LG V35 ThinQ Borrows G7 Tech But Dumps The Notch
The latest in LG's Android V series has broken cover, with the LG V35 ThinQ borrowing the AI-minded branding of its siblings along with the G7 ThinQ's twin camera setup. More important for some, there's also no notched display.
Indeed, it's hard not to see the V35 ThinQ as being a revamp – not a reinvention – of the V30 from 2017. In the process, LG further narrows the gap between the V and G series, scraping away at the reasons why you might choose one over the other. The V30S ThinQ announced earlier this year only confused that process more.
From the outside, the V35 ThinQ looks a whole lot like the V30. On the front, there's a 6-inch 18:9 OLED FullVision display. That's running at QHD+ 2880 x 1440 resolution, and gets a Gorilla Glass 5 cover with curved edges for protection.
The whole phone is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance, meanwhile, and LG says it earned "a passing grade" in 14 of the MIL-STD 810G military spec standards. Inside, there's a Snapdragon 845 chipset with 6 GB of RAM. LG will offer 64 GB and 128 GB storage options.
On the back, the G7 ThinQ's camera system has been adopted. That means two 16-megapixel sensors, one with a regular lens and the other with a Super Wide Angle. LG says the latter shows less distortion around the edges than before, not to mention producing sharper pictures in general.
The front camera gets an upgrade to 8-megapixels. LG's AI CAM has been loaded, with 19 shooting modes that the smartphone can switch between automatically. They include Portrait mode – for the front and rear cameras – and Stickers, which use face recognition to apply 2D or 3D effects. Super Bright Camera promises low light shots approximately four times brighter than before.
The AI steamroller doesn't end there, unsurprisingly. There's Google Lens support, and a high-performance microphone array that LG says can hear you call for the Google Assistant's help from 16 feet away. Alternatively, it'll be able to make out your voice over the TV, or through the noise of traffic if you're in the car.
Finally, there's the Hi-Fi Quad DAC, with DTS:X virtual surround sound for up to 7.1 channel sources. The battery is a 3,300 mAh li-ion, with both Quick Charge 3.0 and wireless charging support, and there's WiFi a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 5.0. LG will offer both Aurora Black and Platinum Grey finishes.
LG says the V35 ThinQ will arrive on shelves in the US come June. After that, it'll spread to "limited markets" in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. No word on pricing at this stage.