Review on LG V20
December 31, 2016 • LG • News • Reviews
The latest addition to their V series that was first introduced only last year. The new flagship features an all new design and build quality, while retaining some of the features that made its predecessor unique. This year has seen the company struggle with its attempt at modularity in the LG G5 and the V20 drops this in favour of a more traditional smartphone experience.What does this smartphone bring to the table, and can LG take advantage of the opening in the high-end large display segment?
Design
The LG V20 for the first time, it wasn’t a case of love at first sight. The phone appeared tough and manly, but lacked in elegance and sophistication. Sure, it isn’t gorgeous, but what it lacks in grace, it makes up for in durability. The LG V20 may be succeeding the V10, but the former features a complete redesign and new build that makes it more alike the company’s other flagship, the G5, instead of its predecessor. Gone are the stainless steel rails and the DuraSkin material, with LG instead favouring a mostly metal build with polycarbonate found at the top and bottom. The unique look of the V10 may no longer be available, and in fact, quite a few people I know who have come across the phone have mistaken it for an HTC device, but the V20 is still a good looking smartphone nevertheless, and feels great in the hand.
Display
The LG V20 has a unique display. It has a 5.7-inch 1440p display, but above it is a 2.1-inch 160x1040 IPS LCD. To start with, the display is about as beautiful and vibrant as LCD panels get, the whites are white, and the colors are accurate. The blacks wouldn't fool me into thinking its AMOLED, but it's a fine LCD, nonetheless.
Other than the time/date/notification combo, you can swipe to the left to get to media controls or Quick Tools, which includes Sound profile, Wi-Fi, Flashlight, Bluetooth, and Capture+. The order of the Quick Tools can be changed, and you can add a Camera option, but that's about it. Once the device is awake, you'll see a "signature". By default, this will be the user's name, but you can change the text and the font. Personally, I think that this is a complete waste of space. I'd much rather that space be used for app shortcuts or media controls.
Performance and Software
Under the hood is what you would typically expect from a 2016 flagship, with the LG V20 also featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor that is backed by the Adreno 530 GPU and 4 GB of RAM. Even with LG's somewhat heavy skin, the performance has unsurprisingly been excellent, and handles everyday tasks with no issues. On the software side of things, the LG V20 was the very first smartphone to ship with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, which is something that Google generally reserves for their own devices. This is definitely a big selling point for the V20 right now, given the fact that there aren’t many phones running Android 7.0 at the moment
Rear camera and front camera
With this being an LG flagship, the camera experience on this is going to be a pretty big deal. The V20 comes with a dual camera setup like what is also available with the LG G5, with a 16 MP main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS, that is coupled with an 8 MP wide angle secondary sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. the V20 only has one front camera, unlike its predecessor. It's a 5MP sensor with an f/1.9 aperture and a 120-degree wide-angle lens. It still offers the ability to switch between a more narrow selfie shot and a wider angle "wefie" shot, like the V10 did and the V20's rear camera does. You also get the opportunity to use the screen as a flash, something that LG was one of the first to offer.
Final thoughts
So, there you have it for this in-depth look at the LG V20! The V20 may share some similarities with the G5, like a metal build and a dual camera setup on the back, but the former does offer and feature a whole lot more. What makes the V20 so great is that it isn’t trying to do anything too different or crazy, but instead, focuses on being a good smartphone. The device comes with a new metal design that is great to look at, and comes without compromise in terms of durability, a big beautiful display, a very feature rich camera, and a fantastic audio experience. LG managed to do all this while still retaining staples like expandable storage and a removable battery, with latter being something you can only count on an LG phone to have in the high-end segment.