I had the pleasure of trying the LG V60 for a few hours last week in San Francisco and here’s some of my early thoughts/hands-on review of the new LG flagship. First of all, LG has gone with the “V” series this year as their main flagship and the “G” series may be gone forever(but it may come back). I really like that LG has gone with the bigger brother “V” series as their flagship as I do prefer their bigger models.
This year there will be two different colors, sapphire white with silver and also navy with gold for the U.S. market(international models may have more colors). I am not too keen on colors of the smartphone because I am usually using a case but I really dig the gold outlines on the navy model.
With a whopping 6.8 inches of screen and near 21:9 screen ratio(actual is 20.5:9), LG V60 gives you a screen you won’t be disappointed with if you are into bigger smartphone sizes. That’s nearly the size of Samsung’s new Galaxy S20 Ultra that’s slightly bigger at 6.9 inches. The ultra-wide screen will definitely help you enjoy anamorphic movies(that’s 21:9 ratio) from movie directors like Quentin Tarantino, my favorite movie director by the way as he uses full anamorphic 70mm film(which is actually in full 21:9 ratio). Of course, wider aspect ratio doesn’t mean much for regular videos like YouTube and Netflix since the current TV/movie standard is still 16:9. Regardless. LG V60 boasts a nice design and feel with metal frame that cools to the touch.
When will Samsung learn from LG? Every 4 years. LG has really innovated in the camera hump department, no other smartphone company makes their camera hump so flawless. Samsung and everyone will follow in a few years just like they copied LG’s super-wide angle cameras after LG introduced them to the market many many years ago. I do really feel like LG has a lot of innovation and keeps things practical. While Samsung has opted to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack(which I think is to sell more of their new Galaxy Buds hehe), LG has still kept the 3.5mm headphone jack. In fact, LG V60 has whopping FOUR microphones with new “Voice Bokeh” that will allow you to focus on your subject and blur out the background noice. And don’t forget, LG has STILL kept their quad-DAC, which allows you to use headphones without amps. If you are into the best sound, LG has got your back. Of course, speakers have been improved also over last year’s LG G8X with much fuller/richer sound.
My favorite feature on the LG V60 is the new 8K video recording at 29FPS. While 29FPS sounds a bit odd, it’s still higher than Samsung Galaxy S20 series and you can do 2X lossless zoom in 8K mode thanks to its new 64MP camera sensor. For videographers who make 4K videos, now you can use the LG V60 to get up to loseless 16X digital zoom (2X zoom in 8K x 4 = 16) since you get 4 4K resolution in one 8K video plus the 2X zoom.
I am actually tired of minor upgrades by smartphone manufacturers and being charged 30-40% for pretty much the same thing from last year. Well, LG is one of the few smartphone companies with prices that makes sense. The only thing missing this year? LG has left out their famous wide-angle front camera. While the wide-angle back camera is still there, I really miss their front wide-angle, perhaps put 2 cameras like they used to do with LG V10 and V50. Oh well.
Lastly but not least, the dual screen feature is part of LG V60 offering, meaning it comes with the phone and is optional for you to use. While personally I didn’t end up using this much with my LG G8X last year, it can be awesome for multi-taskers who absolutely need the extra screen without breaking bank. LG V60 with dual screen will retail for less than $1000 while you will have to cough up $3000 for a Galaxy Fold or even $1500 for Galaxy Z Flip which doesn’t even have two big screens. For stock traders/cryptocurrenty traders, this extra screen could mean mobile trading at its absolute best as I personally use two phones to trade also.
Overall, LG V60 has gotten a lot of things right, especially keeping practical features at prices that makes sense. For those of you who upgrade phones every 2 or 3 years, I think LG V60 has definitely hit the sweet spot for anyone who wants a phone under $1000. And I am becoming practical these days, LG V60 could be the flagship phone of the year that you will actually want to buy without breaking your bank.
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