LG’s new G8X phone comes with an identical, secondary screen

LG is trying the dual-screen thing again. 

Following the LG V50 ThinQ, which came with a detachable, secondary screen, the company came to the IFA show in Berlin with the LG G8X ThinQ, a phone that improves on the same concept. This time, the detachable secondary screen is identical to the one on the phone — same OLED panel, same 6.4-inch size, same resolution, and same notch. 

The secondary screen is actually a phone case (quite a bulky one), which has another, smaller 2.1-inch monochrome screen on the outside that displays basics like time and messages. So, three screens total and an unprecedented amount of screen real estate on a smartphone. 

There are other improvements compared to the last year’s model. The secondary screen rotates on a dual hinge that allows for 360 degrees of rotation. The screen will stay put at any angle; imagine a tiny laptop that flips into dual-tablet mode, a la the Lenovo Yoga Book, and you’ll get a good idea of what the LG G8X ThinQ is like. The phone has an in-display fingerprint sensor, making it easier to unlock when the secondary screen is flipped all the way around. 

At its press briefing ahead of IFA, LG laid out numerous examples of how all this could be useful. For example, you can have a YouTube video or a video call running on one screen while working on the other. Some apps will intelligently adapt to the dual-screen view, offering more screen real estate or additional features. There are some nice touches in the software, like the ability to add a screenshot of the secondary screen to a message composed in the main screen. 

Despite the fact that the phones we were given to try were pre-production devices, some flaws of the concept were immediately apparent. First, the screens, together with the secondary screen’s acrylic back, are enormous fingerprint magnets. 

Also, just like the main screen, the secondary screen has a notch — but here it serves no purpose, as it hosts no selfie camera. Company reps said it was a conscious decision to have the two screens completely identical, but it still strikes me as odd. And since it hosts no additional battery, the secondary screen is an overall battery drain, reducing total battery life by approximately 20 percent. I’ll be able to say more about these potential issues when I get to play with a finalized review unit. 

Here’s the kicker, though: This is not a foldable phone. If you don’t care about the dual screen, you don’t have to use it, and beneath it all, the G8X appears to be a perfectly capable smartphone. 

Specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 4,000mAh battery and 5G (though only in select markets). The camera on the back is a 12-megapixel sensor coupled with a 13-megapixel wide one, while the selfie camera is a 32-megapixel shooter (which collates pixels, ideally producing sharper, brighter 8-megapixel photos in low-light conditions). The phone is waterproof and durable up to MIL-STD-810GB military standard. 

LG has also improved its smartphone user interface, redesigning some of the graphics, making certain fonts bolder, and generally making important things stand out while less important ones fade into the background. 

Generally, I have no beef with LG’s take on the phone/tablet hybrid. With foldable phones still being a big unknown (LG rightfully points out that no such phone exist on the market yet, though this changes soon with the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Fold), the company is offering a solid, regular smartphone with an optional secondary screen. The dual screen concept may not be perfect, but neither are foldable phones at this point. Whether the consumers get sold on the concept remains to be seen. 

LG did not share availability date or pricing — carriers will take care of that, presumably soon.