Smartphone vendors are on a race to create the perfect phone, a device that would feature a no-compromise all-screen display. The iPhone X design is one way of utilizing as much as possible of the front side to increase the size of the screen. The Galaxy S10 Infinity-O design is one other way of doing the same job. And in between, we have all the crazy contraptions: handsets with slide-out camera systems, dual-screen handsets, and phones with no ports or buttons. All these devices make various compromises, whether it’s the notch, the punch-hole camera, or something else. That’s because smartphone makers still have to deal with two problems, including the front-facing speakers and selfie cameras. And LG has a solution for one of them.
LG’s next flagship will be an iPhone X lookalike that will have Face ID powers, which is not something other clones can say. LG already announced that its upcoming G8 ThinQ (image above) will support 3D face recognition, and we already saw a leaked image of the device, showing the notch design of the handset.
That notch, however, is significantly smaller than other notches and that’s because it doesn’t have a speaker in it. It turns out there’s a reason for that. The G8 ThinQ’s entire screen doubles as a speaker, LG on Thursday announced, several days ahead of the phone’s official MWC launch event.
LG is hardly the first company to unveil such a feature. Samsung demoed its sound-on-display technology a few months ago, but it’s unclear whether the technology will be used on the Galaxy S10.
LG, meanwhile, calls its tech Crystal Sound OLED (CSO), and says its an “innovative technology” that uses the entire screen as an audio amplifier — here’s how it’s supposed to work:
Developed in-house by LG, CSO repurposes the OLED display as a diaphragm, vibrating the entire surface to produce sound with impressive volume. And because LG’s unique technology takes advantage of the entire display, CSO also improves clarity, making voices easier to discern and subtle musical notes more noticeable.
LG also says that in speaker mode, audio is delivered “with impressive bass” through the bottom speaker. Furthermore, “full-bodied stereo performance” is possible, with the phone using the top part of the screen and the bottom speaker.
Thus, the G8 ThinQ should deliver impressive sound, according to LG:
DTS:X 3D Surround Sound that emulates a 7.1-channel system with or without earphones, a first for LG
Hi-Fi Quad DAC that elevates the listening experience by reproducing sound with exceptional fidelity and the added ability to up-sample most audio files for increased clarity and depth
Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) that supports high-quality audio streaming even without an unlimited data plan
Boombox Speaker that takes advantage of the internal space of the phone as a resonance chamber to generate amazing bass and more volume
The LG G8 will be unveiled at MWC on February 24th, and we’ll be on the ground to test it out for you.
