[THE INVESTOR] At a glance, LG Electronics’ latest flagship G7 ThinkQ smartphone looks like a downgrade of US tech giant Apple’s iPhone X due to the stunningly similar notch display.



However, the Korean tech giant claimed that its latest smartphone is not a copycat of the iPhone, but something it envisioned long before the iPhone X.



"We planned the notch design before Apple," said Hwang Jeong-hwan, chief of LG’s mobile division, at a G7 ThinkQ showcase event in Seoul on May 3.



He added that instead of calling it a notch, which insinuates that something is missing, LG prefers to call it a second display to indicate there is more to show.





LG Electronics’ mobile division head Hwang Jeong-hwan (middle) at a G7 ThinkQ showcase event on May 3.

LG Electronics





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In addition to the notch, LG has adopted a number of souped-up features in line with its focus on the ABCD -- audio, battery, cameras and display. There’s a premium audio system called boombox, AI camera solutions that choose the best of 19 shooting modes and long-distance voice command recognition that can pick up commands from as far as five meters away.



The 6.1-inch screen with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio is the largest among LG smartphones, and is slightly longer than Samsung’s Galaxy S9. The screen is 30 percent more energy efficient than the preceding G6, and it boasts 1,000 nits of brightness, which is the highest among smartphones out in the markets today and making it easier to view in direct sunlight.





The following are excerpts from the Q&A session with LG’s mobile chief.

