LG Velvet MORE PICTURES

LG Velvet

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XLR8R, 18 Jan 2021Zero 8i is good, better than S5 Pro. As for Vivo, both t... moreI have an eye for Zero, but I always find Infinix to be a step behind Redmi/ Poco/ Realme for same price.

You are on-point with drop in product quality in recent Vivo smartphones. I don't like any of their phones available in India since 2019 onwards. In my eyes Vivo's 2018 flagship, the NEX (NEX S in China) was the best phone they ever made. I also liked the 2018 bound Vivo X21 (X21UD in China) which you own. It has similar looks, curves & built quality of the NEX but with mid-range specs.

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    • Muzik
    • sGP
    • 24 Jan 2021

    RishiGuru, 12 Jan 2021Sound signatures vary according to audio tuning houses. B&a... moreHi,
    I just listened to Samsung S20+ with its AKG Type-c earphones. I can say it was very good experience in terms of quality and loudness but that punch is lacking. But when I try that with original Type-c connector paired with Sony earphones, they just sound outstanding and balanced. The loudness is almost 80% as compared to LG but thats make S20+ best Non-Chinese, Non-LG phone out there. I recommend that to one friend and that turns out to be very surprised. Let me know if you have experienced that.

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      • XLR8R
      • tTH
      • 18 Jan 2021

      RishiGuru, 23 Dec 2020How about the Infinix Zero 8i? Do you think 8i is worth the... moreZero 8i is good, better than S5 Pro.

      As for Vivo, both their product quality and lineup went downhill since 2019. I guess they stopped putting the AKM DACs because not many people actually care about sound quality....

        Muzik, 11 Jan 2021Hi, I totally agree with your points. I know what you sai... moreSound signatures vary according to audio tuning houses. B&O tuned LG's have clean & neutral sound while that of Meridian Audio is energetic & ravishing. Your G7 is tuned by LG itself, so slightly different to B&O.

        At the end it all boils down to personal preferences, as we all are treating sound quality subjectively with our ears. Which ever suits your acquired taste, gun for it & be happy.

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          • Muzik
          • sGP
          • 11 Jan 2021

          RishiGuru, 11 Jan 2021I agree. The QuadDAC you are refereeing in your LG G7 is... moreHi,
          I totally agree with your points. I know what you said because I researched a lot about sound designs as I updated myself when times needs it. Like Cassette, CD player, Mp3-Mp4 Player, iPods etc... ESS is the best for me. V30+ may have good sound (I didn't experienced yet) but at that time G7+ had latest specs like processor and RAM. I checked V30's sound and I all difference I made that time was just a little more filtered sound in Lg G7+. Thats why I choose this one.
          But V40 was tuned by Meridian and I can hear the difference while enabling DTX. Both had different level of output one is clear and one was enhanced. So, I didn't updated mine to V40.
          As fas as Sound is concerned, I didn't find any mobile (Non-Chinese) which can give Loudness + clarity at the same time.
          You can suggest me (Non-Chinese) if any is there. Will experience them for sure.

            Muzik, 07 Jan 2021Hi, I checked the sound quality of Velvet by myself. I can ... moreI agree.

            The QuadDAC you are refereeing in your LG G7 is actually ESS ES9218P SABRE audio chip. It is one of the best there is for smartphones. All smartphones starting from G6, G7, G8, G8X, V30, V35, V40 & V50 used this same audio chip.

            Velvet mostly uses Qualcomm Aqstic WCD9341 audio codec in high performance mode. So much better and cleaner audio than other phones.

            But everybody make no mistake, WCD9341 in NO substitute of ES9218P.

            I have a lot of smartphones but only 4 qualifies for my critical music listening sessions. They are LG V30+, LG G8X, Vivo NEX S & Vivo X5 Max.

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              • Muzik
              • sGP
              • 07 Jan 2021

              XLR8R, 22 Dec 2020The Velvet packs an audio punch even without the quad DAC. ... moreHi, I checked the sound quality of Velvet by myself. I can say it is very good quality as compare to Non-LG phones. But it is no where near to QuadDAC (LG G7+ thinq). The loudness with crystal clear up and downs of Flac file in QuadDAC is far much superior then Velvet. I am using m-50x and sony H500A wired version. And they just explode with QuadDAC. Great listening experience.

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                • Muzik
                • sGP
                • 07 Jan 2021

                Joel maguru, 07 Jan 2021How's the audio quality of this phone ? Hi, The sound quality is as good as a normal Snapdragon sound card performs. In other words, It is as good as if we turned off QuadDAC of LG G7+ thinq. It is very sharp but not that louder.
                I didn't buy this mobile beacuse it is not much different then my LG G7+ thinq in specs other then camera. And sound quality is down point. But if you haven't experience any QuadDAC phone, I suggest you to go for this one.
                QuadDAC is far more superior quality as compare to this one.

                  Muzik, 22 Dec 2020I never tried any Chinese brand ever. Lets see if croma sto... moreHow's the audio quality of this phone ?

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                    • Anonymous
                    • vx3
                    • 06 Jan 2021

                    Anonymous, 05 Jan 2021What is the SOC of the phone? Will the Snap 845 be better i... moreNo. 845 is faster but has a larger nm. And it will be probably has worse battery life than the already bad battery endurance of 79h in the 5G model.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • pXt
                      • 05 Jan 2021

                      What is the SOC of the phone? Will the Snap 845 be better in terms of battery over the Snap 765G?

                        XLR8R, 23 Dec 2020I understand where you are coming from. There are value pho... moreNo no no that ain't how this works. Companies don't get to decide who their phones are competition for. They're either competition for other phones out there in their price bracket or they're not. Brand means nothing.

                          XLR8R, 23 Dec 2020Its just that Vivo has dedicated its efforts towards the V ... moreHow about the Infinix Zero 8i? Do you think 8i is worth the extra cash over S5 Pro considering the substantial spec bump?

                          Regarding Vivo I don't understand why they did not released the successors of Vivo NEX S in India. Also I hate the fact that Vivo even being so inclined towards audio is ditching the audio jack. I hate their X50 lineup just for that. However I must admit TWS is a billion dollar industry and all manufacturers wants a piece of it.

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                            • XLR8R
                            • tTi
                            • 23 Dec 2020

                            RishiGuru, 23 Dec 2020Sorry to hear that. However it seems Vivo is putting good e... moreIts just that Vivo has dedicated its efforts towards the V series in India, so these devices get updates faster. Nex is the global flagship and X21 didn't sell well enough for them to put resources on the X series.

                            I quite liked the build quality of Infinix S5 pro though the speakers arent that good. Rest of the phone is passable but the camera is good for the price.

                              XLR8R, 23 Dec 2020Unfortunately, not yet. Vivo will deliver this update thoug... moreSorry to hear that. However it seems Vivo is putting good effort to keep their NEX lineup up to date.

                              Both X21UD & NEX S got released in 2018, Q2 and arrived with Android 8.1. However my NEX S gets regular updates receiving Android 10 on Apr, 2020. It was good to know NEX S will get Vivo's latest OriginOS flavor next year. This means NEX S released on June, 2018 with FuntouchOS and Android 8.1 will finally be updated to OriginOS over Android 11. Awesome if this reaches global ROM users.

                              https://www.gsmarena.com/vivo_unveils_originos_update_roadmap_over_30_phones_to_get_it_in_2021-news-46347.php

                              One question, from the bunch to Techo & Infinix phones available in India which one do you rate the best? I am keen to buy one.

                              Thanks in advance!!!

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                                • XLR8R
                                • P%0
                                • 23 Dec 2020

                                RishiGuru, 22 Dec 2020I am inline with your views. BTW, did the Vivo X21UD rec... moreUnfortunately, not yet. Vivo will deliver this update though at some point.

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                                  • XLR8R
                                  • P%0
                                  • 23 Dec 2020

                                  joe nodden, 22 Dec 2020Any complaints I have about LG that don't relate to th... moreI understand where you are coming from. There are value phones out there that can give better specs at this price.

                                  But LG isn't competing with Realme, TCL, Xiaomi, Poco or Tecno/Infinix. Its competing with Oppo, Vivo and Samsung. At the price you buy the Velvet 4G, the options are Samsung's S10 lite or S20 FE (if you pay extra for that dual screen AND run for discount at Samsung), the Oppo Reno phones and Vivo's X series.

                                  If you compare this to something like a Vivo X50, you'll be hard pressed to find anything this phone is much worse at, while there's at least some things this phone is much better at. This phone has no standout features maybe, but I really didnt see any real bummers either.

                                    XLR8R, 22 Dec 2020Its about as useless as IP68, seeing no one warrants that f... moreAny complaints I have about LG that don't relate to this phone do nothing to influence my opinion here.

                                    This is a 500 euro phone released in 2020 with an SoC from 2018, no high refresh rate display, not even a high resolution, not any redeeming features whatsoever, not the cameras, not the battery, not the charging speed, not the size, especially not the software, and despite this being LG, not even the headphone jack. (Worse than 90% of LG's other jacks) Personal bias changes literally nothing about that.

                                    You can easily find phones at the same price that are better in literally every single way possible. Or ignore the jack and find phones at the same price that are in a whole other dimension of quality.

                                      XLR8R, 22 Dec 20205G does not make sense yet as the major countries in the wo... moreI am inline with your views.

                                      BTW, did the Vivo X21UD received Android 10?

                                        XLR8R, 22 Dec 2020The Velvet packs an audio punch even without the quad DAC. ... moreLG Velvet (Snapdragon 845) most probably uses Qualcomm's flagship Aqstic WCD9341 audio codec. They have used it prior with their LG V30+ in standard mode (HiFi Mode disabled). I don't know if my LG G8X uses the same chip like my V30+ in standard mode.

                                        I found WCD9341 is a dedicated audio chip with ADC, DAC and headphone amplifier built in and mates with their flagship SD8XX lineup. It is not just a random low cost audio codec shoved into a Qualcomm power management IC. This chip contains a very good DAC section and can produce nearly 1 Vrms headphone-out when implemented in high performance mode.

                                        WCD9341 supports PCM playback of upto 384 kHz, native DSD steams upto DSD128 and also DoP (DSD over PCM). However most manufacturers does not implement native DSD/DoP. So we also have a WCD9340 which is identical to WCD9341 but this time without DSD/DoP. Redmi K20 Pro implements WCD9340. With an advertised dynamic range of 130 dB & distortion of -109 dB during audio playback the WCD9341 is quite close to ESS ES9218P SABRE (LG's Quad DAC) or Cirrus Logic CS43199 (Vivo NEX S). Digging deeper I even found Qualcomm partnered to further tune their flagship WCD9341 audio sound signature under guidance given by a group of audiophiles known as "Golden Ears". It just proves Qualcomm was serious with their WCD9341 & WCD9340.

                                        Going through the spec sheet I found WCD9341 is designed to consume power anywhere between 6mW to 34mW to operate. In high performance mode it will require all of those 34 mW and maybe LG is providing all the power it needs by dedicated power supply rails to WCD9341. On other hand LG's QuadDAC consumes 2.5 times more power at 80mW but provides over 2 Vrms output, more than twice that of WCD9341. The key however is to find a smartphone manufacturer who understands & values analogue audio and implements WCD9341 in high performance mode.

                                        Last year I bought the Meizu 16th (Meizu 16 in China), which sadly was their last flagship with a headphone jack. At $240 in India, it came with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC & 8GB RAM. Meizu India provided us a fully Google certified device with Google Playstore (GMS) pre-installed. In short, pretty awesome performance & flagship built quality at a nominal price.

                                        All knows Meizu have a rich history of making portable music players before they ventured into smartphones and still today makes some very good quality headphones & earphones. As such the company understands sound quality like LG & Vivo and many of their previous flagships smartphones came with dedicated DAC solutions. I believe where these three manufacturers excels in audio is internal circuit design & audio tuning which sounds appealing to our ears.

                                        However for 16th, there was no press material indicated anything extraordinary in the audio department. I took for granted it was using some low quality audio codec from Qualcomm. However more I listened music through my Meizu 16th, more I fell in love with this device. One day just for fun I sat down a did some critical listening with some good earphones, and immediately noticed the sound quality is above ordinary through the audio jack. It has to do with both the audio tuning & hardware. I started reasoning my mind how is it possible with Qualcomm codecs and Meizu must have done something special.

                                        After going through some Chinese websites performing detailed tear-downs, I found Meizu 16th was using the highest quality flagship audio codec available from Qualcomm, better known as Aqstic WCD9341. However in real life there still remains a certain gap in performance which Qualcomm needs to fill compared to ESS & Cirrus Logic. In Meizu 16th tear-downs by Chinese media, I found the WCD9341 audio chip sits under its own tiny metal plate cover with graphite & copper shielding on top. So the chip is well isolated from rest of the PCB and other ICs, eliminating a lot of induced noise on the analog stage of WCD9341. Frankly, quite impressed as Meizu shelled more money in the production line to make sure the sound quality remains intact through the 3.5 mm audio jack.

                                        The other fact I noticed on 16th is the power available through audio jack is much higher than similar WCD9341 implementations like in OnePlus 6 (sadly the last OnePlus with audio jack). The OnePlus frankly sounds anemic in comparison, no drive. Meizu seems to have much more power and can drive same headphones much better. This is mostly due a better power supply stage to the audio chip. As such I believe the Velvet implementation is more like Meizu than OnePlus.

                                        Qualcomm deserves credit & also Meizu & LG deserves a pat on their back for bringing to us perhaps the best implementations of Qualcomm Aqstic WCD9341 on a smartphone till date.

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