fails on many phones, so we have fewer results to share, though still enough for a solid relative gauge.

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. In these tests, Bluetooth connectivity and Location services are disabled, though WiFi and mobile data is left enabled.


The G8 ThinQ has a lot of staying power, thanks to its 3500mAh battery. It stayed in our PCMark workload for over 10 hours before winding down. Yes, it is again behind the Galaxy S10+, but that has a larger 4100mAh battery on-board. The regular Galaxy S10 with a comparable 6.1-inch display employs a 3400mAh battery. We do not have the head-to-head numbers yet, but our extrapolation is that the LG G8 ThinQ would possibly outlast the Galaxy S10 most of the time. As always, your mileage may vary particularly as usage patterns change day to day.

The LG G8 ThinQ is a premium smartphone in every respect. It offers Samsung Galaxy S10-rivaling performance and build quality for a much lower price tag. While the G8 ThinQ and Galaxy S10 are listed with MSRP's of $849 and $899 respectively, we currently see sale prices on the LG G8 ThinQ placing it at just $490 when financed through Verizon Wireless, or else available unlocked via Best Buy for $650. Finding a deal on Samsung's latest is much trickier business.


It is not all about price though. The LG G8 ThinQ is genuinely a nice phone to use experientially and from a software perspective. The core experience of the G8 ThinQ delivers exactly what we are looking for in a daily use device. It is quick and responsive, it has a stellar camera with advanced features, and it has dependable battery life.


In the benchmarks, LG's G8 ThinQ nips at the heels of the Galaxy S10+ in every workload. While the Samsung phone does appear to have slightly better optimization, the performance delta between the two devices is negligible. The G8 ThinQ also seems to manage thermals well. We never noticed any performance degradation in extended workloads, nor did we ever find the device to be warm to the touch.

The LG G8 is not without faults, naturally. We found LG's Air Motion and Hand ID gimmicks to be not very useful. They do not improve interaction with the phone as they are slow to engage and are just plain unreliable. Thankfully, they never need to be enabled and we are not going to fault LG for trying to offer features that aren't well-executed, if they do not get in the way.


The G8 ThinQ's speakers may also bother some unfortunately. LG uses the display itself to emit sound and provide a bit of a stereo effect when paired with the bottom firing speaker. As a consequence of physics, this means the phone vibrates when playing audio. We did not find the vibrations to be distracting, but you may feel otherwise. One small advantage this holds is the ability to place your ear anywhere on the screen to listen to a call.


Regardless, the LG G8 ThinQ is a solid offering that will satisfy even demanding mobile device consumers. LG outfitted their Android flagship with a powerful SoC to make short work of any workload. It has a fantastic nearly edge-to-edge OLED display as well. Finally, the LG G8 ThinQ's very capable cameras are backed by a smart AI that can provide a guiding hand for better photos. While not ultimately a game-changing smartphone, we are none-the-less impressed by the LG G8 ThinQ and think it is worthy of recommendation.

Premium glass encased construction High-res, vibrant 2380x1440 OLED display Powerful Snapdragon 855 SoC Smart AI-supported cameras Clean, minimal theme over Android Customizable without overwhelming High quality Quad-DAC audio Aggressive pricing	Air Motion and Hand ID are unreliable Prone to fingerprints Voice Assistant button placement Crystal Sound audio vibrates the phone