Nother CarGuy

Last year, LG released the G7 ThinQ — by no means a bad phone, but certainly one that struggled to make its mark. At this year’s MWC, LG is announcing its successor, the LG G8, which brings some new features and upgrades to try to stand out where the G7 faded into the background. It’s hard to notice changes on the outside, but LG has done a lot with the updated front-facing camera setup, which it calls the “Z-camera”. What that actually means is that LG is using a ToF sensor that lets the G8 detect motion, gestures, and depth in front of it. And that camera system is getting used for a truly unique feature that LG calls Hand ID: by pulsing an infrared signal at your palm, the G8 can extracts a map of your veins based on how the hemoglobin in your blood absorbs the IR signal, allowing you to unlock your phone by showing it your palm. LG says that these vein maps are extremely hard to beat from a security perspective. And why would you want to use your palm to unlock your pho...

LG is getting in on the 5G hype with the new V50 ThinQ — an updated version of the V40 from last fall that keeps the same basic design, but adds support for the next-generation network. You’ll know that the V50 supports 5G right from the start, thanks to the literally glowing 5G logo on the back of the phone. From a spec perspective, the V50 is only different from the V40 in a few ways: 5G capabilities (obviously), a larger 4,000 mAh battery (since 5G takes more power), and a Snapdragon 855 processor (presumably to support Qualcomm’s X50 5G modem). LG is is also adding a new cooling system to help cope with the extra heat from the new processor and battery. The phone itself is also a bit thicker and a little heavier than the V40, although LG has taken advantage of that to remove the camera bump, which is nice. Otherwise, though, it’s a V40 with 5G, which LG says is very intentional — in order to get a 5G phone to market this quickly, the company had to use the existing V40 platf...

LG hasn’t exactly done a good job of keeping its next flagship phone a secret, with leaks revealing plenty of details about G7 ThinQ over the past couple months. Today, we’re getting what’s easily the cleanest, most straightforward look at the phone yet: a marketing image, leaked by AndroidHeadlines, that’s meant to show the G7’s front and back in all available colors. The phone will apparently come in five colors: red, black, gray, and two blue options, one of which will be matte, according to AndroidHeadlines. Otherwise, the image really just confirms what we already know. This phone will definitely have a notch at the top, and it seems to have an extra button on the left side, possibly to activate the phone’s AI features. The phone is supposed to be unveiled on May 2nd, so that means we still have about three more weeks of leaks to go. LG has been attaching the “ThinQ” branding to basically all of its new stuff this year, as a way to indicate that it comes with some amount ...

LG is announcing its refreshed range of its thin and light Gram laptops today, ahead of CES next month. LG is introducing three refreshed versions of the Gram, in 13.3-, 14-, and 15-inch models. The 2018 Gram laptops include Intel’s 8th-generation Core i5 and i7 processors, SSD storage, and an option for a second SSD drive. LG’s Gram laptops have always been very thin and light, and this year’s models maintain just over two pounds for the 13.3- and 14-inch models, and 2.4 pounds for the larger 15-inch version. While LG claimed its Gram 14 laptop had 23 hours of battery life earlier this year, the test was based on a decade-old benchmark. LG is making bold battery life promises again for the 2018 models, but this time the company is using the 2014 version of MobileMark for its battery estimates. LG is claiming that the 13.3-inch model will last up to 22.5 hours, with the 14-inch at 21.5 hours, and the 15-inch version at 19 hours. The batteries have also been increased to 72Wh, up f...

Last year’s LG V20 found a passionate niche of customers thanks to its powerful creation tools. It gave users unmatched manual control over video recording, letting them adjust everything from white balance to bitrate. It had a removable battery that could be swapped out for a spare in situations where you couldn’t plug in. And the quad DAC offered high-end headphone owners a best-in-class listening experience. But the V20 was hamstrung by an awkward, relatively useless secondary display and its sheer, cumbersome size. For 2017, LG is coming back with the V30. This time, design was clearly the priority. The V30 still retains many of its predecessor’s unique strengths, but it also loses a big one. Let’s get it out of the way: the V30 looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S8. It’s got a 6-inch, 18:9 Quad HD OLED screen with dramatically shrunken bezels, rounded corners, and slight curves to the left and right sides. The second screen from the V10 and V20 is gone completely, and good r...

LG is bringing its impressive bezel-less smartphone display to a new mid-range Q6 handset. It's not the G6 mini that has been rumored, but the new Q6 has a similar display to the G6, with an 18:9 aspect ratio on a 5.5-inch panel with a 2160 x 1080 resolution. The Q6's display is smaller in size and resolution than the G6, and that makes the overall device smaller and dominated by the screen thanks to the small bezels. LG is launching three models of the Q6, and all of them include last year’s Snapdragon 435 processor. The regular Q6 features 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, while the Q6+ doubles the storage to 64GB and increases the RAM to 4GB. A Q6a model only includes 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. All three have the same design, with an aluminum frame, 13-megapixel camera, and Android 7.1.1 Nougat. LG hasn’t supplied pricing for any of the models, or exact availability, but all three devices will be available in Asian markets next month followed by launches in Europe,...

You might’ve seen a leaked image earlier today of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S8 Active for AT&T, but the carrier is also launching a ruggedized smartphone for customers on a tight budget. The LG X Venture is an Android 7.0 Nougat device with IP68 dust and water resistance, and the company claims the phone has passed 14 different MIL-STD 810G tests, including drop and temperature evaluations. It’s exclusive to AT&T in the United States, but will also be sold internationally. AT&T will sell the X Venture for $11 per month beginning May 26th, which comes out to a little over $260 after 24 months. The X Venture has physical buttons, so it can be more easily used with gloves, and a non-slip back texture reminiscent of the V10. There’s a QuickButton on the side that can be customized to launch your favorite app; by default it launches LG’s Outdoor Essentials app, which bundles numerous tools and software features together, including a barometer, compass, exercise tracker, w...

The smartphone star of MWC 2017 has been announced - this is the LG G6. A 'Full-vision' display, water and dust protection plus some careful impact resistant design, cameras aplenty, tried and tested internals - the G6 may no longer be the flagship (the V-series will fly that banner from now on), but it sure sounds like flagships should be wary. A lot of the G6's novelty stems from its display - a 5.7-inch IPS LCD panel that takes up most of the phone's front - it's why LG calls it FullVision. The screen has an odd 18:9 aspect ratio (or, as math would have it - 2:1) and a resolution of 2,880x1,440px for a pixel density of 565ppi. Consumers want a larger display, yet aren't willing to give up single-hand use - the 2:1 ratio gives the best of both worlds. The rounded corners aren't just for appearances either - such an LCD panel is more durable to drops. Speaking of durability, the back is made of Gorilla Glass 5, while it's GG3 on top of the displa...

According to a new report out of Korea, Samsung is considering sourcing batteries from LG Chem (the battery manufacturing arm of LG) for its Galaxy Note8 smartphone as well as other phones launching thereafter. Talks are on, a nd nothing is finalized yet, the report says, but adds that a deal seems likely. If the deal goes through, the Galaxy Note8 will become the first Samsung phone to pack in an LG-made battery. Aside from the yet-to-be-finalized LG Chem, the list of Samsung's battery suppliers currently includes Samsung SDI and China’s ATL. It's worth mentioning that the ill-fated Galaxy Note7 contained batteries from both these suppliers, and both variants were found problematic. Via GsmArena