The LG G8 Review: Solid, But Not Great
by Andrei Frumusanu on April 30, 2019 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- LG
- Smartphones
- LG G8
- LG G8 ThinQ
System Performance
For system performance, we saw the Snapdragon 855 in the Galaxy S10 perform excellently, and there shouldn’t be any reason for the G8 to perform differently. It’s to be noted that the G8 is only our second Snapdragon 855 device we’ve received so the only comparison point we have is the Snapdragon variant of the S10.
Unfortunately, it looks like LG using an older version of the 855 BSP which is lacking some optimisations or lacking some configuration options which improve performance. Among the lacking features is the lack of boost mechanism for the top-app process groups, meaning the scheduler will be less aggressive than what we find on the Galaxy S10.
Let’s see how these differences end up affecting the G8’s performance:
In PCMark’s web-browsing test, the difference ends up as quite major between the G8 and S10 as the former largely lags behind Samsung’s flagship, ending up with scores similar to the G7. The performance here reminds us of the initial benchmark scores from Qualcomm’s QRD855 reference platform in January, which also lacked some scheduler optimisations were commonplace in many of last year's Snapdragon 845 devices.
In the subsequent tests and final PCMark performance score we see the LG G8 lag behind the Galaxy S10, again scoring similarly to the QRD platform.
JS Benchmarks
Since our review of the Galaxy S10 it seems Google has updated the system WebView to a newer version which has had a notable impact on performance, improving things by several performance points compared to a few months ago. We haven’t had the opportunity yet to update our database with the newest figures, which is why in some benchmarks the new G8 scores better than some previously reviewed devices.
In WebXPRT on the other hand we see the less aggressive scheduler settings overshadow the new WebView improvements, and the G8 again end up with worse performance than the Galaxy S10.
System performance verdict
Overall, I’ve actually been quite disappointed with the performance of the G8, even though the benchmarks rank it relatively highly among Android phones. The core issue here I think is software as seemingly the G8 is lacking some of the framework boosters and more aggressive scheduler settings found in competing devices.
Where this is most noticeable is when switching between applications or something as simple as browsing different views in applications. Here the G8 is not only noticeable slower as the new Galaxy S10 in both SoC variants, but it’s also noticeably slower than many of last year’s Snapdragon 855 devices.
What is most shocking however is the fact that the G8 feels slower than the G7. In side-by-side comparisons between the two phones, the G8 is slower in opening a lot of applications or in-app views. This is extremely disappointing and clearly points out that LG has messed up somewhere in terms of the SoC’s BSP integration.
We hope LG will address this in the future with a firmware update, however users shouldn’t be holding their breath on the matter.
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liteon163 - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
More evidence to be used against LG when upgrading from my V30 when it breaks...MananDedhia - Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - link
I currently use a V20 and feel exactly the same.rocketman122 - Friday, May 3, 2019 - link
I have a V20 and the reason I never upgraded was no swappable batteries.for those whove never tried it, you should. you go from 5% to 100% in 1 minute. I carry no extra charging cable or charger, I slip an extra battery in my wallet and always have my screen brightness at 100%. never worried about battery draining.
at home the phone is never connected to any cable. I simply charge the other battery in the cradle
LG has massive issues with their phones imo. the g4 bootloop I went through. issues with the camera glass breaking on my v20 and aftermarket batteries dont work well as well.
unfortunately im getting a 2nd v20 to have because of the swapping batteries. huge plus for me.
amosbatto - Saturday, May 11, 2019 - link
For the life of me, I can't figure out why at least one phone manufacturer doesn't offer a decent phone with a removable battery. All the phone makers have decided that we want to throw away our phones after using them for 2 years, because the batteries no longer hold a decent charge.For the love of God, give us a phone that is designed to survive a drop or two. Making phones with glass backs, no bezels for protection and curved edges where the screen is higher than the bezel is insane. It really bothers me that this review had no evaluation of how well the LG G8 will survive a drop, but it spends so much time talking about its 0.6 mm increase in the thickness, as if anyone cares. The LG V20 was the last decent phone that LG made because it had a removable battery and was designed to survive normal drops.
HTC, Motorola/Lenovo, LG and Sony are losing millions of dollars every quarter trying to sell phones, but none of them have figured out that maybe they should off something different, like a durable phone that is not based on planned obsolescence. The reviewers like Frumusanu would tell us how horrible it feels to hold a phone with a polycarbonate case, compared to a glass case, and how thick the bezels are, and how we simply can't live without IP68 rating, but those of us who care about the longevity and lasting value of our phones would buy it in droves.
I have gotten so disgusted with the planned obsolescence in the phone industry and the monetization of my data and the collection of my data to train AIs, that I have decided to crowdfund the Purism Librem 5. I am willing to accept a lousy processor (NXP i.MX 8M), low screen resolution (720p), and a low camera quality, just to get a phone that is designed to last 5 years, protects my personal data, respects my digital rights and allows me to unlock the bootloader and install any operating system that I want (PureOS, Linux+KDE Plasma Mobile, UBports, LineageOS or PostmarketOS).
Here is what a phone should have, but is is impossible to buy such a phone:
1. Removable battery
2. Plastic or metal case with thick enough bezels to protect the screen
3. MicroSD slot
4. 3.5 mm audio jack
5. Dual front facing speakers
6. Unlockable bootloader
7. Designed to be opened using a Phillips screwdriver, so it can be repaired, not pried apart using a heat gun, suction cups and plastic spudgers, and I shouldn't have to reglue the f*ing thing.
jifarina - Tuesday, May 14, 2019 - link
Maybe add an IR blaster ;). I love my v20.Vitor - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
LG and its crazy colors...I would feel disappointed the day their displays are not a disappointement. It always deliveries the lulz.PeachNCream - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
Non-flagship phone...Starting at $620...
It should be a real pleasure to take that one up the financial backside. I hope LG includes some sort of lubricant with the higher end V50 since the price is likely in the $1K range given how they price out the supposedly more affordable G8. I did just buy an LG, but it was a refurb Rebel 3 from Tracfone for $10 - 5 inch screen, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, removable battery (oddly absent from anything high end), and if it lives the next couple of years, I'll have sunk a total of $345 into two years of mobile service plus the cost of the handset (300 for airtime, 10 for the phone, 35 for a case, screen protector, and possibly a fresh battery after a year). It's balls out stupid to pay anything more than that for a phone when you could be tossing that money into some sort of interest bearing investment or workplace-funded retirement account so it can compound for you over the coming years. Every little bit makes a considerable difference over a long time horizon.
Bulat Ziganshin - Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - link
poor americans. here in russia i have 100 Mbit landline, 400 min voice + unlim 4G on smartphone - all that for $5/monthNicko_ - Thursday, May 2, 2019 - link
Here in france, you can have unlimited voice/sms/rcs/mms & 60gigs of data (in 4g+/LTE) for just 9.99 bucks (or unlimited data for 15.99€ it depends). So when I look for google fi or other I just fell in apple so much that is expensive xDPeachNCream - Thursday, May 2, 2019 - link
Eh, there's nothing I can do to change the costs associated with living in the US.