LG V20: Eyeing the prize

The newest LG smartphone has a myriad upgrades, but they might not be enough for it to reach the top

The LG V20, much like its predecessor, comes loaded with various features. It is definitely better looking than the V10. At Rs 54,990, the V20 plans to fight it out with the bigwigs in the premium smartphone segment. 

One look and you know it’s a flagship phone with a removable aluminum back panel and smooth glass bezels. It comes with a fingerprint sensor that doubles as the power button. The sensor is quite responsive and setting it up doesn’t take long. It has a 5.7-inch 2,560x1,400 display. And here’s the interesting part: like the V10, the V20 has a secondary screen. At 2.1-inch, that makes the total display 5.9 inches, the secondary screen is great for multitasking and checking  notifications. Unlike its predecessor, the V20’s secondary screen gives better brightness options and support for longer scrolling characters. 

Under the hood, the V20 houses a Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM. But being a flagship phone, it could have very well gone with the 821. Nevertheless, it is able to run heavy games and apps with ease and it doesn’t heat up either. The V20 is perhaps the first phone to come with a pre-installed Android 7 Nougat. Nougat is, as is known, more efficient and coupled with a good phone provides for an optimum Android experience. The phone also comes with a pair of Bang & Olufsen headphones. The sound quality is great and there is almost no loss of sound. 

The V20 has a dual lens — 16 megapixel (MP) and 8 MP — primary and a 5MP secondary camera. The output pictures are good enough but definitely not the best. Some pictures had considerable noise in them. If you’re looking for the best camera, then the V20 might not be able to live up to your expectations. The phone, however, does support 4K video recording. 

The phone comes with a 3,200 mAh removable battery, a breath of fresh air among phones with non-removable batteries. The battery backup is not impressive but not disappointing either. On a full charge, the phone lasted for more than half a day with moderate usage. 

Considering the price tag and the current competition, the V20 could have ramped up the upgrades. On the whole, the phone doesn’t give you any reason to complain.