The LG G6 was a solid phone that got overshadowed by the competition. With the G7 (or whatever it ends up being called), 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 although details aren't quite as abundant as they are for the Galaxy S9, there are still a few solid rumors floating around that have us excited for what LG will release in 2018.
Without further ado, here's everything we know about LG's successor to the G6.
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.
It might not be called the LG G7
A report popped up on January 3 indicating that LG will be ditching its G-series branding in favor of something else for a phone that'll be released in "the first half" of the year.
This rebranding will supposedly make its debut with what would have been called the G7, and while the phone in question will be the sequel to the G6, it's said to have a much different name. LG is reportedly playing around with the idea of having the phone launch with two digits in its name so that customers don't think it's outdated compared to the likes of the Galaxy S9 and iPhone X, but this could also change by the time the phone's released.
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 MLED+ with notch 2880 x 1440 resolution, 18:9 aspect ratio |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 |
| RAM | 6GB (assumed) |
| 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 |
Expect a release sometime in June
Rather than trying to compete head-to-head with the Galaxy S9 this year, LG will be sitting on the bench a while longer to make sure its phone is as good as can be.
According to VentureBeat, LG will be launching "Judy" (the name for its 2018 flagship) at some point in June. That's quite a bit later in the year compared to past entries in LG's G-series, so it'll be interesting to see if this tactic has any positive impact on sales. For LG's sake, I sure hope it does.
LG G6
Updated April 2, 2018: Added new video from OnLeaks!
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