LG V40 ThinQ hands-on review

Smart Android And Trik-Commenting on Andorid indeed never endless, because smart devices this one is often updated every certain amount of time. So that the market can always be garapnya menerinya with pleasure. And it is not denied if this device has become the lifestyle of each society. To not wonder if the 6th business information and many are turning to mobail smartphone. With Android which thoroughly dominated the mobile industry, choosing the best Android smartphone is almost identical to choose the best smartphone, period. But while Android phones have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is intense.

From the sleek devices impress with the design premium, up to a full plant furniture features, to a very good device, and affordable mobile phone has a heavy weight, the Android ecosystem inhabited by a diverse range of attractive mobile phone LG V40 ThinQ hands-on review LG V40 ThinQ hands-on review,But "oversize" are subjective, and sometimes pieces of the specification and a list of features is not enough to get an idea of how good a phone. In this roundup, we look at the absolute best-the Android phone you can't go wrong with. The habits of young people or to accentuate trand blindly lifestyle, make this a medoroang this clever device industry vying to do modifications to the device, with a distinctly vitur vitur-tercanggihnya. So it can be received over the counter LG V40 ThinQ hands-on review

Introduction

Someone was inevitably going to do it, and it makes all the sense in the world for it to be LG - the V40 ThinQ is the first phone with both an ultra wide-angle and a telephoto cam on its back. Of course, there's a 'regular' one in between them, for a total of three actual distinct self-sufficient modules unlike... previous triple-cam setups.

That's not all, though - there are two more cameras on the front. You don't normally want telephoto lenses there, but you do want blurred backgrounds and some extra coverage on occasion, so LG's fitted two wide-angle selfie cameras - the 'primary' one is an 8MP unit with an 80-degree field of view, and next to it there's a 5MP one with a slightly wider 90-degree FOV.

Hence, the Penta Camera is born.

For all its cameras, the V40 ThinQ is still a phone, and it's the largest diagonal V-series handset to date with its 6.4-inch display - OLED like the previous generation. The V40 features a 'Second screen' too - LG's feel-good way of saying it's got a notch up top.

Then come the blah-blah bits where we tell you the ubiquitous Snapdragon 845 chip powers the new phone, there's 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage, which can be expanded, and Android 8.1 is what's coming out of the box (a bit of a bummer there). We're still not tired of praising makers that keep the good old 3.5mm jack, and LG is one of them, plus it's got its audiophile-oriented 32-bit DAC behind it.

LG V40 ThinQ specs

• Body: Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass 5 on front and rear; MIL-STD-810G compliant; IP68 water-resistance.
• Screen: 6.4" QHD+ FullVision OLED; 19.5:9 aspect ratio with notch (alternatively 'Second screen'), 537ppi; HDR 10 support.
• Camera: Primary: 12MP, 1.4µm pixel size; f/1.5 aperture, 78-degree FOV lens, 25mm equiv. focal length, OIS; Ultra wide-angle: 16MP; f/1.9 aperture, 107-degree FOV lens, 16mm equiv. focal length. Telephoto: 12MP; f/2.4 aperture, 47-degree FOV, 50mm equiv. focal length, 2x zoom.
• Selfie cam: Primary: 8MP, f/1.9 aperture, 80-degree FOV lens; Secondary: 5MP, f/2.2 aperture, 90-degree FOV lens.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: octa-core CPU (4x2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver), Adreno 630 GPU.
• Memory: 6GB of RAM; 64GB storage; microSD slot.
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo with LG UX, Android P update expected.
• Battery: 3,300mAh Lithium Polymer (sealed); Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging; WPC&PMA fast wireless charging.
• Connectivity: Single-SIM, Dual-SIM available in certain markets; LTE-A, 3-Band carrier aggregation, Cat.16/13 (1Gbps/150Mbps); USB Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; Bluetooth 5.0; FM radio.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader; Hi-Fi Quad DAC; 3.5mm headphone jack; 2 mics, Boombox speaker.

Okay, that seems to be long enough for a preamble, let's go ahead and open the box for some hands-on time with the LG V40 ThinQ.

Design

Looks-wise, the V40 ThinQ is pretty much a V30 (ThinQ or otherwise) with an extra camera both front and back and a notch on the display even if that's us oversimplifying things a bit. Sure, the camera arrangement is horizontal now, but even so, the family ties are apparent.

LG smartphone family shot, left to right: V30 ThinQ, V40 ThinQ, G7 ThinQ

The trio of cameras under a shared glass window looks reasonable - Samsung, for one, is still struggling to make its dual-cam setups remotely appealing, though admittedly there's a bunch of extra sensors there plus a flash.

Well, LG didn't find room for the V40's flash, so it's outside of the cam island. Even so, we don't feel it's quite the eyesore that the V30's flash/laser focusing peek hole was.

The fingerprint sensor is the usual circle below the cameras, a position LG has stuck with one way or another since the introduction of the biometric recognition on the V10 a few generations ago. And why change it - it works.

Pretty much the same goes for the glass back-metal frame build LG adopted with the G6. This model will come in Moroccan Blue and Aurora Black color schemes, but don't be surprised to see more eye-catching paintjobs like the Raspberry Rose on the G7 above (that's not to say we're not perpetually in love with the deep blue, new or old). The black one is stealthier, though it will produce a navy tinge under certain angles and light.

About time we move over to the front where the 6.4-inch OLED display awaits. LG is using an OLED panel for this one, so no claims for outlandish brightness like we saw on the G7's RGBW LCD.

Wait, where's the V40's notch, we hear you ask. It's there, but you can choose to hide it in settings (which we quite obviously did). You can also tweak the radius to round off the corners and even accentuate the status bar with a rainbow effect - the G7 treated its notch the same way. We keep calling it a notch, but LG likes the 'Second screen' name - to remind us that it was in fact LG that first filled the top bezel with screen on the V10 before it was cool. Looking back, it was pretty cool.

To notch or not to notch

Inside the notch, you'll find the two cameras, and... well... there's just something irksome about the off-axis earpiece. Revolting as the Pixel 3 XL's notch is going to be, judging by the numerous leaks, there's a case to be made for its symmetry, which the V40 ThinQ's notch lacks.

The V40 ThinQ, much like the G7, has a non-Bixby button on the left side. It's non-Bixby, because LG doesn't insist on forcing an in-house assistant on you but instead uses the hardware key for quick access to Google's native features - single press brings up your Google feed, a press-and-hold invokes the Google Assistant, and a double press starts Google Lens. The volume controls are above this extra button, while the power button is on the opposite side.

The V40 charges via the USB-C port on the bottom and comes bundled with a fast charger. Another thing you'll find in the box is a pair of wired earbuds that connect via a standard 3.5mm plug - because the V40 still has the headphone jack.

Retail package • Charger and cable • Earbuds

At just 169g, the LG V40 ThinQ would be a top choice for those that value portability - it's 32g lighter than the Galaxy Note9, and 20g less than the S9+. And don't even try to come up with competition for the V40 in the cameras per gram metric.

Penta camera - two on the front and three on the back

LG scores points for being the first major player to put a total of five cameras on a smartphone and proudly advertises it on the protective foil the phone comes out of - 'Penta Camera' they call it.

Let's start on the back. On the right, you have the primary 12MP cam. Its lens is a 25mm equivalent in 35mm film terms, but LG likes to quote field of view in degrees instead, and this one has an 87-degree FoV. The lens has a bright f/1.5 aperture and is also stabilized. The 1.4µm pixel size adds further evidence that it's some sort of variant of the latest Galaxy modules, though the lens is marginally wider.

In the middle is the ultra wide-angle module which is a 16mm equivalent and covers a field of view of 107 degrees. Gone are the days of the V20's 135-degree coverage but it's been a trend with later models to decrease the coverage in pursuit of less distortion (a worthy pursuit, it has to be said). The lens has an f/1.9 aperture, and, behind it, there's a 16MP sensor. There's no stabilization here. By the looks of it, it's the same hardware as on the G7.

But wait, there's more. The leftmost module on the back of the V40 ThinQ is the first telephoto camera on an LG smartphone. It's got a 50mm-equivalent lens with an f/2.4 aperture, and behind it - a 12MP sensor. Unlike the recent Galaxy and iPhone telephoto efforts, however, this one isn't stabilized.

Now, that's just on the back, there are two more cams up on the front. The one we'd call primary has an 8MP resolution and an f/1.9 aperture lens, and it's joined by a secondary 5MP f/2.2 one. These two differ in coverage too, with the main having an 80-degree FOV vs. 90 degrees for the 5MP one. Aside from the obvious benefit of fitting more stuff into the frame (be it people or scenery), the extra cam also enables a portrait mode for selfies. Or was that its more obvious benefit?

There are some novelties on the software side too. For one, with so many cameras to choose from, LG's figured you could use some help with framing and came up with a handy triple preview to give you an idea what all three cameras are seeing at the moment. There's also a triple shot mode where the phone takes a photo with each of the three cameras and makes a GIF out of the photos with a pretend-zoom-in effect. It works best if you hold still, so handheld attempts aren't perfect. Meanwhile, the AI composition feature will try and suggest using another camera if it thinks you've chosen poorly.

Camera UI: Triple preview • Triple shot • AI composition

We were quick to shoot a few samples, of course, though we'll be doing some more extensive testing as the days go by.

Camera samples, normal camera (25mm)

LG is big on ultra wides, and the V40 doesn't disappoint - here's a bunch of 107-degree vistas.

Camera samples, ultra wide-angle camera (16mm)

And for the first time in an LG smartphone, the V40 takes telephoto shots as well.

Camera samples, telephoto camera (50mm)

And here's a quick sample of the Triple shot mode - you can see that any motion between the shots results in less than ideal transitions.

We normally stay away from AI-augmented photo processing, but there's no denying food looks better in the LG's AI Cam rendition.

onclick="javascript:ShowImg2("reviews/18/lg-v40-thinq/hands-on/camera/gsmarena_035.jpg"); return false" href="https://www.gsmarena.com/lg_v4_thinq_hands_on-review-1831.php#">
Food, AI Cam

Food, no AI Cam

Of course, we also shot a bunch of selfies with both front cameras. Predictably, the difference in coverage isn't striking, but it's there.

Selfie samples

As we already said, the V40 ThinQ uses its two front cameras for blurred background portraits, and also some light effects, because some trends must be followed.

Portrait selfie samples

The V40 ThinQ can record video up to 4K with all of its three cameras. Only the regular one is optically stabilized. Here are a few quick samples.

LG's usual stuff on top of Android 8.1

The V40 ThinQ boots Android 8.1 Oreo with LG's in-house launcher on top. Sadly, gone are the days of the V20 which was at the time the first phone to launch on Nougat. It is what it is. Anyway, the V40's user interface is basically identical to that of the G7 - colorful icons, white menus, the proprietary Smart Bulletin - it's all here.

User interface: Lockscreen • Homescreen • .. and another one • Quick toggles • Task switcher

Synthetic benchmarks

The V40 ThinQ is powered by the Snapdragon 845 - aside from custom SoCs from Samsung and Huawei, that's the norm for Android flagships this year. The test unit we have has 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There were hardly any surprises with the benchmark scores, but you can see the numbers we got out of the V40 below.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  11472
• vivo NEX S
  9160
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  9026
• OnePlus 6
  9011
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  9003
• HTC U12+
  9001
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  8883
• LG G7 ThinQ
  8865
• LG V40 ThinQ
  8769
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  8607
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  8494
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  8349
• Oppo Find X
  8018
• Huawei P20 Pro
  6679
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  6428
• LG V30
  6365
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  6055

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  4823
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  3771
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  3642
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  2486
• vivo NEX S
  2466
• HTC U12+
  2456
• OnePlus 6
  2450
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  2438
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  2431
• LG V40 ThinQ
  2425
• LG G7 ThinQ
  2395
• Oppo Find X
  2322
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  2199
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  1915
• Huawei P20 Pro
  1907
• LG V30
  1901
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  1807

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  47
• vivo NEX S
  34
• OnePlus 6
  33
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  33
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  31
• Oppo Find X
  28
• Huawei P20 Pro
  21
• HTC U12+
  20
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  20
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  19
• LG G7 ThinQ
  18
• LG V40 ThinQ
  18
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  14
• LG V30
  13
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  13
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  13

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  346379
• Oppo Find X
  291218
• vivo NEX S
  287081
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  284555
• LG V40 ThinQ
  270634
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  265314
• OnePlus 6
  264200
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  264044
• HTC U12+
  263696
• LG G7 ThinQ
  259393
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  248823
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  246660
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  217298
• Huawei P20 Pro
  209884
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  206711
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  203119
• LG V30
  182374

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  60
• Oppo Find X
  35
• LG G7 ThinQ
  35
• LG V40 ThinQ
  35
• OnePlus 6
  35
• HTC U12+
  35
• vivo NEX S
  35
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  35
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  35
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  35
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  33
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  28
• Samsung Galaxy Note9
  28
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  25
• LG V30
  24
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  24
• Huawei P20 Pro
  23

Initial impressions

Ever since dual cameras came around, some of us here have been asking 'what about three?'. And not really Huawei's three, more like three separate focal lengths type of three.

There were the telephoto secondary cams and there was also LG persevering with their ultra wides. So it comes as no surprise that it's precisely LG bringing us the coveted triple setup adding a telephoto cam (in smartphone terms, at least) to complement its usual regular+ultra wide duo.

Now there are practicalities to deal with, like battery life, display brightness and colors, and all sorts of other testing, plus some more thorough pixel peeping than what we could do for this hands-on - the usual stuff that goes in an in-depth review. We'll be working on that in the coming days, no doubt about that.

But to wrap this up - it's three separate standalone cameras covering a focal length 'range' of 16mm to 50mm - with all those lenses on its back, LG needs to have messed up all the other stuff for the V40 ThinQ not to be a winner. After all, there can't be too many cameras on a smartphone, and no other has more yet.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: