LG G7 ThinQ US Release Date: When Is Galaxy S9’s Rival Arriving?

South Korean mobile carriers will start accepting preorders for the LG G7 ThinQ this week. Meanwhile, consumers in the United States need to wait a little bit longer before they could preorder and receive their units.

Yonhap reported Thursday that the big three mobile carriers in South Korea will open preorders for the G7 ThinQ on Friday, May 11. Consumers can then expect their handsets to arrive on May 18, the official release date of the device in LG’s home country.

Details on the pricing of the phone has also been revealed. The base model of the G7 ThinQ is valued at 898,700 won or US$832. On the other hand, the bigger G7 ThinQ Plus with 128GB of onboard storage starts at 976,800 won or US$910.

While the Samsung Galaxy S9’s rival is scheduled to officially hit the South Korean market next week, the flagship phone’s U.S. debut is following a different timeline. The premium Android device is set for a June 1 release date in the country, with preorders opening in the fourth week of May.

According to TechRadar, preorders in the U.S. will begin on May 24 or 25, depending on the carrier. Verizon is accepting preorders starting on May 24, while Sprint is doing the same thing the following day. U.S. Cellular will start selling the device on June 1, while T-Mobile only said that it is offering the handset later this spring.

Unfortunately, AT&T is not selling the G7 ThinQ. As previously reported, an AT&T spokesperson confirmed that they are not selling the successor to last year’s LG G6. However, they are planning to offer an exclusive LG phone this summer. Sources say the spokesperson could be referring to the rumored LG V35 ThinQ.

Meanwhile, PhoneArena thinks the pricing of the G7 ThinQ in South Korea could be a good indication of its market value when it becomes available in the U.S. The tech news site claims it’s very likely for the G7 ThinQ to launch stateside with a $700-$800 price range, depending on internal configurations.

The LG G7 ThinQ sports a 6.1-inch “Super Bright Display” screen that has a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits. LG does not call the cutout atop the phone’s display a “notch,” but it simply refers to the display surrounding the cutout as the “New Second Screen.” LG is banking on the handset’s improved audio, battery, camera and display to attract consumers.