Android Cocom: LG G7 ThinQ: Rumors, Specs, Release Date, and More!

The LG G6 was a solid phone that got overshadowed by the competition. With the G7 ThinQ, LG isn't going to let that happen again.

When talking about underrated phones from 2017, it's almost impossible to not mention the LG G6. LG made a huge comeback following the disaster that was the G5, but devices like the Samsung Galaxy S8 simply ate the G6 for breakfast and didn't leave it with much of a fighting chance to stand out from the crowd.

LG needs a winner this year with the G6's successor, and this is everything we know so far about its upcoming flagship.

April 28, 2018 — The G7 will have "unrivaled high-fidelity audio experience"

LG has issued a press release stating that the G7's speakers will "feature exceptional audio quality" through its new "Boombox" technology that "increases the base sound level by more than 6dB with twice the amount of bass.

Audio engineers at LG came up with a new way to utilize the inner space of the smartphone as a resonance chamber to amplify sound more than ten-fold compared to the typical smartphone. With Boombox Speaker, the LG G7 ThinQ is capable of generating impressive "boombox" sound without the need for external speakers. When placed on a solid surface or box, the LG G7 ThinQ uses its resonance chamber as a woofer to amplify the bass effect even more.

For users who prefer headphones, the LG G7 ThinQ is the first smartphone to offer DTS:X 3D Surround Sound, for up to 7.1 channel performance without the need for expensive, premium headphones. Unlike other stereophonic technologies that only deliver high-end audio with specific music, DTS:X supports any type of content to create a sense of space to make the listening experience even more immersive.

Remaining consistent with LG's heritage in superb smartphone audio, the LG G7 ThinQ features Hi-Fi Quad DAC that can drive high-impedance, high-end headphones for true audiophile-quality sound. The Hi-Fi Quad DAC packs four digital to analog converters onto a single sound chip, lowering the total harmonic distortion (THD) rate to 0.0002 per cent for highly accurate sound reproduction. The LG G7 ThinQ also supports the Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) audio format, which delivers hi-res sound quality in a small file size.

April 24, 2018 — The G7 will have a Super Bright 6.1-inch display

In its way, LG is the most leak-friendly company in the world, mainly because as its phones meander towards a public announcement, it peppers the media with teases and press releases meant to keep the hoards satisfied.

To that end, the company has announced that the LG G7 ThinQ will have a 6.1-inch IPS LCD display that goes up to 1000 nits, which makes it the brightest panel using that technology we've seen to date. Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 and S9 series can go beyond 1,000 nits, but only when in bright sunlight and can't be specified by the user.

LG's adopting the notch, because why not?

Amidst all the announcements coming out of MWC 2018, LG gave certain attendees an early look at its upcoming flagship phone for 2018. The photos captured of the device were pretty blurry and not all that detailed, but thankfully TechnoBuffalo teamed up with designer Ben Geskin to give us a clear look at what we can expect from LG later this year.

First off, let's get the elephant out of the room – LG's next flagship will, unfortunately, have a notch. This is a trend a lot of Android OEMs are rushing to adopt, and it's one I'm not a fan of seeing. LG will likely use a software trick to hide the notch with a black status bar, but even with that in place, a notch is still a notch.

The phone will have hardly any bezels surrounding said notch (save for a small chin at the bottom), and the back will be made out of glass and feature a fingerprint sensor and dual-camera setup.

While it's not the worst-looking phone I've ever seen, I'm not sure playing copycat is the right move for a company whose mobile division has been losing money quarter after quarter. An original design would have played in LG's favor considering how many other companies are also trying to mimic the iPhone X, but that doesn't appear to be what we're getting.

Mr. Phone also gave us an early glimpse as to what the G7 will look like thanks to a collaboration with @OnLeaks, and as you can see from the video below, it confirms most everything we're already expecting.

We'll get an MLCD+ display instead of an OLED one

Most all flagship phones are shipping with AMOLED or OLED displays, but after sub-par reviews of the V30 and Pixel 2 XL's screens, LG will be changing gears and trying its hand at a new type of panel – MLCD+.

MLCD+ is fairly new in the mobile space, but it sounds promising. Compared to traditional IPS LCD screens, MLCD+ uses 35% less power, uses the RGBW matrix, and has a max brightness of 800-nits.

The V30's OLED panel wasn't necessarily bad, but it also paled in comparison to Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Note 8. A new type of screen could help LG differentiate itself from the rest of the market, but a lot of this will hinge on the company's execution of it.

The phone should be powered by the Snapdragon 845

As great as the G6 was, one of the main reasons you might have been inclined to choose the Galaxy S8 over it was because of the processor it shipped with. The G6 launched with the Snapdragon 821, and while the 821 was a perfectly fast CPU, the S8 launched just a few weeks later with the much newer 835.

This year, however, we aren't expecting LG to make the same mistake. A report from The Investor last May said that LG would be partnering with Qualcomm to release the G7 with its Snapdragon 845 processor, and towards the end of December, a list was found showing that the G7 would launch with the 845 in February.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 is a big improvement compared to the 835, offering speed improvements, better camera performance, faster cellular speed, and a lot more. If LG can get this inside the G7, that'll put it on a much more level playing field than what we saw with the G6 and S8 last year.

Based on the information we have and historical trends, we think this will be a close match to the G7's final specifications:

Category	Specification
Operating System	Android 8.1
Display	6-inch MLCD+ with notch 2880 x 1440 resolution, 18:9 aspect ratio
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
RAM	4GB
Storage	64/128GB, micro SD expansion (assumed)
Battery	3300mAh Non-removable Quick charging (either USB-PD or Qualcomm Quick Charge Qi wireless charging (assumed)
Audio	3.5mm headphone jack 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC
Rear cameras	Dual cameras, one standard lens and one wide-angle
Water resistance	Yes, IP68
Colors	Black, silver