Announced at Mobile World Congress this year, LG"s new G8 ThinQ is a bit of a mixed bag, which I was pleasantly surprised with. It"s powered by Qualcomm"s new Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform and 6GB RAM, so it certainly packs a punch.
But then it has features like Hand ID and Air Motion, which frankly, don"t seem intuitive or practical. Hand ID is exactly what it sounds like. You hold your hand in front of the camera to unlock your phone. Air Motion is where you make gestures to control the device. You can use Air Motion to open either of two apps, or you can use it to take a screenshot.
In the video below, you"ll watch me struggle to set up Hand ID and to just use Air Motion, but the sensors that provide these features also offer other benefits. The G8 has more secure facial recognition and better portrait mode from the front camera due to the time-of-flight sensor.
It"s also just a good phone. Obviously, you don"t have to use the rather odd hand gestures, and when you remove those elements, you"re left with a solid OLED screen, a build that"s MIL STD-810G certified, no camera bump, and the best 3.5mm headphone jack on the market.
Here"s our unboxing:
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