LG V20 is powered by Snapdragon 820 and comes with dual screens

After so many teasers, LG has finally unveiled the V20 smartphone. The LG V20 is the successor to the LG V10 that came with a large screen and a second display.  The LG V20 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and comes with Android 7 Nougat OS pre-loaded. There is no information on what the price tag would be or when the phone will be released. One key feature (apart from dual screens) is that the V20 comes with Hi-Fi Quad DAC for exceptional audio quality. LG V20 is also the first phone ever to come with new Google In Apps phone search function.

LG V20 build is similar to that of LG G5. LG used lightweight AL6013 aluminum shell along with a new silicon based material. The Silicone Polycarbonate top and bottom parts offer good resistance when the phone is dropped by reducing shocks by more than 20% when compared to conventional materials. LG V20 has passed MIL-STD 810G Transit Drop Testing.

“The LG V20 is designed to offer customers a more dynamic experience by building on the most popular video and audio features of the V series,” said Juno Cho, president of LG Electronics and Mobile Communications Company. “With the LG V20, we are giving our customers more of everything they love and less of anything they don’t need to set a new standard for premium smartphones.”

Google In Apps is a new search mode features in Google App that helps users find content from all user-installed applications. This makes search function very powerful and LG V20 is the first phone to come with this feature built-in.

The second screen is placed on top of the primary display (a tiny bar next to the camera and sensors). This acts like a ticker and also shows quick settings for apps. The second display has twice the brightness and 50% bigger font size to help users to easily view notifications and alerts while outside. A tap on the second screen will enlarge notifications. As you can see in the image above, the second display is showing slide to adjusts setting.

LG has added UX5.0+ user interface on top of Android 7 Nougat. 5.0+ adds subtle enhancements and new features to 5.0 like multi window mode, drag content from one app to another.

LG V20 is built to offer superior multimedia features. Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 is currently among the best chips to power a smartphone and comes with X12 LTE support for super high speed data access. LG V20 comes with Hi-Fi Video Recording where you can manually control settings for audio quality. These settings include Low Cut Filter (remove unwanted background noise), Limiter (est recording distance).  V20 records audio using 24-bit / 48kHz Linear Pulse Code Modulation (a format used in professional video equipment). The gyro-based Electronic Image Stabilization 3.0 reduces blur/distortion. All these features make the LG V20 a capable video shooter.

Coming to audio output, LG V20 has a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC powered by ESS SABRE ES9218. This along with support for lossless music formats like FLAC, DSD, AIFF, WAV, ALAC make the V20 the preferred choice for audiophiles. LG has also teamed up with B&O PLAY to create natural balanced sound.

Coming to optics, there is a dual camera setup (16mp f1.9 OIS primary lens and 8mp f2.4) at the back. The rear camera has all three auto focus mechanisms (Laser AF, Phase Detection AF, Contrast AF) and this makes focusing on objects extremely quick. V20 chooses either Laser AF or PDAF based on subject and environment and combines with Contrast AF to refine focus. The front facing camera is a 5mp camera with 120 degree lens that allow more subjects to be included in selfies.

LG V20 Key Specifications

• Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 820 Processor
• Display: Main 5.7-inch QHD IPS Quantum Display (2560 x 1440 / 513ppi)
• Secondary IPS Quantum Display (160 x 1040 / 513ppi)
• Memory: 4GB LPDDR4 RAM / 64GB UFS ROM / microSD (up to 2TB)
• Camera: Front 5MP with F1.9 Aperture (Wide Angle) / Rear 16MP with F1.8 Aperture OIS (Standard Angle) and 8MP with F2.4 Aperture (Wide Angle)
• Battery: 3200mAh (removable)
• Operating System: Android 7.0 Nougat
• Size: 159.7 x 78.1 x 7.6mm
• Network: LTE-A 3 Band CA
• Connectivity: X12 LTE (up to 600 Mbps LTE Category 12 with 3x Carrier Aggregation) / Wi-Fi (802.11 a, b, g, n, ac) / USB Type-C / Bluetooth 4.2 BLE / NFC
• Colors: Titan / Silver / Pink
• Others: Hi-Fi Video Recording / Steady Record 2.0 / HD Audio Recorder / Studio Mode / High AOP Mic / Second Screen / 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC / In Apps / B&O Collaboration / Finger Print Scanner / Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 3.0