LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen review: awesome for multitasking and has good battery life, but its software is half-baked and it's unremarkable as a regular phone
Are two flat screens better than one foldable? — The G8X is both the most boring phone LG has ever released and one of its most experimental at the same time.
Context & Ripple Effects
LG has been circling the second-screen idea for years: the V10's ticker display above the main screen was dismissed as superfluous and gimmicky back in 2015, and the intervening V-series and G-series reviews kept flagging the same split — strong hardware ergonomics and battery life undermined by software problems like bloatware, bugs on new aspect ratios, and gimmicky biometrics such as the G8 ThinQ's Hand ID.
The G8X is that history made literal. As the September hands-on showed, the secondary display arrives as a case rather than built-in hardware, turning an otherwise conservative G8 refresh into LG's most experimental phone. The verdict matters because the review explicitly frames it against foldables: two flat screens instead of one bending one.
First-order effects
- Buyers comparing big-screen phones now have LG's case-based two-screen option as the non-foldable alternative, but they inherit the same weaknesses reviewers keep finding across LG flagships — half-baked software layered over genuinely good battery life and ergonomics.
Second-order effects
- For LG, the Dual Screen only pays off if the software gap closes; a repeat of the V10 pattern, where the extra screen went unused, would leave the accessory as shelf-weight rather than a foldable competitor.
- Rivals pushing integrated folding displays face a cheap comparison point: if a $-case approach delivers similar multitasking on flat screens, the premium for foldable hardware gets harder to justify on productivity alone.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, LG stays locked in a cycle of hardware-first differentiation that reviews consistently undercut on software — a structural disadvantage that makes each experimental flagship harder to sell on merit than on novelty.
- The industry's answer to 'more screen' splits into two architectures — attachable secondary displays versus integrated foldables — and review consensus like this becomes the evidence base buyers use to pick a side.
The trend: Smartphone makers chasing multitasking through more screen real estate are dividing into attachable dual-screen cases and integrated foldables, with software polish emerging as the deciding factor between them.