LG G7 ThinQ Review

The G7 ThinQ is one of the latest in LG's phone line-up. It continues the build towards their recent AI technology through ThinQ, the company is deploying this in their various electronics this year. You see this at play within their camera and the Google Assistant support with Android 8 Oreo as the operating system. This is a fairly light weight and tall phone that offers a sharp, vibrant display.

It feels comfortable to hold with rounded sides and the inclusion of a headphone jack which is a feature many phones are leaving behind. Buttons are found on either side for controls or general use including the call for the voice assistant to kick in. The front camera can be found within the phone's notch area and the screen covers most of the front. There's also a centered camera on the back which acts as the primary method of photo capture like most mobile devices.

The Screen
I've gotten used to the phones having notches so that aspect is fine, most apps work with it so it's not a problem. With this iteration you get a 6.1' screen that is almost all of the front. It does have a fair bit of black space going from the edges to the screen. It features a 3120×1440 resolution with their QHD+ FullVision LCD design. There's HDR support for the screen as well which is quickly becoming a standard.

The 1000 nit brightness of their super bright boosted display delivers great outdoor viewing even if there's direct sunlight contact. It also has a double tap to turn on, or to turn off feature which is a nice option. There's also water resistance to protect your device in case it does take a dip in some small amounts of water. It seems to handle rain droplets fine without them interfering with the screen touch. If it does get submerged you're apparently safe for 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes.

Hardware Continued
The camera brings HDR options and many other features such as a setting for taking photographs of food. This is presented through the 16mp dual back cameras and the 8mp front camera. There's Google Lens for identifying objects, but who really cares about that. The LG G7 ThinQ has numerous filters present and various settings for adjusting photos however you'd like before even snapping that shot. The lowlight was alright, they have a brightness boost that improves the picture vibrancy and of course the visibility. This helped with darker situations, but in general it could have performed a tad better in lowlight situations.

The video quality presents a max 4k 30fps which is fine, a 60fps option would have been appreciated. A 240fps slow motion option is present for those that like to play around with that setting. The front camera is locked to 1080p 30fps as a max, this is alright though a 60fps option would have been appreciated and I'd like to see the camera options become more similar. What does help make these camera options stand out is the use of their AI. The system is able to detect what it's looking at and alter the settings based on that. It knows faces and various objects making your photos look better with little effort. This worked well for the most part and it generally knew what it was looking at.

I found the performance to be generally excellent on this device running high features for the games I tested it with. It's a good choice for Fortnite, PUBG or any of the other top tier popular mobile titles currently available. The quality of these mobile titles is getting close to PC at times and it's impressive to see that experience scale down so well. The 3,000 mAh battery life is quite excellent with the G7 ThinQ, lasts the day and more. Playing games, watching video or just general internet usage really doesn't seem to cause problems with it putting in the effort to keep itself going. It's great to see that despite heavy usage it can still leave enough battery if I have more to do.

You can use wireless Qi chargers or plug it in via the USB Type-C charging cord to a somewhat bulky wall plug. The inclusion of a traditional audio jack is awesome, I appreciate the compatibility with all headphones. I'm assuming future models may drop it, but it's nice to see it being present at this point. This phone brings some quality sound outside of the headphones as well. It features a Boombox speaker to boost the sound and bass which is great for those that like to listen to music that way. I did find it a tad odd that the phone back shakes when the audio is maxed out or close to it, not a pleasant feeling personally. That aside, lower volumes about 85% or less have little to no noticeable shaking when traditionally held.

The Conclusion

The LG G7 ThinQ is a great phone option providing a quality product with many standard features. The inclusion of an audio jack is appreciated and a feature that many might desire. The audio quality outside of headphone wearing is loud and clear too, not a fan of the back shaking however when it does reach higher volume levels. The screen provides a high resolution being a pleasure to view content on. I do wish that it perhaps took up more space on the front of the phone, though it is fine and I don't mind the notch on it. It's generally light and feels fine to hold being a fairly large size.

The cameras were mostly solid with interesting AI technology that does assist with casual users. I would have liked higher fps options for the cameras, though they are at the expected standard. The general photos it takes are quality and the boost to lighting is helpful though still more could be done with the lowlight. The Google Assistant is a nice extra and Google Lens is too if you care about the latter at all. Games played well on it hitting high visual setting and they looked great on it. The battery life was great, it certainly could last for quite awhile despite being pushed a bit by what I was doing.

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LG G7 ThinQ Review product loaned by LG tested with Games and Streamed Content. Games: Minecraft, PUBG, Fortnite.

Rating Overall: 8.0