LG G8X ThinQ release date and price confirmed for dual-screen smartphone

You might have your eyes on the Samsung Galaxy Fold, but are biding your time for the foldable phone revolution to release models that don't break so easily. 

In the meantime, LG has forgone the intricacies of bendable displays with its LG G8X ThinQ smartphone - which can be paired with the LG Dual Screen case, providing a secondary display.

The new LG G8X ThinQ release date is set for November 1 in the US, and the LG Dual Screen case will be available alongside it, so customers won't have to wait to experience the exciting possibilities offered by a second display. 

Better still is the announcement of the LG G8X price at $699 (around £540, AU$1,020). Considering the LG G8 started upwards of $800, the price of the LG G8X feels far more reasonable. What's more, this price also includes the LG Dual Screen in the package.

It will launch simultaneously at major US retailers and on mobile carriers, with pre-orders beginning October 25.

In the following weeks LG will then bring the LG G8X ThinQ to more key markets, including Brazil, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Spain and Turkey. We're still waiting to hear whether the handset will make it to the UK or Australia.

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Setting expectations

We've already had an opportunity to go hands-on with the LG G8X ThinQ. It offers a definite degree of quality and polish, but still feels a tad bland when compared with the killer cameras or upgraded displays coming from other flagship phones.

The Dual Screen offers some novel uses and handy features. You can use it to house a large keyboard or video game controls. It can display photos as you take them while the main display continues to offer a live view of the camera. And, of course, you can run two apps side-by-side without having to cram them onto one display, instead giving each app a full 6.4 inches of screen space to stretch out.

It's plenty powerful, too, with a Snapdragon 855 chipset and 6GB of RAM. It comes with Android 9 Pie, instead of the newer Android 10, but LG should have an update in short order. Unfortunately, there's no 5G to help future-proof the LG G8X, but that is surely helping to keep the price below that of the $999 LG V50.

For the price - and potential utility - the LG G8X is shaping up to be a very interesting phone for 2019.

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