TVs are no longer what they were just a few years ago. Never mind how some have become so thin that they almost disappear into walls, they've also become so intelligent they could become the hub of modern smart homes. Many of them, however, can't do it alone and require the help of some AI assistant. That's why LG is rolling out support for Amazon Alexa to its 2019 TVs under its AI ThinQ smart brand.
It may be bleeding from quarter after quarter of losses but don't count LG out of the smartphone game just yet. It hasn't thrown in the towel and is, in fact, bullish on pushing its mobile phones forward despite all odds. Its latest strategy is to put its eggs in the AI basket by making its own, still unnamed dedicated artificial intelligence chip in the hopes of differentiating its phones from its competitors.
On the same day Verizon is launching the Galaxy S10 5G, Sprint has detailed the first 5G devices it'll offer on its own shelves. If you've been following 5G news over the past several months, you probably already know what those devices are. On the smartphone side of things, we've got the LG V50 ThinQ 5G, which will be a Sprint exclusive at the start. The carrier will also be launching the HTC 5G Hub, which is a mobile hotspot that will be able to tap into Sprint's 5G network.
LG's phones are good, sometimes even great, but often get swept aside by more sensational phones from Samsung, Apple, Google, and even OnePlus. That doesn't mean they don't get a lot of things right, as JerryRigEverthing's Zack Nelson remarked in his durability test. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it doesn't get something wrong, too, as Nelson also discovered in a follow-up teardown. Long story short, the LG G8 ThinQ is not the phone you'd want if longevity is your long-term goal.
So you'd like to make certain your phone isn't connecting to anything, hearing, seeing, or sensing anything at all, right? Now you can make that happen. Before now, users needed to gain root access (read: not easy for the average person) and potentially void their warranty. Now it's easy. All you need to know is where to look!
LG is having a bit of an image problem, with its two most recent flagships earning good reviews but lukewarm market reception. Camera reviews from DxOMark, while not exactly damning, also don't do it any favors. So it's probably a breath of fresh air that LG may be getting some positive if not neutral coverage. JerryRigEverything took the LG G8 ThinQ through its usual battery of stress tests and, for better or worse, the results are pretty forgettable.
LG might be in big trouble. Its biggest rivals are taking the battle to the photography arena and while it was actually there first, it is now struggling to keep up. The folks over at DxOMark just recently reviewed the LG V40 ThinQ from late 2018 and while the outcome wasn't so bad, it was disappointing for such a flagship. One would hope that the LG G8 ThinQ from this year would show some improvement and, while it did, it was barely noticeable.
Android smartphone news these days mostly revolve around Samsung, thanks to the Galaxy Fold brouhaha, and Huawei, thanks to the P30 Pro's highly praised cameras. Former giants like Sony and HTC also get some attention from time to time but often not in a good light. The latest to join that group is LG who has just suspended the production of mobile phones in its plant in South Korea. While it retains some manufacturing capacity elsewhere, the drastic change puts the fate of its ailing smartphone business into question once again.
The folks over at DxOMark are now quite famous for their smartphone camera benchmarks that cover quite a wide range of brands. Noticeably missing from those reviews, however, are LG's flagships. To date, at least with its new-ish grading system, there are only three LG smartphones on its list. And the latest it has reviewed, the LG V40 ThinQ from late last year, doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the brand.
For the first time in its history, LG unveiled both a G series and a V series phone on the same day at MWC 2019 last February. The point was to differentiate the 5G-capable LG V50 ThinQ from its non-5G cousin, the LG G8 ThinQ. But while the G8 ThinQ has already started its rather quiet rollout, the V50 ThinQ apparently won't be coming anytime soon. That's because LG has opted to delay its April launch in Korea, which will probably offset global dates as well, all to better prepare for 5G.
There are probably three holy grails of mobile devices: a foldable phone/tablet hybrid, a flexible/deformable device, and a transparent tablet. One of those has more or less become a reality but the other two have yet to even see a prototype. That's not stopping companies from filing patents left and right in a race to "reserve" ideas for future use and it seems that LG has just been granted one of the most ambitious one of all, a foldable device that is almost all transparent screen.
Looking for an LG-branded smartphone that looks premium but won't break your wallet? While such phones do exist, they often exist in markets outside the US. That almost seems unfair considering not everyone can afford the high-end models these companies put out in the US. Good thing, then, that one of LG's mid-range phones is now available from Best Buy if you're OK with buying a phone at more than half the price of an LG G8 ThinQ but with less than half the features.