LG V20 review: Twice as bright

Introduction

Update (Dec 16, 2016): We've received the final firmware for our V20 review units and we're updating what needed updating. We've reshot the camera samples, rerun the benchmarks and, of course, redone the battery tests - head over to the respective pages.

If the LG V20 was a superhero - and we're not convinced that it's not - its superpower would be to have two of everything (or more!). Two screens, two cameras, four DACs, two apps on the screen, the list goes on and on.

The LG V20 is an exploration into the future of smartphone multimedia. It continues LG's pioneering work with dual-cameras (the wide+normal kind) that a certain market leader recently adopted. It's a pocket music studio too. Its mics can record the loudest rock concert with perfect clarity - 24-bit/192kHZ FLAC audio. Playback is stellar too, it can drive studio-quality high impedance headphones with its four DACs.

One day we'd certainly remember the LG V20 as a pioneer in many respects. It sure is the first with Android 7.0 Nougat, but what else? Here's the full specs list to get you started.

Key features

• Aluminum AL-6013 body; MIL-STD-810G shock resistance
• 5.7" IPS LCD display, Quad HD resolution (513ppi); Secondary 2.1" display (160 x 1040px)
• Snapdragon 820 chip: quad-core Kryo processor (up to 2.15GHz), Adreno 530 GPU, 4GB of RAM
• 16MP (f/1.8) + 8 MP (f/2.4) main camera setup; OIS; laser autofocus; LED flash, 2160p video capture with lossless sound, SteadyRecord 2.0, 5MP (f/1.9) selfie camera (wide and normal modes)
• First phone with Android 7.0. Nougat with Optimus UI 5.0
• 32GB/64GB built-in storage plus microSD card slot
• Fingerprint sensor
• Cat. 12 LTE (600Mbps/150Mbps); Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; GPS/GLONASS; NFC; USB Type-C port; IR blaster
• Quad DAC; 24-bit FLAC audio recording; B&O Play headphones bundled in some markets
• Removable 3,200mAh battery; Quick Charge 3.0

Main shortcomings

• No water proofing
• No wireless charging

LG overengineered the V20 in the best sense of the word, other phones will be playing catch up to some features well into 2017, not to mention the physical durability of the phone.

It is built with high-quality aluminum and its durability measures up to military standards, yet it keeps the removable back and battery (coveted features few flagships offer).

LG V20 official images

The V20 audio credentials are insane. The camera too finds a way to one-up the competition and is the first to use Qualcomm's digital image stabilization that augments the optical system.

And did we mention it launches with Android 7.0 Nougat before even the new Google Pixel phones are announced let alone available? Oh, yeah, we did.

In many ways, the LG V20 is a preview of what features other flagships will have next year. But there's no need to wait - the future came early. Join us in exploring it on the following pages.