LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen Hands On Review | Double The Fun By Digital Trends

Don't call it a folding phone. This is the LG G 8x dual screen phone, and it's a multiscreen smartphone. You can buy wise now, so why shouldn't we call the GO jewel screen a folding smartphone while technically it looks like it is a folding phone, and it does kind of fold. Well, the difference is what you're seeing here is a case. This is the g8 X phone we take out of the case, which is something like the LG G eight announced earlier this year. This is the important part, the dual screen case.

What you do is slip the phone in click it home, tap that button to switch on the dual screen, and you have a second screen: that's identical to the screen on the phone inside the case, to give you that amazing dual screen view. If all of this is sounding a bit familiar, and you're familiar enough with LG's phone range, you'll, remember the v50 dual screen that was announced earlier this year. Well, that was the first generation product. This is the second generation and LG really listened to feedback and has changed the new device for the better, and it's done so in several perfect ways. The first is probably the most obvious.

Both the screens are now the same size on the v50 dual screen. The second screen was smaller, and it really didn't make a very cohesive design. Now it looks identical, it looks like it's supposed to be they're really great style. The second is how the two screens are connected together on the v 50. It was Bluetooth and that introduced lag and a lot of it in some cases.

But here it's a physical connection as a USB type-c connector under here that you plug the phone into so the two are directly linked and there's no lag making it a much better gaming experience which we'll come back to later. The other aspects concern the case itself. The first is, there's no longer a staged flip round. Now it's a 360 degree hinge and the feeling's fantastic is really nicely dampened, and it's enough that you can stand the phone up in tent mode like that, or you can use it with the screen on the front and the back a really nice addition. Finally, on the v50, when you close the case, you are completely in the dark.

You can see notifications on here. There's a second 2.1-inch OLED screen on the outside of the case itself, and that shows you the time. Then it shows you notifications an important change and makes the phone a lot more usable. Why would you want these two screens? It's for multitasking? This is a real multitasking powerhouse. Let's see exactly what you can do and how simple it is to switch between these two screens so say.

For example, we want to use one application on this screen, move it across to there and use another one on here, we'll use the gallery as an example. Here's a photo that we took earlier, and it's a simple three finger gesture to swap the app from one screen to the other. So you can then use this as you would do normally on here. You might want to be using a messaging, app or Chrome. Maybe to look at the details.

You bring up Chrome, and you've got a two screen experience running two different apps on the same phone. It's as simple as that, and that three finger gesture makes things incredibly easy. There are other ways to do it using a pop-up menu and things like that, but it's way easier just with the gesture, and you can use this for anything. So if you were using a messaging app on here, or you were using Google Maps on here, the possibilities are actually endless. There is no restriction to the app, so you can run on either screens LG's made some partnerships with app developers to create some apps, which work really well with the dual screen.

An example is the way all browser. If you use this rather than Chrome, it integrates itself with a really great way to you shop online. Now this works with Amazon here, but it also works really well with Instagram you're scrolling through Instagram on your main screen, and you see one of the shopping links, and you want to take a closer look at the product. You have the product on the screen, and you tap that button. It goes across here, and you can view the main shopping link on there with the regular Instagram feed on this site, and it's a great way to have everything all in one: go.

Instead of flipping from one screen to another and jumping out of Instagram and going to a browser, really great additions, multitasking for online shopping and business apps and Google Maps is one thing, but it's a bit dull, a perfect part with this physical connection between the main phone and the second screen is how it can be used for gaming. This is an example of LG's game pad. We can't get a game running on the screen at the moment, but imagine if you will asphalt 9 or racing game running on the screen and everything. Here being your controller, you have this sort of Nintendo 3ds style gaming system with your phone. All of these buttons are configurable, so they're just linked to the buttons in the game.

Anyway. The game does not have to be developed specifically for running here, but it can be if the developer wants to- and this is great it's such a lovely form. It's comfortable. It's lightweight, it's not balanced badly, so everything just feels like it's going to tip over and if I, next lovely and responsive, it's really fantastic. And this, if you don't want to do the multitasking stuff, it's an excellent alternative.

So it all the dual screen multitasking madness. What if you just want to use the phone it still works? It really does the cutout on the back of the case, so you can use the cameras. You would do normally when you open the case and take the phone out and leave the case itself at home. The g8x is very similar to the regular LG g8 you're, the same size screen. It's the same size body, a standard camera and a wide-angle camera on the back.

There's a snapdragon 855 processors inside for monster power, so it's going to keep everything going as you'd want it to. There is one change you remember from the g8. You had various cameras and systems in the top here for gestures, the crazy air gestures where you could change the volume with a swipe of your hand. Well, that's disappeared from here, and you get a regular single teardrop, not a front-facing, selfie camera and that design has been matched on the case itself again. Keeping that consistent, look across the phone and the dual screen case.

So what do I think with the GO jewel screen, I, love if it's so quirky and so fun, yet still so functional! There's nothing not to like about this interesting different design. It's a folding smartphone! Without that $2,000 price tag and the fact that you can't buy one. Yet this is a dual screen phone with actual useful functionality that I can get today for not a massive amount of money. It's also really fantastic for LG's, listen to feedback they've fixed, really most of the quirky annoying problems that were there with the p50 jewel screen and made this usable it's usable every day. Lg says that in Korea, where the first jewel screen was announced, people take the case off the vast amount of time, but I don't think it's going to happen with the second generation.

People are actually going to use this. It's not that heavy! It's not that thick, and it actually helps on a day-to-day basis, and it's not all about dreary multitasking. Furthermore, it's about fun gaming ?, what a great device for the full hands-on experience with the GO jewel screen visit, Digital Trends right now, and if you like this video and I, really hope you did click the subscribe button for more fantastic tech content.

Source : Digital Trends