Over the last two weeks, most of the details have leaked about LG’s upcoming flagship phone. We’ve learned that it will have a dedicated button for LG’s AI (because that worked SO well for Samsung and Bixby!), and that it will be the worst-named phone launched in 2018.
But up until now, the big thing missing was a clear picture of the entire design of the device. Thanks to a leaked press render from Android Headlines, we can now see that LG is embracing both the chin and the notch for a very unorthodox design.
As you can see in the image, the LG G7 ThinQ — yes, that’s the actual name — has the same kind of notch up top as Apple made popular with the iPhone X. Despite its small size, it’s said to house the earpiece speakerphone and front-facing camera, which lets the screen reach up to the top of the phone with two ears.
Unfortunately, LG has had to keep a chin along the bottom of the phone, despite killing the physical home button and moving the fingerprint sensor to the back. From what we understand, that’s a necessary design decision owing to the wiring for the screen and touch-sensitive panel, one that Apple only managed to avoid by using an expensive screen design that no other manufacturer has wanted to copy.
We also get a look at all the colors LG’s phone will come in. According to Android Headlines, they’re called “Aurora Black,” “Platinum Grey,” “Moroccan Blue,” “Moroccan Blue (Matte),” and “Raspberry Rose.” Black will definitely be available at launch, with other colors depending on region and carrier.
Name aside, the G7 ThinQ looks like it could be an excellent alternative to the Galaxy S9 or even the iPhone X. TechRadar‘s images show a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Hopefully, that means the G7 ThinQ will have performance on par with the Galaxy S9, but it might be able to escape the punitively high $800 pricetag that some carriers are selling it for in the US.
TechRadar also saw preliminary AnTuTu benchmarking scores that show the LG G7 beasting Samsung’s new Galaxy S9. With a score of 252,473, the G7 would be bested only by Sony’s Xperia XZ2. Of course, by the time the phone actually comes out, OnePlus’s new OnePlus 6 should be in stores, and it’s confirmed to have the same processor but even more RAM.
