Michael Crider
As Samsung wows consumers with folding flip phones, possibly even inspiring a few to buy them, LG is wondering why no one was all that impressed with the V50 ThinQ. You know, that flagship phone that offered an add-on screen, making it look like a tiny laptop from a 90s sci-fi movie.
“Maybe if we give them away…?” Opines a theoretical LG executive, in the luxurious boardroom inside my head.
“Why not?” says his imaginary counterpart, throwing spaghetti against the wood paneling of my skull to see if it sticks. “Bump the number up by one, and make sure that ‘ThinQ’ branding is still there.”
“You mean the same thing we put on all our TVs, and washing machines, and robot vacuums? That thing that’s basically a second and less helpful logo at this point?”
“That’s the one. I can’t imagine any way this could go wrong. Let’s announce it at Mobile World Congress.”
And so it went. Mobile World Congress didn’t, but the next version of the V-series phone did: the V60 ThinQ 5G is now official. The main phone uses a huge 6.8-inch OLED screen, with an in-display fingerprint reader hiding inside it. Slide the phone into the Dual Screen add-on and you get a secondary, identical screen on its left, including the cutout (an odd choice since there’s only one front-facing camera).
The Dual Screen has a tiny front-facing black and white screen that can briefly show notifications and other information, and the updated software allows Google apps (not just LG apps) to span both displays in fullscreen mode. The accessory will be included in the purchase price of the phone, which is [checks notes] not disclosed at the moment.
For reference, the V50 ThinQ costs $1000-1200 on its own, depending on where you buy it, though its dual screen accessory was never released in the US. The slightly lower-market G8X, released in the fall of last year, costs $750 without its dual-screen accessory, but Sprint gave the second screen away for free. The unlocked phone is easy to find with the Dual Screen included for around $700, so including this accessory with the V60 might not drive the price too far above the current flagship level. That said, the original dual screen accessory didn’t make it to some markets, including the US—something to keep in mind if you’re excited by this design.
Other specs for the V60 include a Snapdragon 865 processor with the new X55 5G model, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage plus an open MicroSD card slot, and dual rear cameras, with the biggest and baddest being a 64-megapixel, F1.8 sensor. The front-facing cam is 10 megapixels, and video capabilities stretch to 8K recording. That massive screen real estate gives the phone room for a 5000mAh battery, among the largest in flagship phones. You might think the second screen includes an external battery, and you would be wrong.
Critical responses to the dual-screen capabilities of the V50 and G8X were tepid at best, citing neat multitasking abilities but middling performance and un-intuitive additions to the Android software. The V60 ThinQ 5G will have an uphill battle when it releases in March, with pricing yet to be announced.
Source: LG Newsroom
