Flashback: the LG V10 had unique second screen, rugged design and a fatal flaw

15 January 2022
This was a phone designed for serious, demanding users and could have been the start of something great.

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RishiGuru, 16 Jan 2022The biggest 3 factors that initially drew me towards LG fla... moreIndeed bro. Although with Android 10 now, DSD is a no go. I wish there was a way to get it back. I'm not updating the software anymore, but yes, the prompt keeps coming up in notification shade. Is there a way to disable it, once you've done update check but didn't install?

And like @Hemedans commented, great battery life was a positive too. With very reasonable usage, I got 3 days and 6 hours from 100% to 10% when I tested it. Indeed a solid show.
Samsung could've been this committed, I had expectations once, but alas... they have to force people to keep their bloat, whether health apps or app store or whatever.

    ghani1990, 16 Jan 2022Innovative way to waste screen space for nothing!That second screen can also be used for notifications.

      Meddy, 16 Jan 2022Can you find one of this now days? I want one.I'd say that you should be better off with V20/G5 or newer.

        Nexus One, 17 Jan 2022I see LG V10 go for $60 or less on OfferUp but I never both... moreIf you use a third-party clone battery, then it's no surprise. I only use high-quality original batteries and never experienced any swollen battery or faster battery degradation to this day. The SOT and battery life remains the same as usual.

          • J
          • Jay
          • RxE
          • 17 Jan 2022

          Price, price and price. It all comes down to pricing, all the brands that are going down the drains are their high pricing when Xiaomi or similar brands were on the rise. Minority needs interesting features, most people are more attracted to value phones. Only Apple is able to con people with high pricing.

            The Snapdragon 808 and 810's boot loop issue was a really hot topic among Android smartphones in 2015. Even Google was not escaped from it with the Huawei Nexus 6P.

              • V
              • Victor
              • rrc
              • 17 Jan 2022

              What?? This was a great phone! How did we miss it? Okay the flaw was fatal but thinking 2015, everything else was great. Now keen to see the V20, V30 and V40 if they remained true to the spirit of the V10! Well done LG!

                • K
                • Kuba
                • uN{
                • 17 Jan 2022

                using LG V50 in 2022 and it's rock solid phone with amazing camera and battery life. and still receives software updates!!!

                  I see LG V10 go for $60 or less on OfferUp but I never bother to get one. I know nostalgia plays a role with some of these comments but many of the mid-2010s LG flagships had awful battery life except for the G2.

                  For some reason, the phones with removable batteries had shorter battery life and degraded much faster than the sealed ones from my experience. I never got good battery life on my G5 and V20 and I bought multiple batteries for them.

                    • f
                    • from Vietnam
                    • uYr
                    • 17 Jan 2022

                    I agree with all opinion! The V10 really stands out from the smartphone back in those days (and even now) for its very premium look and feel! Camera and 3.5mm jack provided a superb experience. The "Second Screen" was very unique and also handy. My mom used the V10, then I warned about the bootloop issue and asked her to switch to other devices so that all of the data won't be lost but the phone came off during the middle of her meeting. I got it mainboard fixed and used for around 2 more months before the issue arise again! Got many memories with this phone! I mainly use LG smartphone: from the 4G-enable LU6200, then to this wonderful V10. After that I got the LG G6 (because for the same price at beginning 2018 I could only afford S7 - which had one camera less and I am a photography-user and also fond of listening to music). I used the G6 well into the end of 2020s and it became my secondary phone. Now I got to use the wonderful LG V60 - the killing phone for its price and the option of DualScreen and Wacom active pen support (I got them both and have never felt regretted) - the design was ashamed by many but I am a usability-user so it is the most wonderfully suitable choice for me! Thank you LG for making the smartphone world better with many innovations that are truly useful!

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • Lj$
                      • 17 Jan 2022

                      NeonHD, 17 Jan 2022True. Nobody can forget the flaming hot disaster that is th... moreI use 810. It is not that bad.
                      People need to stop demonize it.
                      Exynos 990 is way worse.

                        Nexus One, 17 Jan 2022To me, 2015 wasn't particularly a great year for mobil... moreTrue. Nobody can forget the flaming hot disaster that is the SD810.

                        I vividly remember that was the only time in history when Samsung's Exynos 7420 SoC was actually hailed as the better processor, and it certainly was.

                          • j
                          • jaanis
                          • SHi
                          • 17 Jan 2022

                          It's not shiting down immediately like others on low battery. I see all there products haw fatal flaws.

                            ShaKia, 16 Jan 20222015, what a year for mobile phone geeks. LG launched G4 a... moreDUDE same! Legit same.

                            2015 was also the peak year for me in the smartphone world. Those were my glory days. That was when I truly started to get into smartphones, when I bought my first Android phone, and quite frankly when smartphones actually became good.

                            Samsung Galaxy S6 and Note 5 were one of the most modern phones I've ever saw. LG G4 seemed so advanced too. Nexus 6P was the pinnacle of the Nexus lineup; the grand finale so to speak. Oh and you cannot forget the first 4K screen of the Xperia Z5. And then there were an abundance of never-before-seen midrangers that held its own against flagships; I bought one of those midrangers. Being team Android, I used to dislike the iPhone 6S but looking back it was probably my most favorite iPhone.

                            I also used to debate about smartphones a lot back then. There were clear boundaries back then when you know what is good and what is bad, now not so much anymore.

                            So I can 100% relate with you when you talk about the "new experience" you get when owning a smartphone back then. Even watching phone reviews was such a new experience. I don't get that experience anymore sadly. I guess that was just a one-time experience because the industry was still in its infancy. Now that the industry has "grown up", today's smartphones have become so diverse and all equally good, that such an experience is almost nonexistent anymore.

                              ShaKia, 16 Jan 20222015, what a year for mobile phone geeks. LG launched G4 a... moreTo me, 2015 wasn't particularly a great year for mobile because of Snapdragon 810. The following year was much better and was more refined as Snap 820 had a true 64-bit architecture and didn't overheat as badly as the 810 did.

                              Honestly, majority of phones get better every year. People may not like 2017 through Present but we've gotten better phones. We just don't appreciate them and only focus on the negatives. No way I can run GameCube games smoothly on a Pixel 3.

                                • D
                                • AnonD-492870
                                • 4Ib
                                • 16 Jan 2022

                                Bring back quad DAC phones...

                                  • n
                                  • n9xx
                                  • mhF
                                  • 16 Jan 2022

                                  It is such a loss for the mobile phone world (users) that LG has given up. They made beautiful phones but maybe were lacking a bit behind in camera quality and probably also marketing... In terms of features: Rectangular screens, removable batteries, headphone jacks and sd-card slots - what wonderful phones... Hope they one day come back, maybe in a Sony approach by just asking for higher prices... I would want a professional phone like the Samsung Note but with all types of ports and options...

                                    • a
                                    • ae86
                                    • vaS
                                    • 16 Jan 2022

                                    Definitely this decade, someone in the higher ups on LG HQ will bring the idea of reviving and completely resetting LG Mobile on the conference room.

                                    I hope.

                                      • S
                                      • ShaKia
                                      • HI}
                                      • 16 Jan 2022

                                      2015, what a year for mobile phone geeks.
                                      LG launched G4 and V10. Two phones that start a revolution in mobile photography.
                                      Sony launched Xperia Z3+, a very potential phone that was ruined by snapdragon 810's heat problem, and Z5 series ( a compact one which had the power of flagships, a base model, and a premium model with 4K display!).
                                      Samsung as usual introduced a new S galaxy, S6. My favorite product was Note 5, though. It is still, a really good phone.
                                      Apple continued iPhone 6 series, with big upgrades inside, and nothing changed outside: iPhone 6s series. Great cameras, perfect performance, and faster fingerprint scanner.
                                      Huawei was still finding its market , with new Huawei P8 models.
                                      Oh my god, those were good days for me and my friends. We argued about our favorite brands, and we searched for hours on this site and compare them to each other. You know why? 'Cause each company had its own prestige. Each brand had its own innovations and brand new ideas. Buying a new phone was totally a new experience. Nowadays you already know how to set your settings in many phones, even if you don't have them nor have any experience to work with them. Every phone has a assistant ball/shortcut/edge. Yes phones are improved, really, but are you still feel hyped about another new phone of your favorite brand?

                                        • a
                                        • ae86
                                        • vaS
                                        • 16 Jan 2022

                                        The back of this phone feels real good in the hand while also feeling the phone is definitely premium.

                                        It's 'magic mic' (can't remember what it's called lmao) is fun to play with. It's like pointing where the mic should focus.