Once upon a time, LG’s flagship G8 ThingQ was $850. Right now, you can snag one for $500.
The Techy Trends
Quick note: This is your last day to sign-up for a chance to purchase the Cheapskate Mystery Box and help three great charities. Starting tomorrow, we’ll notify the 1,000 lucky folks who were randomly selected to get one. However, you have through the weekend to buy a custom Cheapskate T-shirt, which also supports those causes.
On to business. “Flagship phone” is code for “crazy-expensive phone.” Witness the latest models from the likes of Apple and Samsung, many of them priced as high as $1,000 or more. Few companies are able to effectively compete in this space, but kudos to LG for trying. The company’s G8 ThinQ arrived on the seen in April with a decidedly flagshippy price of $850. That it didn’t get much attention is good news for you, because it just got a huge price cut.
For a limited time, and while supplies last, Amazon has the unlocked LG G8 ThinQ with Alexa for $499.99. That’s an all-time low for this phone. Note that The Techy Trends may get a share of revenue from the sale of the products featured on this page.
The G8 ThinQ is a 6.1-inch Android 9.0 phone with 6GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage, a headphone jack (!), USB-C and wireless charging, dual rear cameras and plenty of other noteworthy specs. Like I said: flagship.
I haven’t used one myself, so I’ll turn you over to Lynn La’s LG G8 ThinQ review. She liked it a lot (rating: 8.5), but dinged a few aspects of its camera and flaky Air Motion feature. Those dings are no doubt easier to forgive at $500 than they were at $850.
Two other important considerations: First, this is an Amazon-exclusive version of the phone, meaning it has hands-free Alexa baked in. Second, it’s unlocked and compatible with CDMA and GSM networks, so it can work with any of the Big Four carriers and many of the smaller ones (Boost, Cricket, etc.) as well.
If you had $850 to spend on a new phone, you might have a tough time deciding between this and, say, the Galaxy S10. But for just $500, you can get a phone that’s nearly as good — and in some respects even better (see: headphone jack).
Your thoughts?
Bonus deal: Get three months of Tidal’s family HiFi plan for just $6.
We’re a Spotify household, and I’m constantly telling my kids: You have no idea how lucky you are to have unlimited access to all the music of the world, anytime, anywhere.
What they don’t know (shh!) is they’re not getting the optimal audio experience. That’s because Spotify and most other streaming services rely on compressed audio, which robs the listener of full fidelity. Enter Tidal, the only “major” service that delivers lossless audio — meaning at least on par with CD quality, if not better.
It’s pricey, though: $19.99 per month for the 6-listener family plan. (Most other services charge $5 less.) For a limited time, however, new Tidal customers can get a 3-month family HiFi plan for just $5.99. That’s not per month; that’s the total price.
After that, of course, you’ll have to pay the regular rate. But this gives you an extended trial for mere peanuts.
To be honest, I’m not really a fidelity junkie; I’m okay with the audio quality afforded by Spotify. I’m curious, though, to see if I can tell a difference. If you’d tried Tidal already, tell me: Can you?
Read more: The best music streaming services for 2019
Watch this:
LG G8 ThinQ review: Can LG take on the Galaxy S10 phones?
3:14
The Techy Trends’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page, and find more great buys on the The Techy Trends Deals page.
