When we heard that there would be 5G mobile handsets hitting Australian telcos in early 2019 I was skeptical about how good they would be given how early we are in the switch to 5G.
Reports were that 5G handsets would be big, and chunky compared to what we have now – because of the battery power required to make the 5G work, and the additional antennas required too.
Straight up though, I don’t think that’s entirely true. The LG V50 ThinQ is a case in point – Here in Barcelona we took a quick first look and it’s impressive.
A 6.4inch OLED display and a 4,000mAh battery make it look good and last well – though we won’t know how long till it’s tested – and the battery would really only ever be fully tested in an exclusively 5G environment.
The really cool feature of the V50 is actually LG’s Dual Screen Cover. It’s a pretty bulky cover for the device that gives you a closable cover over the phone – like those wallet style covers people use. Except the difference is, this one has an OLED display inside it.
It’s not enabled by default, but once you enable it, you’ve essentially got two phones side by side.
You can switch them side to side, and of course it’s one device so you can copy and paste between applications. Pretty cool.
Annoyingly there’s not setting to leave it on by default – probably smart given that would drain the battery big time.
It’s a good device. If it’s priced well, it will be a great 4G device for anyone, with 5G connectivity for those lucky enough to be in a 5G area.
EFTM’s coverage of Mobile World Congress is supported by Vodafone, Huawei and Oppo
