The LG G7 One is just the sort of phone I would buy if I didn't just buy a phone

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 08/28/2018 at 13:07 • Filed to: None

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LG !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! a couple takedown models of the G7 ThinQ, which is a terrible name, but now I can’t simply drop the ThinQ from the name because there are now two new cheaper G7 versions. One of them is very interesting.

The G7 One takes the G7 ThinQ, replaces this year’s top level Snapdragon 845 chip with last year’s top level Snapdragon 835, limits the RAM to 4 GB, storage to 32 GB (but with microSD), and loses the secondary wide angle camera, but the main camera is the same as before. In the big plus column, it also loses all of LG’s skin over Android and instead runs !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It keeps the G7 ThinQ’s screen, body, and high quality audio through both its headphone jack DAC and Boombox speaker.

The G7 Fit takes the cost cutting a step further and drops the chip down to the Snapdragon 821 that was in the LG G6 (and Google Pixel 1), while also running LG’s skin, not Android One. It still has the screen, DAC, speaker, etc.

LG hasn’t announced pricing, other than saying the price on the G7 One will be “remarkable.” If these phones are available as universally-compatible unlocked models, the G7 One would be a great option and very much in line with what I look for in a phone. Except I’m actually !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

My OCD happened to catch that G7 Fit owners might have a pain finding a case that fits the camera correctly. The G7 One appears to have the same camera shape as the G7 ThinQ, just without the second lens for the wide-angle camera. This is the dual camera on the G7 ThinQ:

Whereas the G7 Fit single camera is a simple circular cutout, so cases for the G7 ThinQ will most likely not line up.

Maaaaybe the camera lens and flash on the G7 Fit take up the same area as the oblong shape of the lens on the G7 ThinQ and One, but who knows? Not sure really. I’m sure 21 other people have noticed this same problem.

Anyway, my take on this is the G7 Fit is using leftover SD821 inventory from the G6, but allows LG to streamline building more models with the G7 body. The G7 One is the appealing one with its basically-stock Android One software experience.

If LG prices it at $500 or less and makes it universally compatible with US carriers, they could have a low key hit on their hands, at least among folks like myself who want high end-ish hardware and specs, but hate custom Android skins, and don’t want to pay flagship prices.

facw > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 13:16

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Bet it looks a lot better with a black status bar, so that it appears symmetrical rather than the notch+ chin look it’s sporting in these pics.

Sovande > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 13:16

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The G7 ThinQ is an awesome phone.  I don’t mind LG’s skin, but I have had something like 6 LG phones, so I am fairly used to it.

Chuckles > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 13:22

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Did you end up getting rid of that S7E? I've been looking at used ones on Amazon. My S5 is still hanging on though.

404 - User No Longer Available > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 13:23

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If G7 Fit are rebodied, leftover G6s, This G7 One are just rebodied, leftover V30s...

Nibby > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 13:30

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notch is a dealbreaker. such a dumb gimmick

diplodicus > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 13:31

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Why isn’t there a service like netflix for phones. 

Textured Soy Protein > facw 08/28/2018 at 13:39

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LG in their skin has options to turn the notch black, or make it a color, or a gradient. I don’t know if that applies in their version of Android One. But even in the LG skin that only happens in LG apps.

Android P has built-in notch support. It works well enough on my PH-1. Most apps have a colored top bar anyway, and this flows up to the status bar area, where the status bar darkens the color a little, like this:

Or apps like Chrome just have a black status bar:

While the PH-1's notch is skinny, it’s also taller than the regular Android status bar. For apps that haven’t updated to the Android P notch support, they get a gray translucent status bar that matches the height of the notch, but the app tries to flow up into the extra-tall status bar area of the PH-1, producing results like this:

Hopefully the app developers get around to building in the Android P notch support so everything adapts on the fly to the various notch heights including mine. 

Spanfeller is a twat > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 13:44

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Oh, that looks like a Nexus 6p replacement

Gib

Textured Soy Protein > diplodicus 08/28/2018 at 13:44

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The carriers will happily put you on lease and/or installment plans for phones that are far too complicated, restrictive, and expensive.

A service for unlocked phones would be good, but US carriers are still not as friendly as they should be to unlocked phones. In many countries, basically any phone with built-in VoLTE and wifi calling support will be able to use those features on most carriers in that country. But in the US, VoLTE is hit or miss on some unlocked phones, and only T-Mobile supports wifi calling on most unlocked phones. A T&T doesn’t do it at all, and Verizon only does on iPhones and Pixels.

Textured Soy Protein > Nibby 08/28/2018 at 13:45

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Now that I’ve experienced how Android P handles notches on my PH-1, the future will be ok. As long as app developers update their apps to work with the built-in notch handling scheme. 

Textured Soy Protein > 404 - User No Longer Available 08/28/2018 at 13:46

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I had that thought as well, except in theory the V30 may stick around while the V35 is being built? I dunno, LG is being weird this year about making multiple iterations of the same basic phone. First they did V30/V30+ /V30S/V35 and now it’s the G7 family.

Textured Soy Protein > Chuckles 08/28/2018 at 13:47

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I still need to wipe it and put it on Swappa. I’ve only had the PH-1 for less than a week but thanks to the Google Camera port it’s a keeper. 

Chuckles > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 13:54

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Have you had success with Swappa before? This is my first time looking at used phones.

Textured Soy Protein > Chuckles 08/28/2018 at 14:01

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I’ve sold stuff on there but have not bought. It’s a mix of businesses selling refurbs and exchanges in bulk, and individuals selling their old personal gadgets. You can tell pretty easily in the descriptions.

diplodicus > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 14:07

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Ya I meant for unlocked stuff. It would just be nice to actually be able to try multiple phones before committing to one.

I did really like my pixel xl, but I had noticed it started slowing down, rebooting, the usb-c port seemed to be coming loose. Then the speaker died, and I was taking a picture and it just went into boot loop for a day. It actually started booting after I left verizon and bought the nokia 6.1.  

404 - User No Longer Available > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 14:07

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Well V35 was only built because of AT&T, AFAIK.

Just like how the Passport was different for AT&T as well.

https://www.gsmarena.com/ces_2015_various-review-1191p8.php

Chuckles > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 14:20

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How much can you really refurbish an S7E though? Isn't the battery non-replaceable? 

NojustNo > Nibby 08/28/2018 at 14:39

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I just got a g7 thing. You can turn the notch  off in settings.

Textured Soy Protein > Chuckles 08/28/2018 at 15:54

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I don’t know exactly? I’m kinda using refurb as a catch-all term for phones that are put back into service in bulk. What you’ll see is certain sellers where they have multiple of the same item for sale, generic disclaimers like “shows signs of mild to moderate wear,” and includes maybe a generic charger and no other box or original accessories. 

Textured Soy Protein > 404 - User No Longer Available 08/28/2018 at 16:31

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There’s an unlocked V35 in regular and Amazon flavors.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2018 at 16:50

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I’m glad to see LG making Android One phones. LG makes good phones (ignoring the SD810 and 808 devices) but their skin is horrible.

Textured Soy Protein > diplodicus 08/28/2018 at 17:17

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I’ve had good luck with selling my old phones on Swappa. Obviously you don’t get everything you spent on them back but I try to get deals when buying them so the depreciation hit isn’t as bad. I did a try-n-return once with an LG V20 before I got my S7E. The V20 was instantly irritating. The S7E became increasingly irritating over time. I’m looking forward to keeping my Essential for a couple years. 

Textured Soy Protein > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/28/2018 at 17:19

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My Moto X Pure with the SD808 was pretty great at the time. But I know LG had issues with that generation. I had an LG G2 back in the day and it was just a little too wonky.

diplodicus > Textured Soy Protein 08/29/2018 at 08:11

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Ya I decided to pull the trigger on a Nokia 8 last night and see how I like it. I usually get a new phone when I break a phone so it’s tough to do try and return when you just need a phone.

I may end up returning it just because of the look, I bought the polished copper since it is cheaper than blue. Looks very pink in pictures, see how it looks irl.

Textured Soy Protein > diplodicus 08/29/2018 at 11:31

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From looking at videos it seems like it’s more like the color of a brand new penny. Probably hard to get the color right in a photo.

But if you’re on T-Mobile, it might not be the best option since it doesn’t have LTE band 12. T-Mobile built out a lot of coverage on band 12 and I would hesitate to use a phone without band 12 on T-Mobile.

T-Mobile’s main bands are 2, 4, 12. T-Mobile also uses bands 66 and 71 which are unique to them but less crucial at this point. Band 71 is seeing a lot of building but very few unlocked phones as of now have it. 66 is used to fill in extra capacity in congested areas, usually on a temporary basis for large events.  

T-Mobile branded phones have all these bands now, but the only unlocked phones with band 71 are the Samsung S9/S9+/Note9, OnePlus 6, and Moto Z3 Play .

Oh, and then there’s VoLTE and wifi calling support, which T-Mobile is pretty good about with unlocked phones, but not universally so.

Here’s a rundown of the $500 or less bracket, with the OP6 thrown in.

Unlocked w/ bands 2, 4, 12, 66, 71 + CDMA + VoLTE & wifi calling

Moto Z3 Play - $450 + tax (Amazon version) ; $500 (regular unlocked)

Unlocked w/ bands 2, 4, 12, 66, 71 + VoLTE & wifi calling

OnePlus 6 - $529 (6 GB RAM / 64 GB ROM); $579 (8 GB RAM / 128 GB ROM); $629 (8 GB RAM / 256 GB ROM )

Unlocked w/ bands 2, 4, 12, 66 + CDMA + VoLTE & wifi calling

Moto G6 3 GB RAM / 32 GB ROM - $235 + tax (Amazon Prime Exclusive version) ; $250 (regular unlocked version)
Moto X4 - $250 (Amazon version) ; $300 (regular unlocked)
Moto G6 4 GB RAM / 64 GB ROM - $280 + tax (Amazon version)
Google Pixel 32 GB - $320
Essential PH-1 - $328 + tax
Google Pixel 128 GB - $370
LG G6 - $380 + tax (Amazon version) ; $452 + tax (regular unlocked)
Google Pixel XL 128 GB - $420
LG G6+ - $480 + tax (Amazon version) ; $500 (regular unlocked)
Samsung Galaxy S8 - $500

Unlocked w/ bands 2, 4, 12, 66 (not sure on VoLTE & wifi calling)

Sony XA2 - $290
Moto G6 Plus (International version, no Verizon/Sprint) - $315
Sony XA2 Ultra - $380

Unlocked w/ bands 2, 4, 12 (probably no VoLTE & wifi calling)

Huawei Mate SE - $250
ASUS Zenfone 5Q - $300
Honor View10 - $430
ASUS Zenfone 5Z - $500

Anyway, check that link to see if the band 71 actually matters where you live, but at the very minimum I would make sure you get something with band 12.

Me personally, I’m very happy with my Essential PH-1. It can run the port of the Google Camera app from the Pixel lineup and produces good results. Most but not all phones with SD820 or higher CPU can run it. You have to use the Essential camera app for portrait mode or to use the secondary B&W camera, but for general use GCam produces the best results. 

Of course, I jumped on it when it was down at $224 but it’s still a good option at its current price.

diplodicus > Textured Soy Protein 08/29/2018 at 12:47

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I’m using At&ts network through cricket. Looks like Tmobile does use band 12 where I live. So the nokia’s won’t work with that if I decide to keep it. The att&t network seems fine until I’m inside my house, which could have to do with the very old 1" thick plaster walls which some sections have wire caging in. Not sure why verizons signal never seemed to have an issue though.

I actually like the quality of the materials on the nokia 6.1 I have. I did somehow manage to crack the screen while sleeping, and I’ve been having issues with the speaker, but I’m pretty sure that’s gotta be something I’m doing since it hasn’t been just this phone.

I think the snapdragon 630 and 3gb of ram just isn’t enough. But it was in stock at bestbuy when the pixel was dead.

I did consider the essential but I like the nokia aesthetics better.

Textured Soy Protein > diplodicus 08/29/2018 at 13:06

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For some reason I thought you were on T-Mobile. AT&T uses bands 2, 4, 5, 12 & 17. Apparently 17 is their most commonly used band but I don’t know where to find the detailed maps for them like I do with T-Mobile. The international Nokia 8 doesn’t have bands 12 or 17.

I tried Cricket a few years ago but I was frustrated with their 8 Mbps speed cap and blocking of any advanced carrier features from unlocked phones. Even if a phone supports it, you can’t do hotspot, VoLTE, HD Voice, or wifi calling.

I’m on a Verizon prepaid plan which works best for me at the moment but I’m not 100% happy with it because I’m encountering data deprioritization a little too often here in the DC area (and other places like waiting to pay the toll for the Chesapeake Bay bridge, or out at Rehoboth Beach, DE).

Verizon does support VoLTE and HD Voice on most unlocked phones that have the correct radios for Verizon’s network, but no wifi calling on unlocked phones except for iPhone and Pixel. HD V oice works with Verizon and AT&T phones.

T-Mobile is the most friendly to unlocked phones with support for VoLTE and wifi calling on many unlocked phones. They also don’t aggressively deprioritize their prepaid plans, they leave that to MetroPCS and other prepaid brands riding on their network. HD Voice only works when talking to other T-Mobile customers.  

Overall I was most happy with the features and support on T-Mobile but their signal has a real hard time penetrating my office building and is way too spotty out on the eastern shore of Maryland where my parents’ vacation house is. 

diplodicus > Textured Soy Protein 08/30/2018 at 13:55

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It looks pretty much identical to the pics irl. 4g happens to work in my area. S o far I’m happy enough with it. Certainly nice being able to have enough ram to open multiple apps without the processor lagging. weird having fingerprint sensor in the front though.

Took a quick pic of my dog at lunch to test the camera. Seems to be pretty good. I’ll have to find mushrooms soon to really test it out.

diplodicus > Textured Soy Protein 09/07/2018 at 08:53

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Turns out I was wrong, didn’t have 4g at least not everywhere. Returned it.

Ended up buying an LG G7 thinq, through google fi because they gave me 300$ for switching to them. LG definitely has some bullshit on the phone. For some reason it wouldn’t load my google drive backups, I had to use their stupid app for data transfer. But it runs well and I get 100Mb/s download speeds through the Fi network. And 2yr manufacturer warranty with the phone.

Textured Soy Protein > diplodicus 09/07/2018 at 09:54

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Yeah I saw those service credits that Fi was offering on the LG phones. I just couldn’t quite get myself to pull the trigger on either Fi or LG right now, for various reasons. 

Automobile News India > Textured Soy Protein 11/19/2019 at 05:27

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