This device is part of the “LG Explorer Project”, a project in which the company explores new and exciting ways to innovate for the future with “new and distinct, yet practical innovations.” This device will launch with MTN first, then with Vodacom, and then other will follow carriers (read Cell C) in Mzansi.

The LG WING 5G works with a swivel and second screen, as LG puts it. We’ve seen the device in action several times over the past couple of weeks and months, thanks to leaks and LG’s own efforts to kick-start interest in the device.

The LG WING 5G works with a pair of displays. The first is a 6.8-inch FHD+ P-OLED display – that swings out. The swing reveals a second display that’s 3.9-inches large with G-OLED tech and 1240 x 1080 pixels across its face.

The hinge between the displays is made to withstand movement for a long, long time, with many, many movements. “The hinge mechanism in LG WING has proven to be reliable even after 200,000 swivels – this averages out to about 100 motions every day for five years. ”

This smartphone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G 5G SoC inside with a Snapdragon X52 5G modem-RF system. This device works with 8GB RAM as well as 256GB internal storage with a micro SD card slot for up to 2TB expanded storage.

At the back there is a set of three camera lenses. The main camera is 64MP, there’s a 13MP wide-angle lens with 117-degree field of view, and 12MP “ultra-wide with Hexa Motion Sensors” to round out the collection.

– Ultra High Resolution (64MP Standard 4 (F1.8 / 78°/ 0.8µm)
– 13MP Ultra Wide (F1.9 / 117° / 1.0µm)
– 12MP Ultra Wide Big Pixel (F2.2 / 120° / 1.4µm)

Camera action up front is handled by a pop-up 32MP camera that’ll appear when the camera is activated. Inside the device is a 4000mAh battery and Android 10. We’ll see Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, NFC, USB-C (USB 3.1 Gen 1 compatible) connectivity, and an interesting set of special features.

– Dual Recording
– LG 3D Sound Engine
– In-display Fingerprint Sensor
– Hexa Motion Stabilization (as noted above)
– Wireless Charging
– Gimbal Motion Camera

One colour will be offered with this device for now, Aurora Gray. The LG WING 5G price will be a cool R19 999. That’s twenty thousand Randelas, right out the gate. Specific pricing for networks has not yet been revealed.

LG mentions studies that claim how earbuds can host more bacteria than a kitchen cutting board, an imagery that’s sure to send shivers down some people’s spines. To remedy that, the new LG TONE Free HBS-FN6’s “UVnano case” uses built-in UV light to kill that bacteria while the buds charge inside. Unfortunately, that UVnano case isn’t available for the lower-end HBS-FN4.

Other than the self-cleaning case, the two TONE Free TWS buds boast of the exact same features, including “Headphone Spatial Processing” or HSP technology from Meridian, promising a sound stage that simulates listening to loudspeakers. The buds don’t feature active noise cancellation but do have noise isolation thanks to the ear tips. Ambient Sound Mode, on the other hand, lets you actually listen to the world around you at the press of a button.

Both models do feature Voice Command to integrate with either Google Assistant or Apple Siri. Despite their diminutive sizes, they support touch playback controls. The buds are, however, IPX4 rated only, so you’ll want to be careful with sudden downpours or stronger splashes of water, let alone accidentally dropping them in the pool, kitchen sink or bath.

Both the HBS-FN6 and HBS-FN4 come in Stylish Black and Modern White colours. LG hasn’t yet revealed the price for these self-cleaning TONE Free earbuds with UVnano case but they are scheduled to become available in South Africa in either August or September. Fingers crossed.

There are a few interesting things about the LG Velvet, but perhaps one of the most interesting is its processor: the Snapdragon 765G, which comes with an integrated 5G modem to save on space and power. The Velvet is compatible with the LG Dual Screen, and the phone itself features a 6.8-inch P-OLED display that outputs at 2,460 x 1,080 resolution.

On the inside, we’ll see that Snapdragon 765G paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, though as with many Android devices, the built-in microSD slot means that you can expand storage by up to 2TB. The battery comes in at 4,300mAh and supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ technology.

The front-facing 16MP camera is housed in what LG calls “Raindrop” cutout that’s supposed to evoke “imagery of falling rain.” We’re not sure we’d go that far, though it’s easy to imagine some users preferring this to a larger notch or a hole-punch cutout on the display. On the back, you’ll find a triple camera array that offers a 48MP main lens paired with an 8MP wide lens and a 5MP depth lens. The phone even includes a headphone jack, which is definitely a rarity these days.

The phone will be arriving in several European markets this month, namely Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, and Poland. In the weeks following that launch, we’ll see the phone spread to North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. No word on specific regions, release dates, or pricing was revealed today, but we’ll let you know when LG South Africa shares more.

Update – 30 June 2020

LG VELVET 5G will be available in South Africa from 1 July through MTN and from 7 July at Vodacom. The recommended cash retail price is R13,499, which translates to post-paid contracts starting at R699 for 24 months.

It’s almost too easy to market phones just based on the number of cameras alone but consumers should be aware that not all cameras are created equal, even if they boast high megapixel counts. At the top of the list is the LG K61 that boasts of what the company says is its highest resolution camera with 48 megapixels. This is joined by a Super Wide 8MP sensor, a 2MP Macro Camera, and a 5MP depth sensor.

In size and design, the K61 sports a 6.5-inch screen, linear camera setup, and a fingerprint sensor on the back. Up front there’s a FHD+ screen and 4GB of RAM – unsurprisingly there’s no 5G support.

This K61 continues LG’s tradition of bringing premium features to lower tiers. In other words, it tries to lure consumers with the promise of high-end features in budget phones. That hasn’t worked wonders so far and it’s unlikely that will change this year. The K61 will set you back R6 299.

To be honest, LG Velvet is really more like LG playing catch up with the trends rather than breaking completely new ground. What LG markets as a “3D arc design” is something that many manufacturers have already been doing, curving the side edges of the phone both front and back to meet in the middle for a more ergonomic design. Admittedly, the “Waterdrop Camera” is a new visual and nice contrast to the blocks and circles we have today.

The teaser video also confirms what tier the LG Velvet will sit on. What it calls “mass premium” is pretty much what most consider the higher end mid-range category. That means it will be running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765, fortunately with 5G for those who need it.

What the video doesn’t say, which LG’s own announcement reveals, is that the LG Velvet will still have a 3.5mm headphone jack. The company’s LG G and LG V series have always tried to woo audiophiles and it doesn’t seem it will be stopping anytime soon.

All in all, the LG Velvet will look great and probably perform decently for a “mass premium” phone. Whether that will be enough to break LG’s extremely long dry spell will be the biggest question. It will be an even bigger risk if LG will completely ditch its actual premium models for the LG Velvet and its future kin.

The original Dual Screen accessory launched alongside the V50 ThinQ, as a way to add a whole second touchscreen. It snapped on like a case, with a hinge that could open up to reveal a second panel. This new, second-generation Dual Screen found on the G8X takes the same approach.

Looking at the G8x Thinq, you’ll notice that rather than a piece of flexible OLED, however, LG has opted for a somewhat more reliable hinge. It also means that the LG G8X ThinQ can shed its second screen when you don’t want to carry it.

Compared to the old design of the LG Dual Screen, this new one has two matching panels. Both the LG G8X ThinQ and its secondary screen measure in at 6.4-inches, rather than the 6.2-inch of the previous secondary touchscreen. It’s slightly lighter, too, at 134 grams versus 136 grams, and a little thinner as well: 14.99mm versus 15.54mm. Perhaps most importantly, it also uses 10-percent less power, and connects via USB rather than pogo-pins.

Oddly, the secondary screen has a notch but no camera occupying it. LG says this was a side-effect of its decision to use an identical panel, from the same suppliers, on the Dual Screen attachment as used on the smartphone itself. That way colour and brightness should match up.

The cover display, meanwhile, now offers a 2.1-inch preview of incoming calls, messages, the time and date, battery status, and other metrics. Finally, the other main hardware tweak is that the Dual Screen no longer has four preset angles it can open between: instead, you can freely set the angle just as you would a laptop display. LG is calling it a “360 Freestop Hinge.”

Why would you want that secondary screen in the first place? That comes down to multi-tasking, something LG says has also been improved in the LG G8X ThinQ. There’s now an instant-capture screenshot tool, making sharing information on-screen easier, and accessed from the keyboard. You can have two different apps on-screen at once, or app-makers will be able to use LG’s SDK to have two UIs from a single app using both panels. An example of that is LG’s own gallery app, which can show both thumbnails and a full image at once.

As for the rest of the phone, despite what the name might suggest the LG G8X ThinQ picks up where the LG V10 ThinQ left off. The display is FHD+ resolution, and LG uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. You get a 12-megapixel regular camera with OIS and a 13-megapixel super-wide angle camera on the back, and a 32-megapixel selfie camera. There’s wireless charging for the 4,000 mAh battery, an in-display fingerprint sensor, microSD slot, 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC, 3.5mm headphone jack, and IP68 water/dust resistance.

The LG Dual Screen, meanwhile, has the same display 2,340 x 1,080 of course, and charges via USB. The outer display is monochrome. Together, phone and secondary screen weigh 326 grams.

Is there a market for dual-screen devices? It’s still going to be a niche segment, certainly, and expensive foldables like the re-launching Galaxy Fold isn’t going to do much to shift that balance. We’ll see how popular the LG G8X ThinQ and its LG Dual Screen companion turn out to be when they go on sale in November this year. Pricing is set at R15 999 and will be available from Vodacom, MTN as well as Cell C.

Looking at the innards, the LG G8s ThinQ has a 6.2-inch display with an 83.5% screen-to-body ratio. This is just a TINY bit less impressive than the 6.1-inch display on the Galaxy S10, which has an 88.3% screen-to-body ratio. Meanwhile the iPhone XS has a 5.8-inch display with an 82.9% screen-to-body ratio. The LG display has 100% DCI-P3, Dolby Vision, HDR10, and an always-on display.

Inside you’ll find the latest version of Android, version 9.0 Pie, with the latest in Qualcomm processors. That’s the Qualcomm SDM855 Snapdragon 855, the same model you’ll find in the Samsung Galaxy S10.

In front you’ll find a 8-megapixel selfie camera with an f/1.9 aperture while on the back is a triple-lens camera consisting of a 12-megapixel, f/1.8 aperture lens, a 13-megapixel wide-angle lens, and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens. This is slightly different to the rear camera on the G8, which comes in both dual and triple-lens configurations with a 16-megapixel super wide-angle lens.

Biometrics in this device include Capacitive Fingerprint Sensor, 3D Face Unlock, and “Hand ID”. The 3D ToF (time of flight) sensor is easily the coolest thing on this device – and it’ll be a major asset when LG starts releasing additional features in the near future. You’ll learn a massive amount more about this and other savory feature details once we get a hands-on on the device

The release of the LG G8s ThinQ  began today. The price of the LG G8s ThinQ at launch is confirmed at R11 999 exclusively in Mirror Black.

Budding photographers will want to know that the main camera is a 13-megapixel unit, and comes with OIS and tap to focus. And yes, again, as rumored there’s the (infrared) laser auto focus — we’ll be exploring that in detail once it launches locally for sure. That’s the key spec list, but in this increasingly experiential mobile world, there’s a lot more going on than just a laundry list of features, which we hope to get chance to explore for ourselves.

List of Simpler Features

Smart Keyboard: Adaptive technology learns as you type for faster input with less mistakes. Smart Keyboard reduces input errors by up to 75 percent by tracking and analysing typing habits and intuitively “knowing” what word the user intended to type. The height of the keyboard can also be adjusted to better fit the user’s hands and position of the thumbs. Individual keys can also be customised with frequently used symbols for even faster input.

Smart Notice: Like a personal assistant, Smart Notice provides suggestions and recommendations based on user behavior, phone usage patterns and location to offeruser information when it’s needed the most. Smart Notice can remind you of a call you declined earlier and ask if you would like to call that person back. If you have a large number of unused files or apps on the G3 taking up valuable space, Smart Notice will ask if you would like to delete or uninstall them. But what sets Smart Notice apart from other personal assistants is its natural language capabilities. For example, instead of just displaying today’s temperature and weather forecast, Smart Notice will make a recommendation such as, “You may want to take an umbrella today since it will rain this evening.”

Smart Security: Understanding the importance of maintaining and securing confidential data when smartphones are shared, misplaced, lost or stolen, the LG G3 offers a number of enhanced security features such as Knock Code, Content Lock and Kill Switch.

*Local availability, pricing and model variants are yet to be confirmed

The South Korean company launched the feature on the G Pro 2 in February, with a promise that it’ll eventually be available on older models. While the older knock technology only switches a screen on or off when you tap it, Knock Code lets you bypass the lock screen altogether. You merely need to configure a phone’s security setting to recognize a combination of up to eight taps made on four sections of the screen beforehand. The security feature’s was slated to arrive on the handsets sometime in April through a firmware update — to make things worse , there was no clear word on which countries will get it. LG announced in a release dates today that the upgrade will be rolling out in South Africa ‘in the coming weeks’. Obviously, users in LG’s home turf were some of the first to enjoy the feature, but everyone else will just have to cross their fingers.