Here's what LG's got cooking up for 2020.
With so many phones that are released during a given year, it only makes sense for some of them to slip between the cracks. Other companies gets fiercer, prices get more competitive, and those that aren't truly amazing often get left to the wayside.
Unfortunately, that seems to have been the case for LG for the last few years. The company makes solid devices, but a handful of quirks or missteps keep them from achieving true greatness.
2020 is here, and this time around, we're expecting to see the LG G9. Is this the year LG will finally be able to turn things around? Here's everything we know so far about the phone.
- The design looks pretty outdated đŹ
- Let's talk specs
- Four cameras are on the back
- Yes, there's still a headphone jack
- What about Air Motion and Hand ID?
- Pricing and release info is unknown
- The LG G8 is still worth a look
Underdog
LG G8
One of 2019's most overlooked phones
Not very impressed with what we're seeing so far from the LG G9? The G8 is still plenty powerful and capable, and you can buy it right now. It's got an OLED display, good battery life, and a top-notch headphone jack. It's not our first phone recommendation, but it's also far from the worst out there. If you're an LG fan, it's certainly worth checking out.
The G9's design looks like it's from 2018
The first renders of the G9 were shared on January 3, and while we don't want to be too judgemental this early on, what we're seeing here doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
To be perfectly blunt, the G9 looks like a phone that was released in 2018 — not a next-gen flagship coming out in 2020. The bezels are small, but if we're nitpicking, the bottom one does look a bit large compared to what other companies have been able to achieve. There's also a waterdrop notch at the top of the screen.
Around back, we get a plain black paint job with four rear cameras and a flash. The G9 appears to have an all-glass body, along with a dedicated Google Assistant button to accompany the power button and volume rocker.
There's nothing offensive or wrong about how the G9 looks, but there's also nothing inspiring or creative about this design. It looks like every other phone released over the last couple of years, and for a company that desperately needs something to set itself apart from Samsung, OnePlus, Apple, and others, this isn't what we were hoping to see.
The design could change between now and release, and we won't make any final judgments until we're holding the phone in our own hands, so we'll leave it at that.
Specs remain a mystery
While we have a good idea for what the LG G9 will look like, we don't know much of anything when it comes to specs.
We can safely assume that the phone will use Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 processor, at least 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of expandable storage. We should also see an OLED display, as the G8 was the first phone in the G-series to use an OLED panel instead of an LCD one.
We're bound to learn more on this front in the coming weeks, and as we do, we'll be sure to keep you updated.
LG's stepping up to four cameras
Taking a look at the back of the LG G9, we can see that the rear camera bump is housing a total of four sensors. Two are a bit on the larger side, with the other two being noticeably smaller.
We have no idea what sort of camera specs the G9 will be outfitted with, but an early guess is that we'll get a primary wide camera, ultra-wide camera, telephoto camera, and a time-of-flight sensor.
This is great to see, especially considering that the G8 only had two cameras.
Don't worry — the headphone jack is still here
Although LG phones aren't the most popular out there, there is one thing we have to give the company praise for — it continues to offer a headphone jack in a world that's so persistent on getting rid of it.
Renders of the G9 show that the 3.5mm jack is there just like always, and knowing LG, it likely has an impressive DAC for high-end wired audio.
With Samsung even killing off the legacy port with its Note 10 series (and likely on the upcoming S20), this should be a great differentiator for LG.
We aren't sure about Air Motion and Hand ID, though
The LG G8's standout, and most puzzling, features were Air Motion and Hand ID. The former allowed you to control aspects of the phone by waving your hand over it, where the latter allowed you to unlock the G8 by having it scan the vein patterns in your hand.
While certainly unique, both of these proved to perform rather inconsistently in our testing. For the G9, we aren't so sure they'll be making a return.
The LG G8 had a much larger notch in its display, which was needed for the sensors that powered Air Motion and Hand ID. The notch on the G9 is considerably smaller and looks to just house the selfie camera — indicating LG has given up on the features.
LG's always been known to try new concepts with its phones, so with these going the way of the dodo, we're interested to see what takes their place.
So, what about the release date and price?
For the past few years, LG has announced its new G-series phone at Mobile World Congress in February. It did this for the G5, G6, and G8, with the G7 being unveiled at a special event in NYC during May.
We'd expect LG to announce the G9 at this year's MWC, especially with such high-quality renders being shared in early January.
In regards to price, expect this to be an expensive phone. The LG G8 had a starting price of $850 in the United States, and while LG does tend to offer hefty sales and discounts shortly after release, don't expect a low MSRP for the G9. Something in the $800 - $900 range sounds about right.
Let's not count out the LG G8
With all of this talk about the LG G9, it can be easy to forget that the G8 is still out there and available for purchase.
The G8 was never a perfect phone (and still isn't), but you could also spend your money on a lot worse phones. It's built like a tank, has a really good display, reliable battery life, and excellent call quality.
LG's software is showing its age and the cameras aren't the best money can buy, but if you're an LG fan, this is a solid pickup. It's come down a bit in price since its release, making it an easier purchase on your wallet than what we're expecting from the G9.
Underdog
LG G8
One of 2019's most overlooked phones
Not very impressed with what we're seeing so far from the LG G9? The G8 is still plenty powerful and capable, and you can buy it right now. It's got an OLED display, good battery life, and a top-notch headphone jack. It's not our first phone recommendation, but it's also far from the worst out there. If you're an LG fan, it's certainly worth checking out.
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