LG V20 First Impressions: Redefining the Flagship Moniker

LG V20 is now official in the Indian market and is ready to take on the flagship smartphones from Samsung, Google, Apple, Sony and other smartphone makers.

The smartphone improves over its predecessor (LG V10) on design, battery, camera, etc. and is the first handset that offers features such as wide-angle lens on rear and front, dual-displays on front (see on LG's previous handsets), 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC, free B&O earphones in the package and also carries the title of first smartphone with Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the box.

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LG V20 is priced at Rs. 54,999 and will be available across India starting 6th Dec 2016 through retail stores and online exclusively at Amazon.in.

We got the chance to test the handset during its launch and here's our first impressions of the LG's most advanced smartphone till date.

Design- Premium and Durable

It was quite interesting to see LG asking the journalists and bloggers to drop the V20 to evaluate its durability. This is not an everyday routine during launch events, where we mostly see company's executives talk about the smartphone's specifications being projected on big displays.

The LG V20's launch event compliments the phone's very existence, which comprises of innovation a lot of first-of-its kind features.

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LG says the V20 is complaint with the U.S. military standard test and the smartphone's sleek metal body is equipped with aircraft grade aluminum.

The handset has Si-PC, a shock-absorbing material, which protects the top and bottom edges of V20 if it accidentally falls from your hands.

In real life, the smartphone looks premium and at the same time offers a sense of durability, which most of metal and glass clad flagship handsets fail to offer.

I dropped the LG V20 twice from a height of 4 feet, which did no harm to the handset's rear and front. The handset can easily handle a drop or two or even more than that.

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Quad HD Primary and Secondary Display

The display on LG V20 is one of its highlight features. The smartphone has a primary 5.7-inch QHD IPS Quantum Display that has a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and delivers 513ppi.

The secondary screen, which technically is a part of primary display, but has a different driver to offer its features offers a resolution of 160 x 1040 pixels and sits on the top of primary display, like a notification panel.

You can access notes, settings, calendar, switch on light, wi-fi, data, etc. from the secondary display.

The Quad HD primary screen is super impressive. It's very bright, has amazing viewing angles and is perfect for watching and capturing videos, reading, productivity and playing games.

Sound- Master of Audio

Audio is one department where LG V20 truly excels. It is the first smartphone to feature 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC (digital to analog converter). As per LG, the DAC offers 55% less distortion, 1.8 times more dynamic range, and 1.4 times the signal to noise ratio compared to other flagship smartphones in the market.

The HD Audio Recorder uses three high Acoustic Overload Point (AOP) microphones which empower users to create studio-quality recordings.

Besides, to make sure you get the best-in-class audio experience while listening to your favourite music, LG is shipping the V20 with B&O Play headsets for absolutely free.

Dual-Camera setup with Wide-angle lens on Rear and Front

LG V20 borrows one of the most exciting features from LG G5 and takes it even further. The smartphone adds the wide-angle lens feature on the front camera, which allows you to capture amazing wide-angle selfie shots.

The V20 can take wide-angle photographs with rear-facing 135-degree and front-facing 120-degree lenses. The smartphone has Hybrid Auto Focus (a combination of laser autofocus, phase detection autofocus, and contrast autofocus) and Auto Shot that includes face detection feature to trigger the shutter automatically while you click a selfie.

The only thing missing is the Optical Image Stablization, which promises less blurry images and smoother video. To compensate, LG V20 ships with Qualcomm's Steady Record 2.0 EIS for smooth video recording, which we will evaluate in detailed review of the smartphone.

Software- The first smartphone with Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the box

I was impressed by the LG G5's ability to offer a smooth and lag free user experience. And I am delighted to see that LG has only made it even better with the V20.

The smartphone already tops the charts of being the first handset to run Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the box and during whatever time we spent with the handset, the user experience was simply impressive.

We will further evaluate the software performance in detailed review of the smartphone.

Snapdragon 820 CPU and 4GB RAM

Coming on to other aspects, the smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 820 CPU paired up with 4GB of RAM. As expected, we did not notice any lags and the performance was flawless. We will give our final verdict after stress testing the handset.

Storage, battery and Connectivity

The LG V20 comes with a 3200mAh removable battery unit that supportsQuick charge 3.0. The smartphone has 64GB of internal storage space, which is further expandable up to 2TB provided you have a microSD card.

The handset has all the required connectivity features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, 4G LTE, VoLTE, 3G, FM and GPS.

Verdict

LG V20 is undoubtedly the most exciting handset of the passing year (2016). It is loaded with innovation and also takes care of ground level features like audio, display, camera, etc.

The smartphone is fairly priced for the features it brings to table however; it is worth mentioning that market now has OnePlus 3T, which offers the latest Snapdragon 821 CPU paired up with 6GB of RAM (OnePlus 3T) at half the price-point.

But then it's not just about the processor and the amount of RAM a handset packs in. The innovation and features that the overall package offers is also a major deciding factor. That's what we will evaluate while reviewing both the handsets in the coming month.

Stay tuned for our review of LG V20.

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