Earlier today, LG unveiled its latest flagship handset: the V20. Successor to the V10 from last year, the V20 fixes a lot of mistakes that LG made with the G5 earlier this year.
The V20 will launch in Korea this month and will soon be making its way to the United States on all the top 5 carriers. In case the V20 has caught your attention and you are planning on buying it, here are 5 things you should know about it.
#5 No B&O Play for the US
One of the highlights of the LG V20 is that its Quad DAC from ESS has been fine tuned by B&O Play to deliver outstanding audio quality. However, if you live in the United States, here’s something you need to know: the V20 sold in the country will not come with the B&O Play branding or features. This is due to licensing issues, and this was perhaps also the reason why LG never launched the B&O Play’s Hi-Fi DAC ‘Friend’ for the G5 in the United States. It remains unclear for now whether LG will be bundling special B&O Play earphones with the V20 in the United States or not, though the chances of that happening look bleak to me.
Nonetheless, since the V20 will continue to come with its Quad DAC from ESS, expect the handset to deliver outstanding audio quality.
#4 Removable Battery
Removable batteries on smartphones are becoming extinct. There are only a handful of smartphones left in the market right now that come with a removable battery. While Samsung, HTC, and other OEMs have switched to non-removable batteries. LG, however, continues to stick to removable batteries on its flagship smartphones. The LG G5 had a removable 2800mAh battery thanks to its modular design, and the V10 is no exception to this rule. While the handset does not come with a modular design like the G5, it does feature a removable metallic back that gives access to a microSD card and a nanoSIM card slots.
#3 Wide and Standard Selfies
The LG V10 came with dual selfie shooters at the front that allowed one to take some extremely wide-angle selfies. The V20 only comes with one 5MP selfie camera at the front but it comes with a 120-degree lens. This is exactly the same as the LG V10’s secondary selfie camera, which means you will be able to fill in a boatload of people in your selfies on the V20 as well. The camera app also offers the option to switch between a standard and wide-angle view so that you don’t end up capturing unwanted objects and people in your selfies.
#2 IR Blaster
While the likes of Samsung and HTC have removed the handy IR blaster from their flagship smartphones, LG continues to include one. The LG G5 already had an IR blaster at its top and the sensor is also present on the V20. Coupled with LG’s excellent Quick Remote app, one can use the IR blaster on the handset to control other electrical appliances like TVs, music system, ACs, and more.
#1 64GB Storage
Samsung was the first major OEM this year to offer 64GB as base storage with the Note 7. LG is continuing that trend with the V20, which comes with 64GB of speedy UFS based storage. Along with a microSD card slot, you can theoretically have 320GB of storage space on the V20 when coupled with a 256GB microSD card — enough to store your complete music library that you can enjoy on the go with the handset’s Quad DAC.
Don’t forget that the V20 also features a secondary ticker screen called Second Screen. This screen is larger than what is found on the V10 and it is now also more readable thanks to increased brightness. The camera app on the V20 is also in another league of its own since it offers manual control almost every aspect of the camera including focus peaking, ESS, EV, and more.
What are your favorite features of the LG V20? Do you plan on buying the phone? If yes, why? Drop in a comment below and let us know.
