(Pocket-lint) - LG wanted to be quick to market with the LG V50 ThinQ, so it launches its first 5G device alongside the LG G8 ThinQ. The differentiation between these two phones is that the G8 - and the G series going forward - is going to stay as a 4G LTE device, while the V50 and V devices will move forward into 5G. That slightly changes the position of one being a rugged phone for those who love shooting video; instead, LG is building on its flagship devices to keep its phones moving forward. Gorilla Glass front and rear 159.2 x 76.1 x 8.3mm, 183g IP68 + MIL-STD Notch display The LG V50 ThinQ has a familiar design with Gorilla Glass front and back. It's glossy, prone to fingerprint smears, but it's likely you'll slap a case on it - more on that in a second - and in fairness, the V50 looks pretty good. It doesn't have the gloss of Samsung's S10 5G, but we do like the slim 8.3mm chassis and the fact that this phone isn't too big to get to grips with. It comes with many of the familiar V series traits, like IP68 waterproofing and the MIL-STD drop protection, which you'd expect. Safe then, both in terms of the rugged design and the overall look. LG isn't going wild with colours and isn't even changing the notch at the top of the display much. Strong and stable - or a little samey? Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, 6GB RAM, 128GB RAM + microSD 4000mAh battery What's perhaps more important is what's happened inside. As LG is changing up the hardware to something more powerful - 5G - there's a greater need for cooling. No longer does the LG V50 have a heat pipe, but a vapour chamber to disperse heat some 40 per cent faster. There's still room inside for a 4000mAh battery, which sounds reasonably capacious, and there's Quick Charge 3.0 to make sure you can top it up quickly. LG reports that 5G will increase some battery demands, but they shouldn't be limiting. Sitting at the heart of the LG is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, the latest hardware in Qualcomm's arsenal and paired with the X50 modem - opening the door to 5G connectivity. This is going to be a common combination in 2019 and we're expecting a number of devices to offer this hardware. How will it perform? At the moment we don't know: aside from promises of greater speed, greater efficiency and all the rest, we've not had the chance to put it through its paces. Similarly, 5G is still something of an unknown. We know what it will offer, but LG was pretty clear in saying that initial target markets for the V50 ThinQ are Korea and USA. LG also confirmed that there would be support for all the US networks, whichever flavour of 5G they offer. We imagine, should networks in the UK and Europe want it, the V50 will travel wider, but there's no confirmation yet. As previously, there's a Quad DAC in the V50, along with a 3.5mm headphone socket and Meridian tuned speakers - part of LG's wider audio pairing with the British company - and DTS:X Virtual Surround and LG's Boombox tech introduced on the LG G7 ThinQ. Phone screen: 6.4-inch OLED QHD+ Dual screen accessory: 6.2-inch OLED FHD+ LG has also come out publicly and said that it's not doing a folding phone - despite it being well within LG's technical capabilities based on the strength of its OLED display business. But LG isn't just going to restrict you to using one boring screen like every other smartphone on the planet. No - the excitement comes from Dual Screen. Dual Screen is an accessory display, a 6.2-inch OLED display that you can use to extend your phone. It comes in the form of a folio case, so you can open up your phone and have two displays. Both can work independently - opening apps on either side - and in some conditions, they can work together. Pocket-lint For example, you'll be able to have Google Maps open on the Dual Screen (that's the case bit) and you can be messaging away on your phone's main screen and share a full grab from the map so your pals know where to meet you. Other options extend to the camera: you'll be able to flip the case over so that the person you're taking a photo of can see themselves and check that it's the photo they want or you can use it to line-up the camera at different angles like you might a vari-angle display on a camera. You can also use it to preview all the different views from the three rear cameras at the same time - very fancy. Finally - and this is where it gets a bit more exciting - you can use it to play games. In this mode, you can have the game displayed in the top screen and controls on the bottom - like a Nintendo DS. LG's aim is to let this work with all games, just replicating the controls like you might get from Bluetooth controller. It's an interesting idea - with the phone just dropping into the case, supplying power via contact pins on the rear and then using a new wireless protocol to connect the display. Certainly, it's an antidote to criticisms of not having a folding phone. Effectively. You're getting some of the advantages of larger display without the impracticalities. The regular display is a 6.4-inch OLED panel and the first impressions are good, but really we need to spend more time with this phone to gauge the overall quality. Rear: 12MP f/1.5 1.4µm; 16MP f/1.9 1.0µm wide-angle; 12MP f/2.4 1.0µm 2x zoom Front: 8MP f/1.9 standard; 5MP f/2.2 wide LG is packing the V50 ThinQ full of cameras, offering regular, its favoured wide-angle and a zoom. The wide-angle camera comes in at 107 degrees while the zoom runs out to 2x optical, before flipping to digital. You can tap the icons to switch between cameras, as well as sliding the shutter button to move from one to the other in a smooth action. It's impossible to judge the quality of these cameras, but LG has been putting in a pretty good showing in recent years. The main camera is 12-megapixel f/1.5 with 1.4µm pixels, with portrait mode grabbing depth information from the other cameras for bokeh effects. The bokeh extends to video too, so you can add some depth to those moving scenes too. Video not only lets you capture 4K, but HDR too, as well as there being a YouTube Live button in the camera app. The wide-angle has always been LG's preserve - but there's now challengers from Samsung, Huawei and others, taking the wide-angle and making it their own. On the front the V50 ThinQ offers two cameras, again giving you portrait modes, as well as 80 and 90-degree cameras, so you can fit a little more in the selfie scene. Motorola's new Moto G9 Plus is a stunner of a phone - find out why, right here By Pocket-lint Promotion · 27 May 2021 Pocket-lint What you don't get is any of the fancy skills introduced on the LG G8 ThinQ, which use the time of flight camera to enable a range of new interactions - gesture controls - and hand unlocking. In that sense, there's a disparity between these phones: the G8 adds the newness, the V50 hits 5G. First Impressions Much of what the LG V50 ThinQ offers sounds familiar - and that's because it is. The LG V50 is an evolution of the LG V40, bringing much the same experience, a similar design and pretty close tech specs, but with some important bumps to accommodate 5G. There's more power and a bigger battery. The Dual Screen is really the new addition and brings something that you don't get elsewhere. It's an innovative idea, a second screen when you need it, a case when you don't and it side-steps the challenge presented by folding phones - while being all the more conventional. The prices and availability - as well as the carriers - remains something of an unknown, but we'll update as soon as we know more. Writing by Chris Hall.<doc-sep>LG is getting in on the 5G hype with the new V50 ThinQ — an updated version of the V40 from last fall that keeps the same basic design, but adds support for the next-generation network. You’ll know that the V50 supports 5G right from the start, thanks to the literally glowing 5G logo on the back of the phone. From a spec perspective, the V50 is only different from the V40 in a few ways: 5G capabilities (obviously), a larger 4,000 mAh battery (since 5G takes more power), and a Snapdragon 855 processor (presumably to support Qualcomm’s X50 5G modem). LG is is also adding a new cooling system to help cope with the extra heat from the new processor and battery. The V50 supports 5G, and has a literally glowing logo on the back to prove it The phone itself is also a bit thicker and a little heavier than the V40, although LG has taken advantage of that to remove the camera bump, which is nice. Otherwise, though, it’s a V40 with 5G, which LG says is very intentional — in order to get a 5G phone to market this quickly, the company had to use the existing V40 platform. In a wild twist, LG is also offering a new Dual Screen accessory for the V50 — a second 6.2-inch OLED display that attaches to the phone like a case, and offers twice the screen real estate. The Dual Screen is powered off the V50’s internal battery, so users can simply attach it to their phone and be good to go. With the second screen, users will be able to multitask with an application on each display, or even use it as a game controller with some games. Sadly, the Dual Screen accessory will only be sold internationally and isn’t planned to make its way to the US. LG says that the V50 will first be available in the US exclusively from Sprint sometime in the coming months, although it will eventually be available at Verizon as well sometime during the summer following Sprint’s exclusivity period. South Korea, Australia, and several other unspecified European countries should also get the V50, too. Details like pricing and release dates haven’t been announced yet, although release information will likely depend on when the 5G networks for LG’s eventual partners actually launch.<doc-sep>
Samsung, Xiaomi, and others are announcing phones with 5G support at MWC 2019. Not to be outdone, LG has also announced a 5G-capable phone, though it may not be what you expect. The LG V50 ThinQ 5G is here, and it’s launching on Sprint sometime this year. Read on to find out what you can expect from LG’s first 5G phone. Worthy of a new name? Despite the “V50” moniker, the V50 ThinQ isn’t actually a huge step up from its predecessor (aside from the 5G compatibility). It’s essentially the same chassis as 2018’s LG V40 ThinQ. It has an aluminum frame, sandwiched between two glass panels on the front and back. It’s nothing special, but like the V40 it feels as premium and sturdy as ever. A power button sits on the right side, while the physical Google Assistant button sits on the left side below the volume buttons. There’s a USB-C port on the bottom, and yes, the headphone jack remains. Don’t miss: The full list of LG V50 specs Camera quality was a big area where we thought the LG V40 could have been improved, so it’s unfortunate the V50 has the exact same triple-camera setup as its predecessor. There’s a 16MP super-wide lens, paired with a 12MP standard lens, and 12MP telephoto. It’s much too early to comment on camera quality, though — we had very limited time with the device during our briefing. One positive change on the design front: there’s no camera hump whatsoever on the back. It’s a small thing, but actually quite refreshing. Around front, you’ll find the same 6.4-inch POLED display that we saw on last year’s model. Again, it’s hard to comment on display quality this early. LG tried telling us the V50 ThinQ has “the best OLED” out there, but the company didn’t have claims to back this up during the presentation. The dual-camera setup on the front sits inside the notch on the top of the display. It’s the same 8MP standard/5MP wide-angle pairing that we saw on the V40. LG’s V-series phones have always featured top-of-the-line specs, and the V50 is no different. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 855 chipset. If this phone is anything like the 855-touting Xiaomi Mi 9, performance shouldn’t be an issue in the slightest. It also has 6GB of RAM, as well as a beefy 4,000mAh battery. After using the device for a few minutes, I can’t say it’s worthy of the V50 name. A more appropriate name would be the LG V40 Plus ThinQ 5G, though I’m hoping I’ll never have to write that out ever again. The benefits of 5G The hardware may not be anything to write home about, but we still need to talk about 5G support. The LG V50 ThinQ is launching on Sprint’s 5G network this year, which is supposed to roll out before the end of the first half of 2019. We’re hoping the V50 becomes available right away, though LG is remaining quiet about pricing and availability at the moment. You can read all about Sprint’s 5G network right here. LG says it’s also working with Verizon on a V50 variant that will be compatible with Verizon’s mmWave. T-Mobile and AT&T might carry the device down the line too, but we have no exact details on that. So what are the benefits of being 5G capable? Aside from being able to run on Sprint’s 2.5GHz spectrum, support for 5G enables the V50 ThinQ to utilize LG’s new Dual Screen accessory. Essentially, this is a 6.2-inch OLED display baked into a sturdy folio case, which connects to the V50 ThinQ via pogo pins. The screen can be used independently in a variety of use cases, like acting as a virtual Bluetooth gaming controller or pulling up an IMDB page while you’re watching Netflix. In the demo, LG simply connected the V50 to the Dual Display, and a virtual button showed up on the screen. Tapping that button either turns on the second display or lets you switch content between the two screens. Of course, this allows for side-by-side multitasking, so you can have a different app open on both screens at the same time. We have no idea how this will affect battery life. The Dual Display accessory is powered by the V50’s built-in 4,000mAh cell, so we’d imagine a long gaming session with both screens would be quite the battery drain.