LG G8X ThinQ adds a second screen, fake notch, and in-display fingerprint sensor

Ben Schoon | Sep 6 2019 - 6:35 am PT

LG has been trying out some new ideas in 2019, and at IFA, the company has debuted the LG G8X ThinQ. Following up on its earlier flagship, this new option offers a second screen, a new fingerprint sensor, and more.

Specs on the LG G8X ThinQ are pretty similar to the LG G8 ThinQ we saw launch earlier this year. There’s a 6.4-inch OLED display, a bigger 4,000 mAh battery, wireless charging and USB-C, a Google Assistant button, Android Pie (where it will likely stay) Snapdragon 855, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, and a couple of cameras around back, including an ultrawide lens. There’s also a headphone jack.

However, LG has ditched a few of the things we praised the company for in our review. That includes the Z-Camera, which offers more secure and accurate facial recognition, all in exchange for a smaller notch that houses a single 32 MP camera. The rear-facing capacitive fingerprint sensor is gone, too, replaced with an in-display fingerprint sensor (sigh).

What’s exciting about this phone, though, is the second screen add-on. Just like the LG V50 ThinQ, you can slap a case on the LG G8X ThinQ that connects over USB-C to give you a second display to the left of the standard one. This might be included with the G8X ThinQ, but Android Central says that will be up to carriers, apparently.

Strangely enough, the second screen also has a notch just like the standard, but there’s no hardware behind that cutout. It’s purely for symmetry. On the bright side, the outer portion of the second display has a small 2.1-inch panel that is used to show the time and your notifications with minimal power usage.

Pricing and availability details for the LG G8X ThinQ haven’t been announced yet, but the device will arrive sometime in Q4.