If all the smartphone manufacturers in the world were assigned personalities, LG would be the scatterbrained, eccentric genius – Doc Brown from Back To The Future , if you will. Over the years, the company has come up with some truly incredible, yet flawed devices, and been brave enough to introduce features whose acceptance was uncertain. They were the first to introduce a QuadHD display with the G3, tried their hand at dual cameras with the V10, and added modular accessories to the list with the G5. It was a case of throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, a haphazard approach. But when you have thrown so much at the wall, there’s bound to be enough on it to put together something great.
That’s what the LG V20 feels like – the refinement of a few years of manic invention. The fact that this one made it to Indian shores while its predecessor, the V10, never did, is testament to the company’s own faith in its product. So what makes the V20 special?
To begin with there is the design, which combines the best bits of the G5’s slickness with the V10’s imposing frame. LG has always been great at using space, and the V20’s front is almost all screen, and then some more. There is a secondary 2.1-inch always-on display positioned above the standard 5.7-inch QuadHD IPS display. Despite the screen size, the narrow bezels ensure this is an easy phone to handle, though the second screen can be hard to reach one-handed. Around back, the dual camera set-up returns, featuring a 16MP primary sensor, flanked by an 8MP wide angle one for those landscape enthusiasts. The front camera is the 5MP variety. Below the rear-facing cameras rests the fingerprint sensor. The volume rockers take up the top left of the phone, while on the bottom right is a button similar to the one the G5 had for swapping out modular accessories. Since that was one of the features that didn’t stick, on the V20, it merely unlatches the back cover to provide access to the removable battery. The phone also has dual nano SIM support and has a microSD card slot.
As mentioned earlier, LG has often released remarkable yet flawed devices, and one major flaw has always been a lack of updates. The V20, however, was the first phone to launch with Android 7.0 Nougat, beating even Google to the punch, which hopefully means LG is taking software more seriously.
Speaking of software, this is another area where the company has streamlined the good stuff. Trademark features like double tap to wake and Knock Code, which lets users tap a 2X2 grid-based code on the screen to unlock the phone, make a return, as do ease-of-use features that shrink the display area with a swipe across the navigation buttons, making it easier to navigate the interface. LG’s stock UI does not have an app drawer, which is not to most people’s liking, but a version of the launcher with app drawer support can be downloaded from LG’s store. The UI is still not the lightest around, but Nougat makes all the difference, and performance is buttery-smooth, making the interface shine. The Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB RAM don’t hurt its case either.
The utility of the second screen is a little more dubious. Unlike the rest of the interface, it cannot be moved over to a more accessible location. However, having toggles for often-used functions like Wifi and Bluetooth on it are a nice touch. The screen can also display frequently-used apps, which can be customised.
On the camera front, the V20 does an impressive job, capturing plenty of detail from the rear sensors, though images can appear a little soft on occasion. However, full manual mode is available, so getting that right shot is usually not an issue. The front camera is par for the course, though LG’s inclusion of a feature to capture a shot as soon as a face is detected can be annoying. Thankfully, it can be turned off.
The V20 is a premium phone in every respect, and you’re not about to forget it in a hurry. It comes bundled with a pair of Bang & Olufsen earphones and features a HiFi Quad Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) that even high-end headphones will work on without external aid. All this is powered by a 3,200 mAh battery, that lasts a day easily, and its removable nature means power users are free to carry a spare.
That is, in essence, what the V20 is. It is a device purpose-built for those who demand the best in performance and luxury, not to meet the lowest common denominator. At a price of nearly Rs. 55,000, it is not cheap, but provided it gets regular updates, it is a testament to a time when phone manufacturers were not afraid to dream big.
