LG Q8

Pros:

• It is lightweight.
• It is water-resistant.
• It offers 4GB RAM.
• It comes with Gorilla Glass 4 protection.
• Thanks to the sharp and QHD display, images, videos, and texts appear to be very crisp.

Cons:

• It has a non-removable battery.
• It features a dated design.

Clearly, the useful features outweigh the minor drawbacks of the phone. So if you’re looking for a budget-friendly phone with decent specs, this phone’s for you!

LG released the LG Q8 in July 2017 as a ‘mini variant’ of the LG V20. While it does sport a smaller screen than the V20, one of the significant improvements is that it comes with an always-on secondary display. The LG Q8 has a 5.2-inch Quad HD IPS LCD Capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1440×2560 pixels. Furthermore, it has Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection.

The phone runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat) with LG’s custom LG UX 5.0 skin on top. At its core, it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC clocked at 2.15 GHz. As for the memory configuration, it offers 4GB RAM with 32GB internal storage (expandable up to 256 GB via a microSD card). It has a battery capacity of 3000 mAh, which is good enough to support the 5.2-inch display smoothly.

LG Q8 flaunts a dual-camera setup – a 13MP+8 MP megapixel rear camera and a 5MP front camera. Another great thing about the phone is that it has an IP67 certification, and is thus, water resistant up to 1.5 metres. Also, the rear panel has a Fingerprint Sensor. Like most high-end LG phones, the LG Q8 also has a 32-bit quad DAC support.

There are two colour variants for the LG Q8 –  Sweet Pink and Urban Titan. In India, the price of the phone is Rs. 9,990.

The design of the LG Q8 is nothing extraordinary. However, the metal body and the build quality feels excellent. The phone weighs around 146g, and its dimensions are 149 x 72 x 8 mm (height x width x thickness). The bezels on display look dated (given that the latest phones feature bezel-less designs). The top bezel houses the selfie camera and the earpiece rests above that in the panel design. The volume and power buttons lie on the left side. On the rear panel, you will see the dual-camera set up positioned horizontally, and just below, in the middle lies the Fingerprint Sensor. The micro USB port lies in the bottom panel.

The display of the LG Q8 is one of its most attractive features. As we mentioned earlier, the phone has a 5.2-inch screen with Quad HD IPS LCD screen with capacitive touch. The screen resolution is 1440 x 2560, and pixel density is 564 PPI. To protect the screen from scratches and accidental damage, LG has provided the phone with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection.

While the colour reproduction is great, the QHD display makes watching videos, browsing, and gaming an enjoyable experience on the phone. The always-on secondary screen allows you to see any and every notification without having to disrupt your viewing/browsing/gaming experience.

LG Q8 comes with a 2.15GHz+1.6GHz x 4 (Quad-Core) Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 processor. Coupled with the 4GB RAM, the phone promises a lag-free experience. It can handle multitasking with ease, and also, shuffling between apps is very smooth. The phone performs well in the gaming department and offers a great gaming experience for both 2D and 3D game lovers. However, it will lag,  if you try playing graphics-intensive games on it. That aside, the overall performance of the LG Q8 is pretty reliable.

For a phone priced at 10k, LG Q8 offers a massive RAM that ensures smooth and seamless performance, even while using memory intensive or graphics-intensive applications.

LG Q8 features a dual-camera combination in the rear – 13-megapixel sensor (f/1.8 aperture) and an 8-megapixel sensor (f/2.4 aperture). These snappers ensure that all the captured images come out looking brilliant and sharp. It has features like Optical Image Stabilization, Face Detection and HDR (high dynamic range) imaging. Pictures clicked in both bright light, and low-light settings are great. As for the selfie camera, it is good enough for taking decent selfies. Although the pics clicked via the front cam may not be extremely detail-oriented, but they will suffice for your social media. The results are satisfactory for the most part. While the rear camera can record 4K 2160p videos, the front cam can record 1080p videos@30fps.

A 3000mAh non-removable battery powers the LG Q8. This is quite impressive, keeping in mind the display size and processor power. Usually, the battery can last an entire day for light-to-medium usage (calling, messaging, lightweight gaming, using social media apps, etc.). However, for graphics-intensive games or binge-watching your favourite TV series, the battery will drop faster. It has Quick Charge 3.0 support for fast charging. Overall, the battery performance is good.

Connectivity options on the LG Q8 include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with A-GPS and Glonass, NFC, Micro-USB, FM Radio, a 3.5mm jack, and 2G/3G/4G support.

In 10k, LG Q8 seems to be an excellent option for those who are looking for a budget-friendly phone loaded with good specs. You get a great display with Gorilla Glass protection, a dual camera setup, 4GB RAM, and a powerful processor. What more can one ask for from a mid-range budget phone!