LG is finally releasing a G-series phone with the latest Snapdragon – yay! Regardless whether we have some supply chain optimization or LG’s product planning to thank, the fact of the matter is the G7 ThinQ is now available internationally and it’s a proper high-end device.

True, the G7 is a trend-follower this time around rather than a trend-setter. But LG didn’t feel the need to experiment with this one and are going the Vseries route by delivering a device with just looks and features mix which is trendy these days.

 

 

 

 

 

The highlights of the G7 are the notched 6.1″ FullVision display with 19.5:9 aspect and bright RGBW matrix, and the latest Snapdragon 845 SoC, of course. LG is keeping the regular+wide dual-camera, which we are fans of, but brings a new selfie snapper.

The season’s buzzword is AI and in LG’s universe that translates to ThinQ. The futuristic name is here to stay, though, we’re hardly fans. This all started with the LG V30S ThinQ, which was an updated version of the V30 bringing AI camera features. It also aligns LG’s ThinQ appliance branding with the mobile lineup. But let’s agree to call this flagship the LG G7 and spare all of us the headache.

One thing we always liked in the LG headliners is the shock resistance that comes in addition to the water-proofing. And the G7 is MIL-STD-810G compliant for shock endurance, just like previous G and V models, but we’ll get to that in a bit. First, here’s a primer on the LG G7 key specs.

 

LG G7 ThinQ specs

• Body: Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass 5 on front and rear; MIL-STD-810G compliant; IP 68 water-resistant
• Screen: 6.1″ QHD+ FullVision MLCD+ RGBW; 19.5:9 aspect ratio with notch, 564ppi; HDR 10 supported; brightness up to 1000 nits
• Camera: 16MP (f/1.6) primary camera with OIS, Phase detection + Laser autofocus; secondary wide camera with 107-degree FOV, no OIS, fixed focus; Max 2160p @ 60fps video recording for both.
• Selfie cam: 8MP, 90-degree FOV; 1080p @ 30fps recording.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: octa-core CPU (4×2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4×1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver), Adreno 630 GPU
• Memory: 6GB of RAM; 128GB storage; microSD slot.
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo with LG UX, Android P update expected
• Battery: 3,000mAH Lithium Polymer (sealed); Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging; WPC&PMA Wireless charging; Qnovo battery tech.
• Connectivity: Single-SIM, Dual-SIM available in certain markets; LTE-A, 3-Band carrier aggregation, Cat.16/13 (1Gbps/150Mbps); USB Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; Bluetooth 5.0; FM radio
• Misc: Fingerprint reader; Hi-Fi Quad DAC via 3.5mm headphone jack; 2 mics, Boombox speaker

 

Yes, LG went all-in with the trends and that meant a notch cut-out for the camera/sensor/speaker cluster. Ironically enough, just a month before announcement, LG went to Reddit to ask the users of the /r/Android subreddit what it thought about the whole notch business. Needless to say, many opinions were expressed against the controversial notch, only for LG to release the notched phone anyway.

 

 

 

 

LG’s G7 has the same dual-camera setup from previous G flagships: a super-wide and regular camera. This time around, the two cameras are calibrated to support portrait mode shots. We are glad that LG kept the ultra-wide camera as it differentiates LG’s phones from other smartphone makers. They’ve also borrowed the powerful video recording features that debuted on the V30, so it’s a well-stocked camera setup.

Another thing that sets LG apart from other OEMs is the headphone jack with Quad DAC, which is targeted at audiophiles. But are a wide camera and Quad DAC going to be enough to make the LG G7 ThinQ a desirable smartphone among other contenders? We’re not sure just yet, so let’s find out together.

LG G7 ThinQ Unboxing

The LG G7‘s paper box contains a fast charger and a USB Type-C cable. You are also getting two USB adapters – A-to-C and micro-to-C for all kinds of purposes. There is a handy cleaning cloth, too.

 

 

 

 

 

LG G7 ThinQ next to the LG V30S ThinQ

 

 

With the new big screen and solid build, it makes us wonder if the G7 is a successor to the G6 or the V30, but that’s up for interpretations, we guess. Only time will tell if we need both series alive.

So, the design may have been passed for upgrades, but there are some major boosts in performance and camera, and we’ll get into those in a bit.

The LG G7 looks like any other glass-sandwich phone with a metal frame and won’t impress with the shape as it keeps it basic (but stylish!). LG did try to make up for that with some eye-catchy paint jobs and those hues are indeed stunning. LG has carried over the V30S original colors – New Moroccan Blue, New Platinum Gray, and Raspberry Rose – plus a brand new one – New Aurora Black.

 

 

LG V30S ThinQ next to the LG G7 ThinQ

 

 

The G7 offers more than meets the eye, as we said, and it starts with the design. The phone is not only water-resistant but also MIL-STD compliant for shock resistance. Its magnesium frame has I-beam construction, which should dissipate any sudden shock from drops throughout the chassis.

 

 

 

 

And the frame is much thinner on the G7 than it was on the G6. This year it’s not flat with chamfered edges, instead it slightly curves towards the front and rear glass panels.

Having a display with a notch might be a first for LG, but it’s one of the many on the market already. It’s an ordinary-looking LCD screen but it a few things to show off.

For one, 19.5:9 is the tallest aspect ratio we’ve seen so far. Then there is a Gorilla Glass 5 to keep the screen safe (with an ever so slight 2.5D curve along the edge). And finally, it has RGBW pixel arrangement, which should allow it get very bright.

 

 

 

 

One thing that might be bothersome is the offset earpiece. The selfie camera is what rules the center of the notch, flanked by a couple of sensors and a blinking LED on the left, and the earpiece grille on the right. Those are just aesthetic nibbles – as far as usability is concerned – it works perfectly fine.

 

 

 

 

The back is made of a 4D-curved Gorilla Glass 5. This means a flush center and four curves towards each edge. This curvy shape is what makes the G7 look thinner than it actually is, and arguably – prettier. It may compromise the grip a bit, but it as a fair deal.

 

 

 

 

LG was the first to put the power button on the back of a smartphone with the LG G2 but it’s now gone with the G7. For a change, LG has put the power key on the right-hand side. Only the fingerprint reader remains at the back.

Another first for the G series is the vertical alignment of the camera. The cameras employ two similar 16MP sensors but with different focal lengths. One has a normal focal length and f/1.6 aperture, while the other has an ultra wide-angle focal length and f/1.9 aperture. The resolution of the cameras has increased since the V30 and V30S, but we are yet to see if this was for the better.

The G7 features a new Boombox loudspeaker that sits behind the three-dotted grille at the bottom. But there is a lot more to it. LG uses the empty space in the G7‘s hull as a chamber to amplify the sound and promises room-filling loud audio. It surely sounded loud, but we are yet to test its loudness. We have high expectations though.

 

 

LG G7 ThinQ

 

 

Unnecessary elsewhere, it’s a must for the LG G7 – yes, we are talking about the audio jack, the latest victim of the smartphone “innovation.” The G7 is among the few flagships to keep it alive, and even better – it connects to a high-end 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC from ESS and is complete with DTS-X codec. The latter can simulate 7.1 surround sound – a first in a smartphone.

 

 

 

 

As we established, ThinQ means AI in LG speak and LG is dead serious into pushing this anyway it can. ThinQ has already made it to the phone’s model name, but the G7 is also getting a dedicated hardware key on the left. It summons the Google Assistant, but if you hoped for an option to reassign its purpose – it’s impossible, at least not yet. This may change later on, though.

 

 

LG G7 ThinQ

 

 

And to make it really easy to summon and talk with the Assistant, LG has added a so-called super far-field voice recognition. The tech comes courtesy of the combo of a new chipset, a few mics, and Google’s AI. The G7 can recognize your voice from up to 5 meters distance in noisy environments and launch Google’s assistance in an instant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fitting such a tall screen while keeping a relatively similar footprint means tiny bezels, while its underlying RGBW pentile matrix promises high brightness and OLED-like sunlight legibility with up to 1000 nits with the outdoor boost mode.

The G7 boasts spectacular contrast for an LCD – upwards of 2000:1. It has impressively deep blacks and a very good maximum brightness of 460 nits. That is if you opt for the default Auto mode.

When we triggered the outdoor brightness, which can last for up to three minutes, we measured a maximum brightness of 920 nits. That’s close to the promised 1000 nits by the manufacturer.

Minimum brightness is 3.3nits, so it’ll be easy on the eyes if you’re using it in a dark setting.

Display test	100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
LG G7 ThinQ	0.225	460	2044
LG G7 ThinQ (outdoor)	0.499	920	1844
LG G6	0.228	468	2053
LG G6 max auto	0.277	564	2036
LG G5	0.17	306	1855
LG G5 max auto	0.20	378	1881
LG V30	0.002	414	207000
LG V30 (Max Auto)	0.032	616	19250
Samsung Galaxy S9	0	370	∞
Samsung Galaxy S9 (Max Auto)	0	658	∞
HTC U12+	0.2	366	1830
HTC U12+ (Max Auto)	0.214	389	1818
Apple iPhone X	0	679	∞
Sony Xperia XZ2	0.431	618	1434
Huawei P20 Pro	0	412	∞
Huawei P20 Pro (Max Auto)	0	582	∞

 

Sunlight legibility is very good without the outdoor boost. Activating this mode will help for an OLED-like sunlight contrast with excellent visibility and colors.

LG promises a complete DCI-P3 color space support for the G7 display and we confirm the display covers all those colors. The reproduction is far from accurate though with an average DeltaE of 7.5 and maximum deviation of 13 at point white. There is a noticeable bluish tint over the white and grays, while the rest of the base hues look over-saturated.

If you want more accurate presentation, you can drag the slider for color temperature all the way to Warm. Then you’ll get a fairly accurate screen with an average DeltaE of 6.

On the subject of colors, the G7 is compliant with both Dolby Vision and HDR10 video formats. Among other things, the former means the G7 is capable of displaying 12-bit color (or 68 billion colors). Of course, this won’t make much difference without the right HDR10 video content.

Battery life

The LG G7 is powered by a 3,000mAh battery – that’s some 300 mAh less than last year’s G6. The G7 has a larger display, but it also has a new chipset that in theory should be more power efficient.

 

 

 

 

Just before we were ready to publish this review, a new OTA update arrived on our South Korean unit (ver. V10p),, and it had a long changelog. One of the improvements it claimed was improved battery life. And indeed, upon retesting, the standby endurance improved noticeably post-update. The Endurance rating below reflects that.

The individual tests, the LG G7 scored somewhat similar scores to the G6’s (the call test and video test), and did better on web browsing.

That is with the always-on display turned off. Switch on AOD and you’ll be looking at a significantly lower number (52h). Of course, this is with the visualisation always turned on. As a middle ground, you can always have it on during specific hours of the day.

 

 

 

 

LG states that the G7 is Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 compatible and bundles a charger to do the job. It’s rated at 9V/1.8A and a 30min charging session gets the G7 from flat to 40%. LG has also optimized its charging algorithms to fine-tune the charging process depending on the battery’s age and current temperature thus improving the battery’s long-term life. We get the feeling it might be something along the lines of Qnovo tech implemented in Sony Xperia phones.

The LG G7 also has wireless charging support built-in. We tried it with the Samsung Fast Wireless Charging Pad (rated 9V/1.67A) and it takes a few minutes north of three hours for a full charge. Not bad, all things considered.

Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the LG G7 ThinQ for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We’ve established this usage pattern, so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you’re interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we’ve tested will compare under your own typical use.

Speaker test (old, new one below)

The new Boombox speaker is firing at the bottom of the phone. It uses the empty space in the G7‘s hull as speaker chamber and thus it amplifies the sound by some extent. We won’t call it exactly ‘room-filling’ audio (unless it’s a really small room we’re talking about), but it definitely sounds and feels louder than the current competitors we’ve tested.

Naturally, we’ve put the speaker through our loudspeaker test and we measured some quite high numbers. And mind you, we’ve excluded the occasional peaks which went beyond 90db.

As expected, the LG G7 scored one of the loudest numbers in our database and received an Excellent mark for that. The sound is crisp and deep. We would have preferred a stereo speaker setup, but we sure do acknowledge LG’s efforts as the results are quite satisfactory.

Speakerphone test	Voice, dB	Pink noise/ Music, dB	Ringing phone, dB	Overall score
LG G6	66.8	68.8	74.5	Good
LG G5	68.7	70.9	73.5	Good
OnePlus 6	70.2	74.7	70.0	Good
Sony Xperia XZ2	66.1	71.8	78.1	Good
Apple iPhone X	68.9	74.0	76.2	Very Good
Xiaomi Mi 8	68.1	72.3	82.2	Very Good
LG V30	66.9	72.3	84.5	Very Good
Samsung Galaxy S9	68.5	74.3	81.1	Very Good
Huawei P20 Pro	71.8	69.2	91.0	Excellent
LG G7 ThinQ	78.3	76.4	82.3	Excellent
HTC U12+ (Music)	76.0	73.6	88.5	Excellent

Audio quality

The LG G7 ThinQ impressed in the active external amplifier part of our audio test through the jack. It delivered high loudness matched with perfect clarity, wrapping up a performance as good as they come.

Plugging in the headphones brought the volume down significantly – the G7 ThinQ was actually below average in this case which was surprising and means bigger headphones might not be as loud as we would like.

The good news is clarity was barely affected and even the usual increase in stereo crosstalk was very minor. So unless you have very high impedance headphones, which the G7 might struggle to drive at sufficient loudness, its performance is really exemplary.

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
LG G7 ThinQ	+0.01, -0.02	-94.0	93.6	0.0011	0.0066	-93.0
LG G7 ThinQ (headphones)	+0.04, -0.03	-93.7	93.2	0.0017	0.046	-73.0
LG V30	+0.02, -0.01	-93.2	93.1	0.0008	0.0069	-94.2
LG V30 (headphones)	+0.03, -0.02	-92.9	92.9	0.0057	0.051	-68.1
vivo NEX S	+0.01, -0.02	-93.6	93.7	0.0009	0.0069	-93.8
vivo NEX S (headphones)	+0.17, -0.10	-92.9	93.2	0.0043	0.158	-61.3
HTC U12+	+0.02, -0.15	-94.3	94.3	0.0021	0.0069	-94.3
HTC U12+ (headphones)	+0.18, -0.13	-93.7	93.6	0.0024	0.104	-52.7
Nokia 8 Sirocco	+0.44, -0.12	-90.1	90.2	0.0056	0.016	-88.7
Nokia 8 Sirocco (headphones)	+0.51, -0.12	-89.8	89.9	0.0097	0.043	-39.9
Samsung Galaxy S9+	+0.01, -0.03	-92.6	92.5	0.0012	0.0076	-93.4
Samsung Galaxy S9+ (headphones)	+0.03, -0.03	-92.2	92.2	0.0017	0.042	-76.3

 

 

Android Oreo with LG UX

The LG G7 runs on Android 8.0 Oreo. LG’s own UX is the default launcher and it comes with its own take on the skin, settings, and default apps. The AI Pack 2.0 is onboard powered by Google’s Assistant, while some regions could also benefit from Q Voice. LG promises that Android P is coming soon, as the firmware update is already in development.

 

 

 

 

The G7 has an always-on display, just like the V30, even though the screen is not an OLED one. You can have one out six designs in total, notifications from all apps can be shown, and you can also set up a period when the feature will be turned off – pretty much the usual AOD stuff.

The G7 features a notch, but LG calls it a New Second Screen and claims this is an enhanced version of the second screen from the V10 and V20. But no matter the name, the notch is there and thus it splits the top of the screen. It still fits the usual stuff – notification icons, status items, the clock and network bars. You can assign custom colors to the horns, or just use black to make it less, well, irritating.

The G7 ThinQ lockscreen stays true to recent LG designs. You get two shortcuts in the bottom corners by default – to the dialer and the camera. You can, however, have up to 5 shortcuts there, to apps of your own choosing.

You have multiple options for a secure unlock – the usual PIN, pattern or password, fingerprint (the sensor is always on), face (fast but less secure, or slow but more secure), and even voice. For the latter you can pick a phrase of your own – you don’t have to use a pre-set one. You say it out loud to the phone 4 times, so it can learn the specifics of your voice, and you’re all set. The phone is constantly listening too, you don’t need to wake it up. It works most of the time, but seems less secure than fingerprints.

The nice tghing is that these work simultaneously, and the phone will unlock with the first successful option.

The G7 ThinQ lockscreen stays true to recent LG designs. You get two shortcuts in the bottom corners by default – to the dialer and the camera. You can, however, have up to 5 shortcuts there, to apps of your own choosing.

You have multiple options for a secure unlock – the usual PIN, pattern or password, fingerprint (the sensor is always on), face (fast but less secure, or slow but more secure), and even voice. For the latter you can pick a phrase of your own – you don’t have to use a pre-set one. You say it out loud to the phone 4 times, so it can learn the specifics of your voice, and you’re all set. The phone is constantly listening too, you don’t need to wake it up. It works most of the time, but seems less secure than fingerprints.

The nice tighing is that these work simultaneously, and the phone will unlock with the first successful option.

Past the lockscreen is the homescreen which LG insists should be done the Apple way – without an app drawer. That’s the default setting though, but you do get an option to switch back to the stock Android way.

Smart Bulletin is your leftmost pane with various widgets to help you organize your day.

The task switcher has a ‘clear all’ button, plus a pin you can tap on each app if you want it to remain after you’ve killed the rest. That’s different from screen pinning (needs to be enabled in settings), where you can, um, pin a single app to stay on the display regardless of the user’s attempts to tap away from it. You go out of this with a simple press-and-hold of the back button, but you can also set it up to require unlocking so it could be used as a privacy measure or a kid’s mode of sorts.

There’s, of course, split-screen multitasking, though not all apps support it. You can use it in either portrait and landscape. You can change this from the Developers options – there you can force Android to enable split-screen multitasking for all apps. There are no guarantees they will work properly, though. Also from here, you can make all apps movable to the microSD card.

In split screen view, the Home button shows your homescreen but does not dismiss the apps – the app switcher button shows the split screen icon and double tapping it brings back the two. This is great since normally you can only pick apps from the app switcher rolodex for split screen use, but in this state, any app you launch from the homescreen goes straight into split screen mode.

QSlide, LG’s floating app implementation, is still available in some places – the Phone, and the video player. But those are the exception rather than the rule.

The notification area followed what custom skins have been doing for ages and put some quick toggles on the top row. LG added to that a brightness slider with an Auto checkbox.

The search (swipe down anywhere on your homescreen) does what it says – sifts through your apps, contacts, and settings for the search term you input. You can specify where exactly it looks into, so it doesn’t have access to sensitive apps like instant messengers (or whatever it is that you prefer to stay private).

LG acknowledges that not all apps may be willing to play nice with the 19.5:9 display, so it’s included a compatibility mode for those that don’t. This makes the navigation bar taller (2:9, instead of the usual 1.3:9), so the apps can treat the screen like a 16:9 one with no navigation bar.

Finally, there is a dedicated hardware key to summon the Google Assistant. The G7 doesn’t have the option to assign a different functionality to this key at launch, but LG is considering allowing this with an update. If you are keen on using the Assistant, you’ll be happy with this key. Otherwise, let’s hope an update will allow for customization.

Q Voice is available in some regions, and while it’s not among the well-established AI helpers, it may be worth giving it a try.

Performance and benchmarks

The LG G7 ThinQ is powered by the latest Snapdragon 845 chipset. It’s the same SoC found in many flagships – the US Galaxy S9, HTC U12, OnePlus 6, or the Xiaomi Mi 8. It’s a been a while since LG managed to secure the most current Qualcomm chip for its G series.

So, the Snapdragon 845 should be quite familiar to our regular readers – it has an octa-core Kryo CPU, and a powerful Adreno 630 GPU. The G7 is available with either 4 or 6 GB of RAM, depending on the storage capacity – 64 or 128 GB. Ours has 4 gigs.

Now let’s run some benchmarks.

 

 

 

 

Geekbench is what we usually fire up first. Samsung’s and Apple’s custom cores have more oomph per unit as evidenced by the results in single-core GeekBench. Here, the LG G7 posts numbers virtually identical to the other Snapdragon 845 phones we’ve tested, except the Snapdragon Galaxy S9+, which underdelivers a bit.

We can only praise the LG G7 performance. The LG UX is well optimized and doesn’t bog down Android since it is lean and snappy. Running a benchmark repeatedly slows the phone a bit. But the difference in the scores was minor, while the glass body didn’t heat up to worrisome levels. And if it weren’t for the minor difference in the tests’ scores, we wouldn’t have noticed the throttling at all.

So, the LG G7 has the fastest chip available to an Android smartphone, runs smooth and lag-free, the LG UX is greatly optimized, and no one will be able to notice throttling. That’s a win by our books.

Dual 16MP main camera

The LG G7 ThinQ has a similar setup to the LG V30S ThinQ – a regular camera plus an ultra wide one. The main one is 16MP with a f/1.6 lens and OIS – same as on the V30S. The secondary one has been upgraded since the V30S and is now 16MP instead of 13MP. It has a f/1.9 aperture but it’s still fixed focus and it doesn’t share the OIS of the main camera. Not that it needs any OIS at this focal length.

Both sensors are 1/3.1″ big with 1.0µm pixels (not especially big). The front camera is an 8MP unit with f/1.9 aperture.

 

 

 

 

The G7‘s main camera is capable of rich scene recognition thanks to the power of AI which was introduced with the V30S. LG says there is no need for internet connection for it to work. A small text pops up on the screen upon recognizing different subjects and in a second or so, the camera will have adjusted the parameters according to the stuff it recognized.

While this sounds cool on paper, the regular auto mode is just as good. We found those popups more irritating than helpful and it took one or two extra seconds for successful parameter tuning. As we said, the auto mode is just as good, so we really didn’t find any use for the AI Cam.

The camera comes with a new mode called Super Bright Camera. It’s a dedicated night mode, which produces well-exposed photos in pitch dark conditions. This is done by pixel binning – the light gathered by four pixels is combined into one when trying to take a photo in 2 lux or less. The result is a much brighter, 4MP photo.

The mode doesn’t kick in automatically (for now), but a notification tells you to switch if it detects suitable conditions.

There is portrait mode available, and it uses the wide-angle camera as a depth sensor. The effect preview is visible in real-time, and you can edit the photo even after it’s taken.

The camera app has been improved since the V30 with a reworked interface. It has the regular and wide switch on the viewfinder. On the left are the settings, mode, filter, selfie and flash shortcuts. At the opposite side are Google Lens, Portrait, and AI Cam toggles. Yes, this time around, you can choose whether you would like LG’s proprietary Q Lens to help you with recognizing objects in your viewfinder or you can do that via Google Lens. Google Lens lets you search for products like the ones in your frame, copy text or phone numbers, scan barcodes, and recognize landmarks and pieces of fine art.

As additional modes you get Manual for images and video, cinemagraph, food, slow-mo, panorama (60MP), GIF, AR stickers – all pretty self-explanatory. The settings menu is a bit of a mess, but once you spot where the video settings are (on the right), you’ll get the handle on it.

As additional modes you get Manual for images and video, cinemagraph, food, slow-mo, panorama (60MP), GIF, AR stickers – all pretty self-explanatory. The settings menu is a bit of a mess, but once you spot where the video settings are (on the right), you’ll get the handle on it.

The samples we took with the wide-angle camera are on par with the regular ones in terms of image quality. Just don’t expect to shoot objects from up close with this camera as the focus is fixed.

Now that we established the G7 takes good pictures, but not among the best we’ve seen, we should mention something peculiar. Among the samples we snapped, we found a few that looked different. Those were not as sharpened, and a little bit noisier, but they had a lot more resolved detail and looked more natural. We suspect those photos survived the heavy-handed processing because they were part of a series shot at rapid succession. In any case, we didn’t find a way to capture them intentionally.

The LG G7 offers HDR Auto mode, which is smart enough to know when HDR should be used and the HDR effect is quite good without being too aggressive. But if you like to pixel peep, the drop in quality is noticeable due to the oil painting effect which we discussed earlier.

At least, for the very first time, LG’s camera app can show the HDR effect straight in the camera viewfinder before you’ve taken the photo – something Samsung phones and iPhones have been capable of for quite a while. Also, capturing HDR shots no longer takes extra time like it did on the V30.

Low-light Image Quality

In low light the G7 output is softer than what you could get out of previous LG phones – here the bias is towards heavier noise reduction, hence less noise, but also less detail. The bright lens wasn’t enough to compensate for the tiny sensor pixels this time around.

For near pitch-dark conditions the G7 will offer you to use the so-called Super Bright Camera. It uses pixel binning – the light gathered by four pixels is combined into one when trying to take a photo in 2 lux or less of light. The goal is to get one well-exposed 4MP photo.

And indeed, you will. The 4MP shots taken in pitch dark conditions are well-exposed, but the noise reduction smeared most of the fine detail. So those will do for Facebook on those rare dark occasions but don’t expect something as striking as Huawei’s Night Mode on the P20 and P20 Pro.

Portrait Mode

The Portrait Mode has finally made it to the LG G series. It uses the wide-angle camera for depth information, and you can choose the strength of the background defocusing before or after taking the photo.

The Portraits turned out pretty good. Subject separation works well, there aren’t abrupt transitions from sharp to blurred, the bokeh is nice, and overall – those are among the better portrait photos we’ve seen.

Selfies

The selfie camera has been upgraded on the LG G7 with an 8MP unit behind an f/1.9 aperture lens. The wide-angle mode is gone for good, though, but you get portraits, which is more than fair.

The captured detail on the selfies is enough, and those came with good colors and contrast. The dynamic range is about the average, and the noise is kept mostly low.

The G7 may lack a secondary selfie sensor for depth information, but it still does mostly fine in detecting and separating the person from the background. Sure, you can notice the processing tries to mask the borders with some forced blur, or the lack of it, but those are still some good samples nevertheless.

Finally, HDR is available for the selfie snapper, but there is no Auto mode. Still, if you need it, you’ll get some detail in the blown areas.

Video recording

The LG G7 records videos up to 2160p resolution with up to 60 fps (via update) with both rear cameras. While the optical stabilization is always there for you on the main cam, digital stabilization is only available in 1080p/30fps. Other makers now offer stabilized videos all the way up to 4K, and it’s not like the G7 is lacking in processing power.

Footage from the LG G7‘s normal cam is excellent and definitely flagship-worthy. There is plenty of detail, the dynamic range is high, and the contrast is excellent. The color rendition is not exactly accurate as the G7 videos are a touch warmer but they sure do look lively. The oil painting effect is barely visible here, if at all, so you won’t have to worry about that.

The 4K at 60fps clips are captured at 64Mbps bitrate while the 30fps – at 48Mbps, both with 156 Kbps stereo audio.

The 1080p clips at 30fps (17Mbps bitrate) are equally great as the 4K in terms of video quality – in their own class, of course. The 1080p at 60fps videos, on the other hand, are very soft, which is odd – the phone records 4K videos at 60fps just fine but not at 1080p?

 

 

 

 

 

There is optical stabilization active all the time for the main camera, but the 1080p at 30fps videos can also benefit from digital one. And while the OIS does great at keeping the picture steady, EIS is what works excellently for removing the camera shake when walking and recording.

 

 

 

 

The 4K at 60fps videos from the wide-angle camera are softer than the ones we took with the regular one, but other than that – they share the same high dynamic range, excellent contrast, and punchy colors.

The wide-angle 4K and 1080p ones captured at 30fps are on par with the regular samples in quality, while the 1080p at 60fps are just as equally bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The LG G7 has HDR 10 video recording mode at 4K or 1080p resolution at 30fps. The HDR video benefits are visible on the G7‘s HDR display and the video looks truer to life, with a lot more discernible shades and better contrast. We are providing an HDR video sample for you, but unless you have an HDR10-compatible display, it will likely look washed-out without revealing its true colors.

 

 

 

 

Finally, in Manual Video mode you can also enable 24-bit Hi-Fi sound recording. The PCM audio bitrate is 2304 Kbps, and you can fine tune it by your liking. A wind-cancelling shortcut is available for when you are shooting in windy environment. Just like the HDR video clips, the Hi-Fi ones won’t be compatible with every hardware, but they should be easier to play as the PCM audio-compatibility is more common.

 

 

 

 

 

You can download short untouched samples of all the video modes we tested – 4K at 60fps (10s, 80MB), 4K at 30fps (10s, 60MB), 4K HDR (10s, 63MB), 4K Hi-Fi (10s, 69MB), 1080p at 30fps (10s, 21MB), and 1080p at 60fps (10s, 30MB).

You can also grab the untouched samples from the wide-angle camera – 4K at 60fps (10s, 80MB), 4K at 30fps (10s, 60MB), 1080p at 30fps (10s, 21MB), and 1080p at 60fps (11s, 32MB).

The Competition

LG G7 ThinQ joins the flagship race a bit later, and without the bang many others enjoyed at launch. The G7 doesn’t introduce anything that we haven’t already seen from LG or its competitors, it just tries to make use of most new trends and make the best out of them.

 

 

 

 

And it works for the most part – the LG G7 is as beautiful, as snappy, and as capable as any other current droid. Yet, it has the sturdiest of designs, the tallest and brightest of screens, the loudest of speakers, the widest of cameras. Tiny bits that make up for a great all-around package. And with a price of €650, it’s not as expensive as its rivals were at launch.

Today, however, the Galaxy S9+ already costs as much as the LG G7. The other Korean beast offers a curved AMOLED that has no notch, variable aperture on its camera and the best super slow-mo videos on a phone. It may lack the G7‘s shock resistance but does impress with stereo speakers and better photo and video quality.

The OnePlus 6 is way cheaper, yet it has a similar screen, chipset, and battery. This one, however, is still not properly water-resistant. Its camera experience is an even bigger mess. Still, the unmatched bang-for-buck ratio is what attracts people to OnePlus.

The Xiaomi Mi 8 costs as much as the OnePlus 6, which means cheaper than the G7, if available in your market, that is. The Mi 8 has a Super AMOLED screen (but of lower 1080p resolution); the same Snapdragon 845 chip (but prone to throttling), a capable main camera (but takes noisy photos). There is also a stellar 20MP selfie snapper. The Mi 8 is also a very good iPhone X lookalike. If you can forgive the lack of water and shock resistance, it goes for €200 less than the G7.

Huawei P20 Pro price has also dropped to the LG G7 levels. The Pro enjoyed a massive PR campaign for its triple Leica camera that has secured millions of sales worldwide. It has the screen, the looks, and the speed, but when it comes to the camera – the P20 Pro is a king in what it does. If camera skill is what you are after – look no further than the P20 Pro. If not, maybe the G7 could be a slightly better all-rounder.

 

 

Samsung Galaxy S9+ • OnePlus 6 • Xiaomi Mi 8 • Huawei P20 Pro

 

 

The Verdict

It’s not like LG didn’t try to compete with the rest. It made the LG G7 best at what it’s advertised for – the design, durability, speaker, display, chipset, and camera. It pretty much has it all, even if with the few small caveats.

 

 

 

 

The LG G7 is a bit late for the party, yes, but LG has put a solid effort into making a nice device. However, they stopped at that. Unlike other makers, LG didn’t put the G7 in your face via PR campaigns, it didn’t even try to make a proper press event. Worse – LG chose an awkward long name for it. It’s like the company is only relying on loyal fans and word of mouth for selling the G7, which is not how the market works today, not for smartphones at least.

So, even though we think the G7 deserves a solid recomendation, we would have a hard time convincing the world to give it a try.

Pros

• Beautiful and shock-resistant body
• The latest Snapdragon chip
• Flagship screen with unmatched aspect, brightness and resolution
• Top-notch connectivity package
• Very loud speaker
• Great all-round camera experience, with some oil painting-like inconsistencies
• Excellent 4K videos, both 30 and 60fps, both normal and wide-angle
• HDR and Hi-Fi video recording, lots of manual options

Cons

• The battery life is just about average
• The low-light image quality isn’t flagship worthy, issues with HDR photos
• 4K videos are not further stabilized by EIS

There are so many little things done right in the G7, but it’s up to you to discover them as our review is about to end. If you can live with the small setbacks the still camera has, then you most definitely have to try the G7 for a size.