LG V35 ThinQ is official, but it's not all that new

Think twice before you rush out to purchase the V35 ThinQ. LG’s getting multiple partners lined up for its release, but you’re not really buying an entirely new product that earned an endless amount of attention in development.

Following the announcement of its latest flagship a few weeks ago, LG is already introducing another high-end phone. The V35 will be released alongside the G7 this summer under a strategy that makes it even tougher for a struggling mobile division to stand out.

You may have never seen the V35 before under this name, but LG isn’t making a big departure from familiarity. The South Korean company repackaged the V30 with a new name and tossed in an artificial intelligence spin. The V35 is identical on the outside, and most of its specifications are also the same.

The exterior doesn’t look any different than what we saw last year. LG seriously recycled the V30 and added “ThinQ.” The special branding indicates how artificial intelligence is at the core, but the V35 doesn’t actually ship with groundbreaking features.

LG uses its own technology as well as Google’s to analyze environments and make real-time suggestions. The V35 can understand a scene and recommend which settings on the camera should be adjusted. There’s also Google Lens, which offers up information on what you’re viewing.

The rest of the V35 is pretty standard for a flagship in 2018. It also features a 6-inch Quad HD+ (2880×1440) OLED display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845, 6GB of memory, 64GB of storage, a microSD card slot, two 16MP rear cameras, an 8MP front camera, a 3300mAh battery, a fingerprint scanner, and Android 8.0 Oreo with LG UX 7.0. Again, the majority of this was on the V30 introduced over six months ago.

What you will find on this phone, but not anything else LG sells, is facial recognition. In addition to being able to unlock your V35 with a fingerprint or voice command, LG will let you use your face.

Based on our comparison, the V35 and V30 are insanely close on paper. You get a better processor and dual-camera setup, but there’s little to talk about beyond those things. Even the measurements and weights are shared between them.

If you so dare, you’ll be able to pre-order the V35 beginning on June 1. LG and its partners will then commence sales on June 8.

AT&T, who notably passed on the G7, will add the V35 to its lineup. The carrier should have more details on availability soon. But AT&T isn’t alone. It turns out the V35 is also fully compatible on Project Fi. So you can bring the phone to Google’s wireless service and use it on a combination of T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular’s networks.

LG has yet to say whether or not the V35 will be sold unlocked, but timing may not be in its favor. The V40 is only a few months from arriving; therefore, LG might skip an unlocked V35 to focus on its second true flagship of the year.