LG's latest flagship phone is a solid alternative to Samsung's Galaxy S10e, but only if you can get it at a discount

[ad_1]

• The LG G8 will be available to buy on April 11, and its most obvious competitors in 2019 are Samsung’s Galaxy S10 phones. 
• With that said, the only Samsung phone the LG G8 should really be compared with is the cheaper Galaxy S10e. 
• If you can find it for the discounted $700 from certain carriers and stores, the LG G8 makes a decent proposition. Any higher than $700, however, and you should gravitate towards the Galaxy S10e. 

At this stage in 2019, the most obvious smartphone to compare with the new LG G8 is Samsung’s Galaxy S10 lineup. 

Right off the bat, the first thing you should know about the LG G8 is that it competes with Samsung’s cheaper, $750 Galaxy S10e rather than the higher-end $900 Galaxy S10 or $1,000 S10 Plus.

If you want 2019 specs with premium design, no matter the price, the LG G8 isn’t going to cut it for you. 

But that’s not a bad thing! When we reviewed Samsung’s Galaxy S10 phones, we actually recommended that you take a good, long, hard look at the cheaper Galaxy S10e before opting for the more expensive and not-that-much-better Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus.

The LG G8 is another great choice in the sub-$800 range. That may come across as inaccurate, as the LG G8’s price tag was initially announced at $820. But carriers and certain stores like Best Buy and B&H Photo are selling it for $700, and that’s absolutely the price tag you should be looking for if you’re considering the LG G8. 

So, check out how the LG G8 compares to the Samsung Galaxy S10e:

SEE ALSO: The Galaxy S10 is the better smartphone for taking photos compared to the iPhone XS, and it’s clear what Apple needs to add to its next iPhone

Spec-for-spec, the LG G8 is closer to the $750 Galaxy S10e than Samsung’s higher-end S10 and S10 Plus smartphones.

Here’s the spec breakdown:

• Both the LG G8 and Galaxy S10e run on the latest chip from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 855.
• Both phones come with 6GB of RAM standard (the more expensive Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus come with 8GB standard).
• Both phones comes with 128GB of storage. 
• Both phones have a dual-lens rear camera, both of which do the same thing, including a regular camera and an ultra-wide camera.
• Both phones have a single selfie camera.
• The LG G8 has a slightly larger 3,500mAh battery versus the 3,100mAh battery in the Galaxy S10e, but the difference is negligible. 

When it comes to design, the LG G8 lags behind, even against the Galaxy S10e.

LG hasn’t innovated much at all on design with the G8. It looks like a generic Android smartphone, with its notch and thick bezels — at least by new standard that has been set by Samsung and its Galaxy S10 smartphones. 

It’s good to keep in mind that Samsung’s Galaxy S10 phones are going to be incredibly hard to beat on the design front — still, there’s no sign of effort from LG. I can’t imagine anyone walking into a store and picking the LG G8 if any of Samsung’s Galaxy S10 phones, including the Galaxy S10e, are displayed next to it. 

The Galaxy S10e has thicker bezels than its more expensive siblings, but it still looks like a more premium device compared to the LG G8. 

The LG G8’s “Hand ID” can — and should be — fully and thoroughly ignored.

LG’s “Hand ID,” which recognizes the veins in the palm your hand to unlock the phone, is incredibly slow and hard to use. I set it up, tried it a few times without success, and was frustratingly and constantly told by the phone to hover my hand closer to the top of the screen or further away, which never worked anyway.

I haven’t used it since for my day-to-day usage, opting instead to use the fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone or the 3D facial recognition. Thankfully, you can totally ignore that Hand ID exists, and it doesn’t affect anything on the LG G8.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

[ad_2]