The world of smartphones moves unbelievably fast. If you’re not releasing something one week, you’re being beaten to the punch by another company the next. LG understand this more than any other company, so it has announced the 2018 LG Q8 ahead of Samsung’s impending Galaxy Note 9 reveal. Both will come with a stylus, but LG’s offering is nothing but a thin stick of metal. And no, it won’t have Fortnite at launch.
The LG Q8 is designed around the idea of a more affordable version of the LG V35 ThinQ; similar to how the Korean tech giant unveiled a bunch of Q7 branded smartphones as a more affordable stop-gap for those enticed by the G7 ThinQ but unable to pony up the cash for one.
In the same vein, the new LG Q8, a different beast than last year’s phone of the same name, includes a 6.2″ ‘FullVision’ screen and even comes with a stylus tucked away into its chassis. Rocking the shiny new 1.8GHz 8-core Snapdragon 450 CPU means this thing should be butter smooth whether you’re playing a game, taking photos or just forgetting to close your app tabs after 4 days. There’s a moderately sized 3,300 mAH battery to last it through the day.
As noted by GSMArena, this new “domestic mid-sized smartphone” dodges the impressive wide-angle lens featured on the rear shooters of LG’s recent flagships, but slaps a super wide angle lens on the 5 MP front-facing camera for the selfie queens and kings to include their friends in a wide 100-degree field of view. The rear camera instead opts for a single 16 MP sensor that, while likely not a top-tier camera, should still manage some impressive results.
Moving onto connectivity, the LG Q8 is a USB-C device, but still includes a standard 3.5mm headphone jack which GSMArena lovingly points out means there’s still FM Radio on board. But if it’s one thing recent LG devices have done to make a name for themselves, it’s the included Quad DAC that produces some of the finest audio quality you can find on a modern smartphone — and the Q8 keeps it alongside DTS:X 3D surround sound audio and IP68 water resistance. Storage can be expanded through MicroSD, and the whole package should cost around $480.
