LG presents G7 ThinQ smartphone with Google Assistant button

LG has officially announced its G7 ThinQ smartphone. The device has a physical button to activate Google Assistant and also supports Google Lens. The device will probably be released in June for 849 euros.

The new top model from LG has a 6.1 “LCD with a ratio of 19.5:9 and a resolution of 3120×1440 pixels. The device runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845-soc and has 4GB lpdd4r4x memory. The storage memory consists of 64GB ufs 2.1 and is expandable with a micro SD card.

The housing is sealed against dust according to the ip68 rating. Although the device has a larger screen than the LG G6, the new model is hardly bigger according to the manufacturer. The width is unchanged, but the G7 ThinQ is half a centimeter longer. Both the front and the back are finished with a layer of Gorilla Glass 5 and the side has a metal edge. The device contains a 3000mAh battery, which means that the capacity is slightly lower than that of the LG G6, which had a 3300mAh battery. The smartphone comes with Android 8.0, with LG’s own skin on top.

LG claims that the screen can be very bright and can also be read well in direct sunlight. Earlier, the manufacturer already mentioned a brightness of 1000cd/m². Users can choose to use the upper part of the elongated screen with a notch to display notifications. It is also possible to leave this part black, so that the notch no longer stands out.

Like other recent LG smartphones, the G7 ThinQ has two cameras on the back, one of which has an ultra-wide angle lens. This time it’s two sixteen-megapixel cameras; on earlier models, the wide-angle camera had a lower resolution. The primary camera has an f/1.6 lens; the wide-angle camera has a lens with a brightness of f/1.9.

The camera gets the ‘ai functions’ that were previously introduced with the LG V30S ThinQ. These are modes in which the camera takes a lot of photos, for example, and combines them for better results in low light. Furthermore, LG gives the smartphone a Live Photo mode, in which the camera continuously records images in a buffer. When the user takes a photo, a one-second clip is also captured before shooting. In addition, users can add stickers to photos that use facial recognition for 2D and 3D overlays.

Below the volume button is an extra button that provides quick access to Google Assistant. Pressing twice opens Google Lens. If users hold down the button, they can give commands to Google’s voice assistant. According to LG, the G7 ThinQ is one of the first smartphones to support Google Lens. This is a service that can recognize subjects in the image of the camera and show information via overlays. The feature works within Google Assistant and Google Photos.

LG has not yet announced information about the availability of the LG G7 ThinQ in the Benelux in its press release. The manufacturer communicates a release date in June and a suggested retail price of 849 euros to retailers.