LG G7 ThinQ: 5 important rumored features to anticipate
LG certainly took its time when it comes to the development of the LG G7 ThinQ, which will be the South Korean company's flagship smartphone for H1 2018. Previously, LG had the habit of announcing its flagship devices near the annual MWC trade show, but after a change at the helm of the company earlier this year, the flagship was belated.
Fortunately, we have an official announcement set in stone, on May 2. As we are quite eager to see just how many of the rumors and leaks out there will turn out to be real, we decided to round up a couple of anticipated G7 ThinQ features in preparation for the major Android flagship.
Display brightness normally flies under the radar when it comes to everyday usage... until you go outside on a bright sunny day and your eyes squint after trying to make out anything on your phone's hardly-legible screen. LG seems to have been thinking how it could improve its users' experience, and the answer to that could be one of the more intriguing features of the G7 ThinQ. LG revealed that the device will carry a display capable of hitting upwards of 1,000 nits of peak brightness in certain scenarios. This is similar to what Samsung's more recent top flagship devices have been capable of - phones like the S9, S9+, Note 8, and others can also reach similar peak brightness in certain super-bright daylight conditions. It was also revealed the display will use 30 less power than the display panels found on the G6 and the V30, and that's great - a big chunk of your battery's juice is used to light up the display.
With the exception of the V30, LG doesn't have a very impressive track record when it comes to available color options of its smartphones. Even the company's latest G-series flagship device, the G6, was only available in black and silver colors, which is quite limiting in terms of options. Well, it seems that the G7 ThinQ will be different in this regard and arrive in a slew of classy colors which can be seen below.
Okay, we know that calling a Snapdragon 845 + 4GB of RAM combo disappointing is stupid. However, given that even entry-level mid-range phones these days have 4GB of the stuff and many flagships ship with either 6 or even 8GB of RAM, the leaked benchmark suggesting that the device will ship with 4GB RAM felt a bit disheartening. Don't get us wrong, more RAM doesn't automagically makes a device much better in terms of performance compared to a more humbly-endowed counterpart, but for the regular Joes out there, more RAM is definitely a big selling point, just like megapixels used to roll in the not-so-distant past. This could spell some bad news for LG's sales numbers, but let's hope we are not bad prophets. Hopefully, LG would consider releasing a more capable and well-spec'd variation of the device as well.
Here are a couple of intriguing rumored features that would make the G7 ThinQ a worthy of your consideration.
A super-bright display
Display brightness normally flies under the radar when it comes to everyday usage... until you go outside on a bright sunny day and your eyes squint after trying to make out anything on your phone's hardly-legible screen. LG seems to have been thinking how it could improve its users' experience, and the answer to that could be one of the more intriguing features of the G7 ThinQ. LG revealed that the device will carry a display capable of hitting upwards of 1,000 nits of peak brightness in certain scenarios. This is similar to what Samsung's more recent top flagship devices have been capable of - phones like the S9, S9+, Note 8, and others can also reach similar peak brightness in certain super-bright daylight conditions. It was also revealed the display will use 30 less power than the display panels found on the G6 and the V30, and that's great - a big chunk of your battery's juice is used to light up the display.
Aside from being super-bright, the display will also have the very large footprint of 6.1-inches and have a physical resolution of 3120 by 1440 pixels, which works out an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, a step up from last year's 18:9 FullVision display of the LG G6. The panel also covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and... will have a customizable notch: users will be able to hide this one by applying a black background to the display horns to the side of the notch, which would give a more traditional appearance for all of you notch-haters.
AI and a dedicated Google Assistant button
One of the leitmotifs of the LG G7 will be the smart AI capabilities of the device. Similarly to th LG V30s ThinQ, which was introduced two months ago, the G7 ThinQ will likely feature the same set of smart scene recognition features for the camera app, which will intelligently pick the correct camera mode in accordance with what you're trying to capture This is an educated guess of our own that would most certainly become reality as LG will certainly further invest in the AI trend that's so hot right now.
Additionally, leaked renders suggest that the phone will also feature a dedicated button that will be used to launch the Google Assistant. That's a not-so-subtle jab at Samsung, which has been equipping its flagship devices with dedicated hardware buttons that launch the company's own Bixby virtual butler.
Cool new color options
With the exception of the V30, LG doesn't have a very impressive track record when it comes to available color options of its smartphones. Even the company's latest G-series flagship device, the G6, was only available in black and silver colors, which is quite limiting in terms of options. Well, it seems that the G7 ThinQ will be different in this regard and arrive in a slew of classy colors which can be seen below.
A 3.5mm audio jack
LG has proved time and time again that it cares about audio by employing high-quality DACs on its more recent devices, like the G6 and the V30. Another common trait of all LG devices thus far has been the inclusion of a 3.5mm audio jack that allows you to connect your own regular old-school headphones and enjoy your favorite 70s rock tunes. Although one can never be a 100% certain, rumors and leaked renders suggest that the G7 ThinQ will indeed have an audio jack. More power to the users, we guess!
You can almost make out a headphone jack cutout at the bottom of the rendered phone
Slightly 'disappointing' hardware
Okay, we know that calling a Snapdragon 845 + 4GB of RAM combo disappointing is stupid. However, given that even entry-level mid-range phones these days have 4GB of the stuff and many flagships ship with either 6 or even 8GB of RAM, the leaked benchmark suggesting that the device will ship with 4GB RAM felt a bit disheartening. Don't get us wrong, more RAM doesn't automagically makes a device much better in terms of performance compared to a more humbly-endowed counterpart, but for the regular Joes out there, more RAM is definitely a big selling point, just like megapixels used to roll in the not-so-distant past. This could spell some bad news for LG's sales numbers, but let's hope we are not bad prophets. Hopefully, LG would consider releasing a more capable and well-spec'd variation of the device as well.
Things that are NOT allowed: