- [Reviewer] I gotta be honest,
after the flop that was the LG G8,
which combined forgettable design with,
um, this.
I didn't have high hopes for the company's
next smart phone and that didn't really change
when I finally got to put it in my hand
here at IFA 2019 in Berlin.
Until, that is, it sprouted a second screen.
(Upbeat music)
Okay, so technically these are two separate products,
the G8X smart phone and its dual screen case,
but it's only when you use them together
that they become really interesting.
Now, the part of me that still misses
the bold LG designs of yesteryear
with their pioneering curved screens
can't help but point out that the G8X
and its dual screen case looks kind of...
goofy.
The big bezels and big hinges, the twin notches,
even though there's only a camera in one of them,
there's nothing sexy about this product
and I don't think it represents the future of smart phones.
But as Samsung very publicly learned
with its Galaxy Fold fiasco, riding the bleeding edge
has its price, so LG is carefully to say
that this isn't competing with folding phones,
even though it's trying to do the same thing,
fit more screen real estate into the same space.
In our Berlin briefing, the company
kept using the word practical.
It's not a phone for the future,
it's a phone for today.
(whoosh sound)
And, you know, the more I use it,
the more I think LG might actually have something here.
The software makes a lot of sense
and gives you a tone of options.
You can run two different apps at once, of course.
LG gave the example of YouTube and a game at the same time
with a custom audio mix between them,
but God does that sound exhausting,
so I'd probably stick to email and a browser.
That could be Chrome or a special preloaded browser
that let's you keep multiple tabs open across screens.
If you go the gaming route, those game pads
are totally customizable.
But the thing I could genuinely
see myself doing everyday,
popping this thing open in mini laptop mode
with huge touch keyboard on the bottom
and a full size smart phone display up top.
I'm happy to say the weight distribution works out, too.
There's no wobble and it's actually
pretty comfy to type on.
(whoosh sound)
- When closed, this thing is a bit of a chonker,
but as my Android Central buddies pointed out,
no more so than a big phone with a case on it.
If there's something to complain about here
it's the glass finish on the exterior.
It just seems to me that if you're
going to make a case that folds in on itself
to protect those displays, coating the front in glass
kind of defeats the purpose.
It also makes it impossible if there's any sun out
to see that small OLED display that lives up front
to give you essential notifications.
Again, though, for most of this, LG seems
to have gotten it right.
The displays are identical OLED panels,
so they've got the same color temperature.
Something that rivals ETE totally whiffed on
with it's Axon M.
The screen switching is done through
the extended display functionality already
built into Android, so there's not a lot
of custom LG software to trip up on,
and the interface that is here has finally
gotten a fresh paint job.
Pricing and availability of the G8X
and its case are TBD since LG usually lets its
carrier partners announce those details.
And also TBD, TBH is whether I'm going to try
to review it.
I mean, as much as I value the practical approach here,
if the most exciting thing about your new smart phone
is an accessory, well, it's not always a great sign.
LG is going to need more than an iterative rehash
of a poorly received product to get back
on the map in a big way and I hope
that's something we see come next year.
Let me know if you want me to review
this peculiar pair, folks,
and please subscribe the The Mr. Mobile
on YouTube so you don't miss all the other
big mobile news coming out of IFA 2019 in Berlin.
Until next time, thanks for watching
and stay mobile, my friends.