LG G8 ThinQ LG G7 ThinQ LG V40 ThinQ LG V35 ThinQ LG V30 LG Stylo 4
AI Cam and AI Button Boombox DTS-X 3D Surround Sound Super Far Field Voice Recognition
LG is one of the top smartphone manufacturers most closely competing with Apple, Samsung, HTC, and others for the top spot in the market. Their best Android devices tend to be large and premium pieces of hardware, but they also take more risks when compared to their competitors. With unique software features, alternative materials, and other design innovations that border on gimmickry, LG phones stand out.
Below we’ve drawn up a list of the top LG phones available for consumers which are some of the best Android phones from 2018 and 2019. Because these phones are the best, they come with some hefty price tags, so we’re also helping you out by pointing out some potential deals. The list ranks LG cell phones in the order of their newness, performance, affordability, and general popularity.
| LG G8 ThinQ | LG G7 ThinQ | LG V40 ThinQ |
LG V35 ThinQ | LG V30 | LG Stylo 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.1-inch OLED | 6.1-inch IPS LCD | 6.4-inch P-OLED |
6-inch P-OLED | 6-inch P-OLED | 6.2-inch LCD |
| Resolution | 14404 x 3120 pixels | 1440 x 3120 pixels | 1440 x 3120 pixels |
1440 x 2880 pixels | 1440 x 2880 pixels |
1080 x 2160 pixels |
| Front-Facing Camera | 8MP selfie camera | 8MP selfie camera | Dual 8MP selfie camera | 8MP selfie camera | 5MP selfie camera | 5MP selfie camera |
| Rear Camera | Dual 12MP/16MP camera | Dual 16MP camera | Triple camera Two 12 MP One 16MP |
Dual 16MP camera | Dual 16/13MP camera | 13MP camera |
| Fingerprint Reader | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Battery Capacity | 3500mAh | 3,000mAh | 3300mAh | 3300mAh | 3300mAh | 3300mAh |
| Internal Storage | 128GB | 64GB | 64GB | 64GB | 64GB | 32GB |
| Memory | 6GB | 4GB | 6GB | 6GB | 4GB | 2GB |
| OS (depending on carrier) | Android 9 | Android 8 | Android 8 | Android 8 | Android 8 | Android 7 |
| Full Details | LG G8 ThinQ | LG G7 ThinQ | LG V40 ThinQ | LG V40 ThinQ | LG V30 | LG Stylo 4 |
1. LG G8 ThinQ
Price: $619.99 – 840.00
The LG G8 ThinQ is LG’s brand new flagship device, released in April 2019. This 6.1-inch phone has an edge-to-edge display with a “notch” at the top of the phone for its unique selfie camera known as a Z camera. With a thin body, bezels, and a curved all-aluminum and glass design, it looks much like any other 2019 phone. Nevertheless, there are some new features that make it stand out from older devices.
Z Camera and Air Motion
The G8 ThinQ’s selfie camera is known as a Z camera. Instead of a singular camera, the S8 ThinQ comes with an 8MP camera as well as a TOF (time of flight) sensor which can be used to interact with the phone using gestures via a feature called Air Motion.
Air Motion allows you do use physical gestures to take pictures, open apps, take calls, control music players, and more all without touching your phone. It’s a perfect tool for when you’re busy cooking or have your hands full with your kids.
Crystal Sound OLED
The G8 ThinQ has eliminated a need for a call receiver to listen to calls. Instead, relying on LG’s new Crystal Sound OLED speaker, you can listen during phone calls directly through your screen. It’s a bit of a gimmick, but it also makes for great music listening when combined with the power of LG’s Boombox Speaker.
Hand ID
LG has included a new biometric sensor to its phone that can read your unique circulatory patterns in your hand. Hand ID only needs you to place your palm on your phone to unlock it, which can even more intuitive than a fingerprint sensor. In addition, LG has added a feature called Multi ID that will use a fingerprint (on the back of the phone), 3D Face Unlock, or Hand ID to unlock your device, giving you several options to securely access your device.
The G7 ThinQ is One of LG’s FIrst devices featuring AI Software
2. LG G7 ThinQ
Price: $750
LG’s G smartphone lineup has been a staple of their brand since its beginning in the industry. The LG G7 ThinQ is the first G devices featuring the company’s “ThinQ” moniker, which is a brand that implies artificial intelligence, or AI, technology is onboard their devices.
The G7 ThinQ comes with an awesome and giant 6.1-inch screen capable of 1,000 nits of brightness, which allows you to see it even in direct sunlight. The phone looks similar to Samsung Galaxy devices with rounded aluminum edges, its bezel-less display, a fingerprint reader on the back, and the overall impressive metal and glass design. Similar to the latest iPhone X series, the LG’s display has a noticeable “notch” in the top of the screen where the front-facing camera and other sensors are housed. As for the glass covering the G7 ThinQ, it’s the majorly tough Gorilla Glass 5, which should survive most minor drops and scrapes. One standout feature is a button on the left side that opens up Google Assistant, much like Samsung’s Bixby button on Galaxy models.
Similar to the latest iPhone X series, the LG’s display has a noticeable “notch” in the top of the screen where the front-facing camera and other sensors are housed.
The G7 ThinQ comes with some great hardware as well, keeping up with almost all plus-sized smartphones available. It has a super-fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 64GB of storage, and 4GB of memory. There’s also a 3,000mAh battery onboard for all-day battery life. In terms of operating system, the LG G7 ThinQ includes last year’s Android 8 Oreo software, which can be updated to the latest Android 9 Pie if it is offered by your network carrier. One more note on the G7 ThinQ’s file storage—you can expand it with a microSD card up to 2TB. That’s an absurd amount of additional storage if you can afford to purchase a card that large.
The phone also has three impressive cameras, with two 16-megapixel cameras on the rear for wide-angle and standard shots. This dual-camera is helpful for taking super-wide shots of landscapes and groups of people. Reviews say both perform great in low-light scenarios and results vary with LG’s AI Cam software included with the phone. That third camera, the front-facing one, is an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens which is also helpful for those awesomely wide selfies with your friends.
Features Included in LG’s ThinQ Phone Lineup
AI Camera and AI Assistant Button
LG’s AI camera or “AI Cam” actually takes your photos and categorizes them into 19 different scenes using over 1,100 image identifiers. Then, it uses several specific filter options to find the perfect balance the color in your scenes, processing your photos right on the spot. This type of filtering is offered by other smartphone camera software, but not quite in the same way. The AI Cam will also recommend when to switch to your wide-angle camera lenses and to adjust the ISO or shutter speed to get the best shot.
LG’s AI Cam takes your photos and categorizes them into 19 different scenes using over 1,100 image identifiers
LG has also included a new button below its volume rocker that launches Google Assistant and Google Lens. Google Assistant offers quick answers to any questions you have, can play your favorite music, make calls, or even send emails and texts with your voice.
Google Lens is an incredible new Google AI application that will actually capture visual information off photographs and web pages and translate it into text for you the spot. It can be used to jot down numbers from business cards, add information to calendars, or search for information or similar visuals using Google directly from a restaurant menu or online fashion catalog.
Boombox Speaker
LG is touting more decibels in its phone thanks to its new innovation, a Boombox Speaker which uses resonance chamber within the phone (like vibrations within an instrument) to produce 6db more sound and double the bass levels. LG says you can even increase this volume by more when set down on a flat surface.
DTS-X 3D Surround Sound
LG has some new tricks up its sleeves for smartphone stereo sound playback. Using a special audio codec (think Dolby Atmos or 3D audio) called DTS-X, LG’s ThinQ devices can play specific audio files featuring 3D surround sound. This is shown off best when using headphones with an LG ThinQ device, but can also be demonstrated with virtual surround sound on the ThinQ smartphone stereo speakers. LG is the first to include this technology on smartphones.
Super Far Field Voice Recognition
Screaming at your phone’s AI assistant is a problem when you left it on the other side of the room, but LG has worked to remedy that problem. With new microphone tech, LG’s Super Far Field Voice Recognition can hear you 16 feet away. According to LG, even if the vacuum cleaner or TV is on, Google Assistant should be able to hear your commands through an LG G7 ThinQ.
this monster smartphone has five cameras—two on the front and three on the rear.
3. LG V40 ThinQ
Price: $949.99
The LG V40 ThinQ is one of LG’s largest devices at 6.4-inches and even higher specs than the G7 ThinQ.
So, what’s really different about it? LG was one of the first smartphone manufacturers to include three cameras on the back of a device with entirely different specs. Much like the Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+, this monster smartphone has five cameras—two on the front and three on the rear. The three on the back include:
- One 16MP wide-angle lens
- One 12MP standard camera
- One 12MP telephoto lens
This gives you a variety of options to take shots of wide landscapes, standard photos, and much better zoom shots than your average flagship device.
As for its general design, the V40 looks much like its predecessors but sticks with a glass front and back and a curved aluminum. According to many reviews, the screen is also an upgrade compared to older LG devices. Its 6.4-inch OLED panel improves in color, vibrancy, and brightness compared to previous LG smartphones like last year’s LG V20, for example.
Other notable features included with the LG V40 ThinQ:
- LG’s AI Cam
- Android 8
- Boombox speaker
- DTS-X 3D Surround Sound
- External MicroSD storage up to 2TB
- Headphone jack
- Google Assistant button
- IP68 dust and water resistance
- 3D surround sound
- Wireless charging
4. LG V35 ThinQ
Price: $849.99
The LG V35 ThinQ is the little brother to the V40 ThinQ but still features a large and beautiful 6-inch OLED display and high-end internals. In fact, the only real difference between the two phones are the size and number of cameras.
Like the G7 Thinq, the V35 ThinQ has two rear 16-megapixel cameras featuring a standard and wide-angle setup, and on the front there is one 8MP wide-angle lens.
the V35 ThinQ is a hybrid of the G7 and V40 THINQ but with a more reasonable size
With the same internal specs as the V40 ThinQ and the cameras of the G7 ThinQ, the V35 ThinQ is a hybrid of both phones but with a slightly more reasonable size. Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder with a 6-inch display; regardless, the phone is a great option for someone who wants the hottest tech but doesn’t require every new feature.
Like the others before it, LG includes all of its newest features:
- LG’s AI Cam
- Android 8
- Boombox speaker
- DTS-X 3D surround sound
- Google Assistant button
- 3D surround sound
5. LG V30
Price: $799.99
LG’s V30 is a 6-inch bezel-less smartphone from 2017 featuring similar specs and older hardware compared to newer LG models. Like other V models, the body is all glass and aluminum and the display is a vibrant OLED capable of displaying 16 million colors. It’s also bright enough to view in direct sunlight.
With 64GB of internal storage, speedy processor, 4GB of memory, and up to 2TB of external storage with a microSD card, you’ll be able to handle all of your storage, app-use, and general web browsing and video streaming like a breeze.
However, because it is older, it comes with Android 7 and updates to that software will be dependent on your carrier. Nevertheless, it still has a giant all-day battery as well as fast charging and wireless charging capabilities.
The LG V30 has a decent dual 16/13-megapixel camera on the back, which features one standard and one wide-angle lens and up to 8x zoom. This is great for all landscapes, portraits, and obviously zoom shots. Reviews say the camera’s results are great but nothing to write home about compared to LG’s newer models.
Still, the phone comes with LG’s famed camera features that allow you to wave or say things like “kimchi,” “whiskey,” or “LG” to take a photograph. You can also take great wide-angle shots with a tap of a button and use LG’s Cine Mode to create interesting videos.
6. LG Stylo 4
Price: $199 – 299 (Depending on carrier)
The LG Stylo 4 is one of LG’s mid-range smartphones that still has worthy hardware for anyone who needs an affordable phone with 4G service. It also comes with an integrated stylus, which is rare to see outside of the Samsung Galaxy Note brand.
The Stylo 4 comes with an integrated stylus, which is rare to see outside of the Samsung Galaxy Note brand.
As for design, being it’s a budget model, the body is actually made of glossy plastic, but the buttons work well, and the glass on the front is scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 3 (it’s older tech) which should hold up against mild scrapes and drops. There’s also a fingerprint reader on the back. It’s not the easiest feature to reach, but that’s no different than other LG models or older Samsung Galaxy phones.
While the hardware is less capable (the included Snapdragon 450 is an older processor), it still comes with a large 6.2-inch HD display, 32GB of storage, 2GB of memory and a large 3,300 mAh battery. That means it can still manage the latest software applications and be a great phone for watching videos, playing video games, and browsing the web. Flipping through web pages and apps is slower than higher-end devices, but shouldn’t be terribly frustrating.
Reviews of battery life also put the LG Stylo 4 at 7-10 hours of longevity, which is still considered a full workday. Plus, you can jot down notes and draw cats with the phone’s included stylus using whenever you’re stuck in line or in a long meeting.
As for cameras, the LG Stylo 4 has a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5MP front-facing wide-angle camera. Results are palatable, but they in no way stack up to the performance of higher-end LG devices.
Other features of the phone include:
- LG’s DTS-X 3D surround sound
- Screen-off memo: For jotting down memos when the screen is off
- GIF capture and editing
- Google Lens
- Wi-Fi calling
Which Top LG Phone Should I Buy?
LG G8 ThinQ: Want a brand-spankin’ new phone with all of LG’s coolest features like Hand ID and Air Motion? The G8 ThinQ is definitely your jam.
LG G7 ThinQ: For anyone who wants LG’s 2018 flagship with all of its new ThinQ AI features.
LG V40 ThinQ: Can you say five cameras? The V40 ThinQ is for the person who loves to take awesome photos and stream movies on a giant 6.4-inch smartphone screen. You’ll also still get all of those nice AI software features.
LG V35 ThinQ: If you’re looking for a large and in charge but don’t need ALL of the new features available, the V35 ThinQ is the middle ground option between the G7 ThinQ and V40 ThinQ.
LG V30: If you want a slightly older LG phone that still packs a decent punch in hardware, the LG V30 is your jam. Its age also means you may find some steep discounts on it.
LG Stylo 4: If you’d like a stylus or something much more affordable, the LG Stylo 4 is your best option.
To find deals on LG’s top devices, be sure to check out our deals pages on the top carriers in the U.S.
