LG G9 vs Galaxy S20 specs, prices and release preview

The LG G9 and the S20 family just began to get fleshed out more in leaks and renders, indicating that they are a few weeks from announcement, so it's time to see what the best of South Korea will mean for our carrier store shelves this spring.

Both the Galaxy S20 and the G9 will build on the design of their predecessors with no drastic changes expected in this "toc" year for the body looks. Samsung will use a mix of the S10 and Note 10 designs, with a Premium Hole Infinity Display at the front, which will be curved less at the sides, and shaven top and bottom bezels. 

The LG G9 ThinQ, on the other hand, employs the clean and stylish body language of the fairly new LG G8X ThinQ by adopting a tall display complete with a small, waterdrop-like notch towards the top. The big bonus? It still keeps the headphone jack.

Flip the phones on their backs, though, and a drastic difference in design approaches will occur - LG bets on a clean, symmetrical, and flush with the surface camera area, while Samsung had to stuff the kitchen sink of its new camera tech in a huge camera island at the top left corner, much like everyone else in 2020, but LG. Take a gander.

In terms of size, the giant LG G9 may have a display diagonal bordering on the 6.9" size, much like the eventual S20 Ultra, the largest and most souped-up member of the S20 family. As you can see below, it is taller but thinner and more narrow than the Ultra, indicating a difference in the display aspect ratio.

Tables speak louder than words, so let's preview what specs are we to expect from the LG G9, against the two most decket-out members of the Galaxy S20 family - the Ultra and the S20+ that will be in its rumored 6.7-6.9 inch display diagonal range.

 

At the moment, there isn't much credible info about the exact camera setup of the LG G9 but it has apparently really stepped up its game in that respect, judging from the lens sprawl on the back which depicts at least four sensors. We'd wager to guess that it will enter the trendy universe of high-res main sensors, and, as the line first equipped with ultrawide-angles lens, will sport one such landscape-grabber. 

The other two may be a telephoto lens and a time-of-flight sensor, though a periscope zoom like on the S20 Ultra seems unlikely given the round nature of all the visible lenses. Thus, the camera setup on the LG G9 could very well be nearer what the S20+ will offer, rather than what the S20 Ultra will have on board, with the lower price to match.

Unlike every other flagship phone maker, LG has taken a reasonable approach with its G-line of high-end handsets. Instead of stuffing every known technology under the sun and maxing out the resolutions, it upgrades its spring flagships only where it really counts, and managed to issue them for prices that are at least two Benjamins lower than their competitors. The G7 landed in the US at just $750, the G8 and G8X were a bit over $800 at launch, and we expect nothing more from the LG G9.

The Galaxy S20, on the other hand, will likely match this price tag only in its lowly 6.2" edition so the price advantage will be on the G9 side again when the LG and Samsung flagships get released at some time in early March. The S20 has a firm February 11 Unpacked event to be unveiled, while the G9 will most likely be announced in the runup to the MWC2020 expo that begins at the end of February.