LG V35 ThinQ Has the OLED Screen the G7 Should Have Had

When AT&T was the only one among the Big four wireless carriers not to offer LG's new G7 ThinQ smartphone, it promised that it would sell another LG device instead. We're now getting a look at that new LG phone, and it's a lot like last year's LG V30.

The LG V35 ThinQ will cost $899 at AT&T. That breaks down to $30 a month over 30 months if you buy the phone in installments through the AT&T Next payment plan. To put that price in context, the G7 ThinQ costs anywhere from $750 to $792 depending on which carrier you buy that phone from.

AT&T won't be the only carrier offering the V35. Google's Project Fi is also adding the device, along with the G7 ThinQ, to its roster of supported phones. The V35 ThinQ costs $37.46 per month over 24 months at Project Fi while the G7 ThinQ is available for $31.21 a month

What does the extra money get you with the LG V35? A better screen and more RAM. The V35 features a 6-inch OLED panel with Quad HD+ resolution (2880 x 1440), compared to a 6.1-inch LCD screen on the G7. (The G7 does have sharper resolution at 3120 x 1440, and packs in more pixels per inch than the V35 — 564 versus 538.) There's no notch on the V35, though, like there is on the G7, as LG has maintained the 18:9 aspect ratio it used with last year's V30.

You'll find a little extra oomph inside the V35 ThinQ, too. While it features the same Snapdragon 845 mobile processing platform as the G7, the V35 bolsters that with 6GB of RAM. The G7 makes do with 4GB, the same as the LG V30.

Otherwise, a lot of the features found in this new LG phone match what you'd get from the G7 ThinQ available at other carriers, most notably the cameras. The V35 ThinQ's setup is exactly the same as the G7's — a pair of 16-megapixel shooters, one of which is a main lens with an f/1.6 aperture and the other a wide-angle shooter with an f/1.9 aperture. On the front of the phone, you'll find an 8-MP selfie cam.

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But the real standout feature in the LG V35 ThinQ is the camera's smarts. Like the cameras on the G7, the V35 uses built-in intelligence to automatically recognize objects and scenes. LG says the camera's capable of recognizing 19 different scenes, and when it does, it applies filters and adjusts settings on the fly, with an eye toward getting you the best shot.

AI-powered cameras are becoming an increasing focus at LG, as the phone maker looks to set its devices apart from the rest of the crowded Android market. Both the G7 and V30 boost similar capabilities.

As with other LG phones, the V35 puts an emphasis on audio quality, supporting DTS:X Virtual Surround Sound. The new phone includes a Hi-Fi Quad DAC, which, if it works like the DAC on the G7, should produce clear, booming audio. Far-field voice recognition should let you interact with the Google Assistant from 17 feet away, according to AT&T.

AT&T starts taking pre-orders on the LG V35 ThinQ this Friday (June 1). The phone arrives in stores on June 8. Project Fi only lists the new phone as "coming soon."

We're planning a full review — along with a more in-depth comparison to LG's other recent phone release — once we get our hands on the V35 ThinQ.

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Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.

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