LG V20 preview: Less rugged, more appealing

What was originally its own line now looks far closer to a member of the G family of phones.

Less than a year go, LG launched a brand new and somewhat-confusing line with the V10. It was bigger and more rugged than the G series — at the time led by the G4 — and ostensibly pointed at content creation rather than just consumption. The LG V10 had a larger screen with a unique always-on secondary screen, better audio output and recording, new camera controls that you could tweak all day, and a removable battery.

There are LG V10 fans out there. The problem is there aren’t that many, and certainly not enough to have warranted LG continuing in the exact same direction with its next V phone. While the LG G5 certainly isn’t flying off the shelves, its more general appeal has obviously led to more success than the V10. For that reason, it would seem, we have the LG V20 in 2016 that integrates much of what the G5 offered earlier this year with some of the core thoughts from the V10 sticking around.

The LG V20 ditches its tough-feeling exterior for something a bit more svelte, and adopts most of the software experience developed for the G5. At the same time, it carries on from the V10 by keeping its larger display and removable battery, while also doubling down on robust camera capabilities, top-end audio and extra features. It is, of course, the first phone shipping with Android 7.0 Nougat as well.

LG is fighting an uphill battle with the V20, but it’s putting its best foot forward with this top-end flagship. Let us show you know it all comes together.

Moving pictures

LG V20 Video preview

Words and pictures are one thing, but wrapping up my thoughts on the LG V20 into a video can only add to the experience. Be sure to check out the hands-on preview video above, and when you’re done with that continue on to the rest of the preview for all of the details and analysis.

Solid, not rugged

LG V20 Hardware

The LG V10 was an imposing device. The 5.7-inch screen size didn’t immediately tip you to it (there are far bigger phones out there), but the stainless steel build and near-200 gram weight was an imposing force in your hand(s) and pocket. Keeping the same screen size, LG has considerably slimmed down the V20 — it’s narrower, thinner and much lighter.

When you go thinner and narrower in the body there’s bound to be a weight savings, but LG also made a complete switch in materials here. Gone is the stainless steel (which we really don’t see in phones nowadays) body, replaced by AL6013 aluminum in every place possible — there’s a bit of plastic at the top and bottom for antennas, as you’d expect. That full-on aluminum build means that the textured rubberized “DuraSkin” coating is also gone, which in my eyes is a plus — some liked it, but that wasn’t a look that appealed to a wide audience.

At a glance, you immediately get notes of the LG G5. The flat back houses a familiar camera pod and fingerprint sensor, and smoothly curves over to the sides and into sculpted glass on the front, with minimal unnecessary cutouts or design “features.” Everything else is as expected, with volume keys on the sides and a simple speaker, USB-C port and headphone jack on the bottom.

More: Complete LG V20 specs

Underneath the finely sculpted and subtly curved glass on the front is a 5.7-inch QHD (2560×1440, good for 513 ppi) IPS “Quantum” display, the same size as the V10’s (and Note 7’s). In my short time using it the display seemed markedly nicer than the LG G5 I was holding next to it, so the first impressions are good — let’s hope it has also improved daylight visibility and brightness over the lackluster panel on the G5 as well.

It’s of course joined by the “Second Screen” up at the top, which is shoved over to the right to make room for the front-facing camera. The Second Screen is the same size as before, but nearly twice as bright now and with higher contrast, putting it more on par with the primary display panel.

The V20’s whole hardware story is a dramatic departure from the V10, and it looks really great — to me, better than the G5 does. LG’s manufacturing is perfect, and it means the V20 still feels substantial and solid, even though it no longer looks rugged and rough like the V10. And though it now looks similar to the G5, there’s a notable improvement in the metal — though this is still a “coated” metal, it still feels like aluminum unlike the faux-metal feeling of the G5.

What makes the build all the more impressive is that LG has designed the V20 to keep a removable battery — while also bumping up to 3200 mAh — which instead of coming out of the bottom like the G5 comes with a fully-removable back plate (remember when phones had those?). Just press a button low down on the left side and the back lifts up and unlatches, popping off to reveal the battery and SD card slots (augmenting 64GB of internal storage). When you press it back on it feels as though the back isn’t removable — the tolerances are just that tight, and the latching mechanism is strong.

Hi-Fi audio

When it comes to audio, LG already pre-announced things when it told the world the V20 would have a 32-bit Quad DAC. Those who are into hi-fi audio will know that’s a great thing when it comes to audio output to headphones. LG touts numbers like having half as much noise and nearly double the dynamic range compared to the Galaxy S7, but most probably didn’t think there was an issue with the audio quality coming out of their current phone.

Things get a little weird when it comes to branding, though. Every single V20 sold will have the same great audio capture and playback hardware, but LG’s pre-announced partnership with Bang & Olufsen for the “B&O Play” branding will only apply to some markets like Asia — and not the U.S. Those models with B&O Play branding will have special audio tuning from Bang & Olufsen, a silkscreened logo on the back of the phone and include B&O in-ear headphones in the box.

What you’re more likely to notice is on the audio recording front, where the V20’s mics can take in sound up to 132 dB — perfect for taking video of concerts, sporting events or large crowds of any type. If you’d like it can also be recorded in LPCM 24 bit 48kHz uncompressed format, giving you great playback quality as well. That also pairs up with new video stabilization technology called “Steady Record 2.0” that hopes to smooth out handheld video clips even more thanks to extra live digital processing.

Heavy on cameras

When it comes to still photos, things are upgraded as well. The V20 has adopted the G5’s dual camera setup on the rear of the phone, with 16MP f/1.8 OIS-supported primary camera sitting next to an 8MP f/2.4 super-wide 135-degree camera.

The one change here is in terms of auto focus, where the V20 has a hybrid system consisting of laser, phase-detect and contrast auto focusing, choosing the right system depending on the situation. I’ve been intrigued by the wide-angle secondary camera on the G5 and I’m happy to see it here — and while it’s somewhat disappointing to see the same camera setup as the G5, it’s still slated to be one of the best cameras available today.

Things have been upgraded a little bit on the front-facing camera, moving away from dual cameras to a single 5MP sensor with an ultra-wide 120-degree lens. Say goodbye to selfie sticks.

Say hello to Nougat

LG V20 Software

LG touted for weeks before the announcement of the V20 that it would be the first phone shipping with Android 7.0 Nougat installed out of the box, and with the storm of news surrounding the software’s launch it set rather high expectations. But the V20 was never going to ship with an interface like you’ll find on an updated Nexus 6P today. Truth is that what you find on the V20 is very close to what you’ll see on the LG G5 today (which is much nicer than the V10’s software), but with some Nougat underpinnings throughout.

The launcher experience in “LG UX 5.0+” is near-identical to the G5, down to the icons, lack of app drawer (by default) and animations. The notification shade has received a little bit of a tune-up with a simpler and flatter look, as have the settings, but you won’t mistake this software for anything but LG. Nougat’s new multi-window mode works as it does on the Nexus 6P in terms of switching apps, but interface-wise it’s the same as what LG offered for a limited set of apps on the V10.

Despite the minimal interface changes coming from the G5, LG’s accomplishment of shipping the V20 with the latest Google software is a notable one. Of course Nougat offers lots of changes that are very important, from under-the-hood changes like performance and battery life up to things you’ll notice every day like multi-window, bundled notifications and direct reply notifications. Shipping with Android 7.0 puts it ahead of the pack that are still waiting on their own Nougat update, but it’s also important that the V20 gets its own updates going forward. We’ll see.

The V10’s calling card Second Screen has made a return, unchanged in terms of size as noted earlier, but with a bit larger icons and fonts it should be easier to use at a glance or with a quick tap. You can still use it to check out notifications when you’re doing something else on the main display, as well as use it for toggles or quick app launching. It took a while to get used to on the V10 and may not work its way into your daily routine, but there’s really no downside to having it up there — the V20 doesn’t seem to have a particularly large top bezel because of it.

Using a mostly-bare minimally configured V20 for a handful of minutes to get a feel for the software, it seems as though LG’s done a good job having everything in tip-top shape performance-wise. And it should — that’s the case on every high-end phone right out of the box. But with a Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM it should handle being loaded up with your apps as well.

Lots ot explore

LG V20 More to come

The total package the V20 is offering steps well beyond what the V10 was in its time, and that took LG changing much of what defined the V10 physically. Just as interestingly, in many ways the V20 is a better total package than the G5, thanks to its robust number of features and lack of a distracting modular system.

The top-end specs, high-resolution display, fingerprint sensor and USB-C port are all table stakes on a flagship today, but it’s worth noting that the V20 doesn’t seem to have any “gotcha” line items missing. The choice to go to a sleek solid metal frame, dropping the rugged design elements, means the V20 can appeal to many more people right from the start. Then you add in a big screen, an interesting camera configuration and a couple crowd-pleasing features like a removable battery and SD card slot, and the V20 starts to check a lot of boxes for people looking for a big, powerful phone.

The story of the LG V20 being for “content creation” is a bit overblown, especially considering its similarity to the smaller G5. But thankfully that narrative doesn’t get in the way of the V20 just having the specs and features most people are looking for a phone today. On the face of it, with unforutnately limited time to experience everything the V20 offers, it looks like LG has pulled together all of the necessary components for a great phone. The V series is all of a sudden looking bright.

LG V20

• LG V20 preview
• LG unveils the V20
• LG V20 specs

First comparison: LG V20 vs. Galaxy Note 7

The late-2016 leader gets new competition from LG.

LG’s new V20 is designed to appeal to far more people than its predecessor, from its slick metal exterior down to its piles of specs and features inside. And any time you trot out a big 5.7-inch phone, you’re going to be compared with Samsung’s latest Note — even more so when the Note 7 is only a month old at this point.

We had an opportunity to use the LG V20 for a bit ahead of its launch, and it was natural for us to take time to compare it head-to-head with the latest from Samsung. Here’s our first impressions of using the phones side-by-side.

On the inside

Considering that the Note 7 has been out for some time now, we’re all generally familiar with its major specs and features. Though we’re just getting to know the V20, nothing is immediately way off the charts internally. Both phones offer the same Snapdragon 820 processor (except some international Note 7s), 4GB of RAM, SD card slot, 5.7-inch QHD resolution display, USB-C port and single speaker on the bottom.

Of course, there are a few differentiators here beyond that.

The spec showdown is nearly a tie.

The V20’s display is an IPS “Quantum” Display — a fancy term for LG’s special IPS technology — while the Note 7’s is a Super AMOLED screen with dual curves on the sides. Then there’s the little “Second Screen” above the V20’s main screen, which shows you additional information. The V20 gives back the lead with a 3200 mAh battery against the Note 7’s 3500 mAh — LG lets you remove the battery for a fresh one, though.

The camera comparison is a bit more complicated because the V20 has two rear cameras to the Note 7’s one. The V20 has a 16MP f/1.9 setup with OIS, along with hybrid auto focus that combines laser, contrast and phase-detect systems to focus. The Note 7 is lower resolution at 12MP, but with a faster f/1.7 aperture and also OIS — focusing is accomplished with just phase detection here. But then you can also factor in the V20’s secondary wide-angle camera — an 8MP f/2.4 camera with a 135-degree field of view for extra interesting shots. On the front, it’s 5MP f/1.9 on the V20 versus 5MP f/1.7 on the Note 7.

Now, here’s a complete breakdown of the internal specs for both phones:

On the outside

Comparing last year’s V10 to the Galaxy Note 5 you saw two very different design philosophies. In 2016, the V20 and Note 7 are far closer together — both are sleek, simple and sturdy. They both feel extremely solid, and generally have the same footprint with mostly flat backs, well-rounded corners and minimal extra design flourishes. The V20 and Note 7 both go with the minimal aesthetic, especially in the grey and black colors pictured here.

Both phones take a sleek, solid and simple design approach

The V20 is primarily built on an aluminum body, sculpted smoothly all around and only broken by small pieces of plastic at the top and bottom to facilitate radio connectivity. The back is removable with the push of a button, though you wouldn’t know just by seeing or feeling the exterior. The Note 7’s aluminum structure is very much just a frame, as the real feeling you get from it is all glass with the two panes covering the front and back, down to the sides with their dual curves.

All of the basic components are more or less in the same place on both phones, with volume keys on the side, speakers and ports down on the bottom, and a camera pod high on the back — the one difference being the fingerprint sensor-button combo on the back of the V20 and front of the Note 7.

There’s one big difference you can’t see: water resistance. Even though the LG V20 has passed through testing for a MIL-STD 810G rating, that doesn’t give it resistance to water like the IP68 rating (a different system) the Note 7 has. With a removable back waterproofing gets increasingly difficult, and that’s one trade off that had to be made on the V20.

Finally, the size is important here. Even though the V20 is dramatically smaller than the V10, it’s bigger than the svelte Note 7. The thickness and weight differences are negligible, but the Note 7 is several millimeters thinner and shorter than the V20 — and that can make a big difference in usability of these big phones.

Which phone offers the specs, features and design you’re looking for? Let us know in the comments section below!

LG V20

• LG V20 preview
• LG unveils the V20
• LG V20 specs

NASA’s asteroid-bound OSIRIS-Rex launches Thursday

After years of construction and months of rigorous testing, NASA’s asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft is ready to take off from Cape Canaveral this Thursday, September 8th at 7pm ET. After it leaves the atmosphere on an Atlas V rocket, the spacecraft will take two years to reach its destination, a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu. Upon arrival in 2018, OSIRIS will begin an multi-year mission of mapping the 1,650-foot asteroid and bringing home a scoop of carbon-rich space rocks, which researchers believe may hold 4.5 billion-year-old leftovers from the beginning of the solar system and some of the basic building blocks of life.

Unlike the European Space Agency’s ill-fated Philae lander, OSIRIS-Rex won’t be crashing into Bennu’s surface. In July 2020, after a year-long survey of the surface, NASA will pick a sampling site and begin a slow, one-quarter mile per hour descent. As the New York Times reports, the Lockheed Martin-designed spacecraft will bounce gently off the asteroid “like a pogo stick” while a sampling head uses a blast of nitrogen gas to collect dirt and small rocks. NASA hopes to gather anywhere from a couple ounces to nearly four and a half pounds of material before the craft starts a two-year trip home. In September 2023, OSIRIS-Rex will airdrop the samples in a parachute capsule that will land in the Utah desert.

For now, however, viewers here on Earth can follow Thursday’s launch with NASA’s livestream coverage on YouTube. According to NASA’s official schedule, the stream will go live sometime on Wednesday, September 7th, but will be pretty uneventful until the Atlas rocket is loaded with cryogenic fuel starting around 4:30 PM ET on Thursday afternoon. The two-hour launch window lasts from 7:05 PM ET to 9:05 PM ET and NASA will be broadcasting the launch countdown via the Kennedy Space Center’s Facebook and Twitter.

Coverage will continue until about an hour after launch, followed by a post-launch news conference from NASA and the United Launch Alliance. In the meantime, NASA has just posted an hour-long preview documentary explaining more about the science and tech aboard OSIRIS-Rex, as well as a much more condensed, four-minute version of the entire mission:

Source: NASA

Chinese space theme park to send tourists to the stratosphere

Until Virgin Galactic launches, the only way to get to space as a civilian is to pay Russia a cool $20 million. If you’re willing to fudge your definition of ‘space’ however, you may have a much cheaper option in a couple of years: A theme park under development in China is working on a high-altitude ‘deep space’ balloon tour that will take visitors into the lower stratosphere.

The company behind the experience, KaungChi, says the balloon will lift a pressurized passenger capsule, called “Traveller”, about 15 miles above the earth’s surface. That’s not exactly space but it is high enough to see the curvature of the Earth. Riders will then hang out in the stratosphere for a few hours before descending back to terra firma.

Again, it’s not quite a ‘space’ experience, but it still sounds like a once in a lifetime experience. The project is still in the research phase too, and is part of a larger $1.5 billion theme park project dubbed “Future Valley.” There’s no ETA on when it opens, but would-be ‘space’ travellers will have to travel to Hangzhou for a ride.

Source: Ars Technica, China Daily

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It’s official: LG takes the wraps off its LG V20 Nougat-loaded phone

LG has officially announced the successor to its V10 smartphone: the V20.

LG is live at Pier 27 in San Francisco, where it holding an event to announce the LG V20. LG USA’s Frank Lee took the stage to show “the newest iteration” in LG’s V series. He said LG examined what consumers liked and needed, and then it built upon the V series to make a phone for “storytellers” (not just celebrities and influencers — anyone). With the V20, it wants to help everyday people embrace the “spectacular”.

LG

The LG V20 features a metal body, which LG described as a lightweight aluminium with a light silicon-based material (the same as what’s on aircraft), and a thin bezel. It also has MIL-STD 810G drop protection, which means it should withstand some water ingress and up to 4ft-drops.

The V20 also has Steady Record 2.0, which analyses each frame to minimise unintended hand movement and then applies it to the overall video, and it’s capable of 4K video capture and playback. To complement this, the V20 offers Qualcomm Audio, which combines a Quad DAC with high-quality speakers and sensitive mics. Speaking of Qualcomm, the V20 has the Snapdragon X12 modem that supports 600Mbps download speeds.

LG said the V20 is the only phone in the world to include a 32-bit Quad DAC from ESS, and it’s the first phone to have ESS’s HyperStream 2 audio technology. And thanks to three mics built into the chassis, the V20 has a HD Audio recorder, which allows you to adjust gain and frequencies. To go with these high-quality audio specs, LG said consumers will get a pair of B&O Play H3 headphones with each V20 purchase.

Going back to the camera, other features include an improved manual video mode, such as ISO, shutter speed, microphone volume, and more. It’s the first smartphone to integrate a high-quality wide-angle lens on the front and rear of the phone. Not only do you get two cameras on both front and back, but also support for Hi-Fi audio capture (as well as VoLTE, though the latter is only supported by select carriers).

LG and Google have already confirmed the LG V20, the newest member of the V series, will be the first device to launch on Android Nougat right out of the box, as well as Vulkan API support for 3D games. Here’s everything we know so far about the LG V20, but be sure to check out Pocket-lint’s feature on the device for more information about pricing, release date, and features:

• LG V20: Specs, release date and rumours

LG

If you want to know even more about the LG V20, LG on Twitter has asked consumers to add LG Mobile on Snapchat (@LGUSAMobile) in order to see the LG V20 in action. Also, if you tune into the company’s Facebook Live at 5:55pm PST, you’ll get a closer look at the LG V20 (the playback video — embedded below — should remain on LG’s Facebook page once the stream ends).

This story is breaking. More details to follow. Refresh for updates.