LG keeps leaking G8 features; the latest is a vibrating display speaker

LG is still making smartphones. The latest is the LG G8, which is expected to debut at Mobile World Congress at the end of the month. It has leaked a lot.

First up is this press image from Evan Blass, which leaves little of the G8 to the imagination. LG's last big smartphone design was the LG G6, which was a return to a normal smartphone after the disastrously modular LG G5. You can draw a straight line from the LG G6 through the G7 to the G8, which looks pretty much identical to the phone LG released two years ago. In a year when many OEMs are switching to a minimal "hole punch" camera cutout, the LG G8 still has a notched camera cutout on the front like the LG G7. In a year when many OEMs are switching to an in-screen fingerprint reader, LG still has a capacitive fingerprint reader on the back. Possibly on the plus-side, at least there's still a headphone jack.

There are a few surprises in the LG G8 design, though. If you notice in the render there's no earpiece on the top of the phone; that's because the phone won't have an earpiece. LG has announced the phone will use the display itself as a speaker diaphragm, a feature LG is calling "Crystal Sound OLED." LG says the feature works by "vibrating the entire surface to produce sound," promising "impressive volume" and "improved clarity" over a normal speaker. LG has put a lot of focus in the loudness and quality of its speakers, and the all-speaker display sounds like another step in this strategy. LG doesn't mention anything about phone calls, though, and I wonder if there is a localized mode that could replicate the privacy of an earpiece for phone calls. The press release makes it sound like you'll only get a speakerphone for phone calls.

"Crystal Sound OLED" also confirms that the LG G8 will have an OLED display, presumably from LG Display. This is the first time LG has been confident enough in its (previously troubled) OLED technology to put an OLED panel in the G series.

With the earpiece out of the way, another surprise is the inclusion of a 3D sensing setup in the front notch. Just like on an iPhone X, the LG G8 has a front Time of Flight (ToF) sensor, which will blast your face with IR and capture a 3D representation of your face. LG's press release mentions that ToF sensors are frequently used for biometrics and augmented reality features, so it's a safe bet both of those are coming to the LG G8.

LG lost $700 million making smartphones last year, making smartphones the company's worst performing market. LG blames "lower sales of mobile products" for the poor showing, so clearly the G7 was not as successful as LG had hoped. The G8 is clearly closely related to the G7, so it's hard to imagine it performing any differently in the market—especially given that this year companies like Samsung are turning in more radical redesigns.

LG's MWC press conference is February 24.

Listing image by Evan Blass