The newest big smartphone from LG finally has a price and release date

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• The LG G8 has a starting price of $820 and will be released on April 11.
• It specs and features are closer to the $750 Galaxy S10e from Samsung, but the LG G8 has a larger screen.
• LG has some unique features to differentiate itself, like Hand ID for unlocking the phone, and gesture controls by hovering your hand above the phone in a claw-like shape. 

LG’s G8 ThinQ smartphone will be released on April 11, after being announced back in late February.

Pricing for the LG G8 will start at $820, which places LG’s phone in line with its main rivals from Samsung, the $800 Galaxy S10 and $900 Galaxy S10 Plus.

The LG G8 has a 6.1-inch OLED display with a sharp, quad-HD 1440p resolution that’s similar to the Galaxy S10’s display.

It’ll also run on the latest Snapdragon 855 mobile chip from Qualcomm, and it’ll come with 6GB of RAM. These specs are closer to the $750 Samsung Galaxy S10e.

Camera-wise, the LG G8 will have a 12-megapixel standard camera and a 16-megapixel ultrawide camera, much like the Galaxy S10e. The LG G8 doesn’t have a zoomed lens like the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus have, but in my opinion, that’s fine — ultra-wide cameras have proven to be more useful.

For selfies, the LG G8 will only come with a single, 8-megapixel camera. It’s somewhat disappointing that it doesn’t come with a second ultra-wide selfie camera lens, like the Pixel 3 phones and LG’s V40 have.

LG’s differentiating features include a unique way to unlock the phone using the company’s “Hand ID” feature. Hand ID uses the LG G8’s front-facing sensors to recognize the veins in the palm of your hand. My initial impression of Hand ID was that it’s a little slow, but the LG G8 will also come with a traditional fingerprint sensor on the back, as well as 3D facial recognition. 

LG might seem like its behind the curve by using a traditional capacitive fingerprint sensor compared to the newer ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus. With that said, Samsung’s ultrasonic fingerprint sensor hasn’t proven to be quite as fast or accurate as a traditional capacitive fingerprint sensor. 

LG also added unique gesture controls for certain apps and features by hovering your hand in a claw-like shape above the LG G8. 

Only real-world usage will tell if the LG G8 is any good or not, which I’ll be revealing when I review the phone in the near future. 

SEE ALSO: Check out the hands-on experience with the LG G8

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