LG V60 Review: Most Underrated Smartphone of 2020

[Music] when it comes to foldable phones there are two schools of thought one flexible display that folds into two and two displays that fold on a hinge that first group is the most exciting place to be in 2020 with fantastic designs by Samsung Huawei Motorola and even TCL catching our attention the second group has for the most part been a solo affair for LG up until Microsoft announced its first Android phone would also have two screens and if you ask me while one bendable display is exciting and captivating two screens is more practical not to mention more affordable yep while phones with folding displays will cost between fourteen hundred to three thousand dollars LG's new dual screen phone is only a dollar shy of 900 but should you buy it and is it your gadget match hi I'm Michael Josh and you're watching gadget bet it's been a busy month of tech launches and I've been sitting on one review of this phone a review that I believe is worth your time now some will say this review was delayed Touche some have already prejudged me and said maybe I'm just not a fan on the contrary I'm a believer in LG's dual screen proposition so much so that I wanted to do this review justice this phone is the most affordable foldable phone that you can buy today here it is the LG v 60 think u5g dual screen that's a mouthful so moving forward we're just going to call this phone the v60 how about that this is our LG v 60 unboxing and review inside this package are two boxes one contains the phone the other it's a dual screen case depending on where you are in the world it will either be sold as a set or separately but for the purpose of this review when I say v60 I refer to both of them together as a whole here we go let's lift the lid up of course it's not an LG phone if you don't get a microfiber cloth for wiping off those unsightly smudges very nice touch next up is the phone itself there's a pull tab over here and we have it in classy blue it's like the smartphone gods I've heard my play all these years because every flagship smartphone of 2020 comes in some sort of blue warranty information LG says they're so confident in the quality of this phone that they're offering up to two years of warranty coverage I must say that's a really nice inclusion something that most of us users tend to overlook also in the box a packet containing the sim ejector tool and user guide underneath a USB C to USB C charging cable and a 25 watt fast charger bad news headphones are not included in the box I think LG is trying to sell you on their tone free wireless earbuds yep LG has them - good news the phone has a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack which means you can use any pair of headphones that you have at home now let's peel off the plastic these stickers and more plastic there immediately fingerprint smudges abound next the dual screen case a front there are illustrations on how to best insert the phone but if you keep watching I'll teach you myself let's peel that off and see what else is in here another Quick Start Guide and an adapter for charge of the secondary display using the same USBC cable okay let's try this case on slide the phone in towards the USBC port press on the edges here they're easy now that's putting the case on taking it off is easy - although it might take a little bit of getting used to you start on the left hand side and you push on the camera to get it out before we start the review let's set up the phone shall we since this is the t-mobile version we get a t-mobile welcome screen let's pop in the SIM place my finger on the sensor over here ok now we're ready for our review as always I'll try to answer some of your questions along the way I've even brought in some of my friends to help now if you enjoy this kind of tech content consider subscribing and hitting that Bell icon to turn on notifications we recently hit 500,000 subscribers and with your help we can easily get to a million real soon this is the LGV 60 and so that you get a better feel for its size here's my iPhone 11 pro max another large phone as you can see the v60 is a big device one of the biggest we've reviewed this year bigger even than the galaxy s 20 ultra admittedly this size is not for everyone I personally prefer smaller form factors but where the v60 is concerned I actually don't mind considering what this phone is all about and how it's meant to be used is it heavy though keep the phone weighs in at 213 grams interestingly enough it's lighter than both the 11pro Max and the s20 ultra with the case on it weighs 354 grams there's a certain simple sophistication about the v60 S design the shape of its back and its rounded corners have the distinct LG stamp to it I like the Sham furred edges on the screen itself and the gold or silver metallic accents around the camera module and frame but in a sea of 20/20 flagships nothing about its design makes the v60 stand out it doesn't come in flashy colors you either get a muted shade of blue or pearlescent white and its sides are flat very different from the tapered edges of its rivals when you turn the phone on the differences are even more evident its almost like LG went in a completely different direction to see if you take a look at all these flagships we've put through the wringer this year one thing you'll find they have in common is a focus on displays marketing materials that scream a faster refresh rates curved edges some going as far as wrapping around the phone you're not gonna find any of that on the v60 it's P OLED display has the old 60 Hertz standard its resolution a mere full HD plus and instead of a more sexy camera a punch hole it's got a notch similar to that of the og knotch smartphone the essential pH one from 2017 on paper this doesn't look good for LG some of you even pointed this out in the comments of my last v60 video but even if it doesn't have all the bells and whistles and other flagships offer I really don't mind the flat display the larger bezels and even the notch none of these take away from the experience I know some of you feel strongly about a 1080p display not being enough in 2020 but I personally believe it is even my s20 has a quad HD display but out of the box it's set to full HD plus by default and I leave it just like that whether you're watching movies or stalking I mean browsing on Instagram this OLED display is still sufficiently bright colors pop and best of all you have two of them [Music] so if LG went down a different route in terms of design and display carlos on facebook asks what unique feature does it have if LG could write the rules they tell you two displays are better than one and that's the whole premise behind the v60 just as it was the B 50 and the g8x last year and have you seen any of those videos you'll know it's an idea that I've always believed it and apparently a lot of you do too let's talk about that dual screen case for a while the display on it is exactly the same as the one on the phone it even has a notch even if it's purely cosmetic LG went to great lengths to ensure that you get the same experience regardless of whether you use this display or this display or both when you flip the case shut there's a tiny non-touch display on the outside that shows time and notifications if someone calls you it will show up here as well no need to open the case just hit the Google assistant button on the left to answer the back of the case is more rugged than previous iterations it has a rubbery matte texture which brings back really fond memories of the rugged and v10 and ridges that remind me of ramona luggage oh how I miss traveling I'm sure you do too but I digress let's go back to the two screens are better than one proposition there are many practical reasons why LG's push towards the dual screen form factor might be right on the money you really just have to think about the various and multitasking opportunities that having two screens can afford in its simplest form that might just mean being able to watch a movie on one screen while doing something else on the other now that's not a gimmick just think of all the times when you are watching a video and then a message came in that needed answering you can do that at the same time with two screens or how when you're watching a cooking video on YouTube if that's your jam you'll know that hosts often dive into specifics when it comes to ingredients so how nice would it be to have the recipe open on the other window huh that's perfect for the dual screen to watching videos later but first let's talk about getting work done like when we explore the possibilities of having a secondary screen on a laptop when we reviewed the Zen book pro duo last year having an extra display on my phone means being able to optimize Google Docs and Microsoft Office support the dual screen you can either have your document list open on one window and the file open on another or maybe one window has an excel file and the other a word document or two Google Docs open side-by-side perhaps one is a reference document you can easily copy pasted between both windows or you can have that second display show anything else you like a sports game you're tracking your Twitter feed oh and because all of us are in quarantine this is something that a lot of you in the workforce might appreciate you could be on one zoom work call on one screen and take notes on the other or any other distraction of your choosing and here's a cool feature that's built into the software when you're browsing Instagram Twitter or reading an article you can easily send a snippet of your screen to someone you're chatting with say I want to send this tweet to the gadget match team by a messenger all I need to do is tap this button over here and the screenshot automatically attaches now I know some of you will say I can take screenshots without a dual screen case that's not a feature but this is instantaneous as soon as you hit that button it goes directly to your intended recipient it doesn't save a copy in your gallery - so you're not clogging it up with screenshots that you might not really need after you've sent it but enough about work and productivity that's not all I use my phone for for a lot of people nothing beats holding and turning pages on an actual book but since we're all in isolation and bookstores are closed this might be the closest thing the to that experience document reader library can mimic that by splitting the pages on each screen when you open an e-book like this one use a book mode and switch to two pages you'll also need wide mode for LG a third-party app that you can get from the Play Store this way you can have the view of two pages on both screens just like you would on a real book this case also makes watching Netflix a lot more convenient I can just prop it up like I would a laptop or in tent mode so I don't have to hold it when I'm in bed or when I'm catching up on my YouTube subscriptions while having coffee with the whale browser also available on the App Store I can shop and view the listing on one screen and individual results on the other without having to hit the back button each time and then there's game mode which gives me a virtual joystick that I can customize whichever way I want to when playing Street Fighter for example I map these buttons to match the on-screen controls for those who want a piece of nostalgia with a little bit of tinkering you can emulate the Nintendo DS experience on the v60 with the dual screen with third-party app drastic DS you can play games like Pokemon diamond like you used to on your old DS the way k mode turns the secondary display into a controller is reminiscent of a game vice attachment or the kunai gamepad for the ROG phone too but the question is does the gamepad really elevate the gaming experience or at the very least does it make you play better my buddy and a bonk also known as born at work also known as Colonel sangala recently did a gaming specific video on the v60 so I've invited him today answer that question each well I do think that LG's dual display adds a whole lot to the gaming experience for the v60 for one you now have the ability to create your custom controls for any of the games you play so you can have for Street Fighter for King of Fighters for Call of Duty for pub G and you can access them anytime you want on a secondary display which gives you full access and view access to your main display to look at the games you want to without having your fingers impede on that visual experience so I think that's something that's really nice now it's not fully perfect but I do like the fact that LG has this kind of combo for the v60 that makes it really sensible and if you mobile game like me then it makes a whole lot of sense and I think thanks E if you guys want to see his video you can click over here to watch that we'll also put a link below Kevin Cheng asks can you play two games at the same time I don't know why you might want to do this but you can't have two games open at the same time but you cannot play them simultaneously I guess it makes sense if you were trying to kill time at an airport for example one person could be playing plants versus zombies and the other mini Metro but the problem is when someone touches the screen on the phone the game on the other screen will pause so I don't think it's designed for that specific purpose cool idea though for a long time now Samsung's Galaxy Note series has been the only device in its class with proper pen support that changes with the LG V 60 a feature that doesn't get talked about a lot it supports any pen with way comms aes built in pens like those $50 bamboo ink work great with pressure sensitivity and tilt response for when you hold your pen at an angle like this so when you're using your phone for taking notes signing documents sketching or even using it to play games the v60 can handle that - it's not as feature-rich as the note and the pen is still a separate purchase but this is definitely a feature you can't find on most other flagship smartphones this also makes the v60 the only foldable phone with pen support of course many of you wanted to know about the camera particularly if it could keep up with today's flagships a must to remain competitive if you ask me let's talk about camera hardware for a second the v60 has three rear cameras a 64 mega pixel wide angle lens and a 13 megapixel ultra wide-angle lens and a time-of-flight sensor zmax asks no zoom yep LG made the interesting decision to remove the zoom lens this year while I've always been a fan of phones with dedicated telephoto cameras for everyday use the 2x digital zoom on the v60 is sufficient so what the phone does is it uses its 64 megapixel sensor to capture as much detail as possible and then it digitally crops in here's what it looks like at 2 X 5x + 10 X [Applause] the photo quality is still good because of that larger image sensor when it comes to outdoor shots during the day the dedicated zoom lens will capture more detail when you really punch in but indoors when it's less bright I'd argue that the v60 actually does a better job forces the v50 even without that dedicated zoom lens back in 2016 LG was the first smartphone brand to put an ultra wide-angle lens on a smartphone so it's no surprise that it kept the ultra wide-angle lens on the v60 it's great for nice dramatic wide shots during the day and you can even use it with night mode producing these kinds of shots when it's dark out that said it's standard 64 mega pixel wide-angle camera with a much larger image sensor is what keeps the v60 competitive take a look at these photos we shot around Brooklyn even at night the results were good not the best but good enough and it's really in low-light where you can see how big an improvement it's camera versus the V 50 these shots were taken using night view LG's version of long exposure night mode but of course what you guys want to know is how it compares to phones in its price point we tested versus the 1 plus 8 which is $100 cheaper the pixel 4 which is the same price and the galaxy s 20 plus which is $400 more the v60 is competitive during the day picking one over the other is a subjective chore at night nothing still comes close to the pixel for among Android phones in low-light the v60 outperforms the 1 plus 8 if you want to see a more detailed comparison my buddy Danny winged it published this comprehensive head-to-head with Samsung's flagship and he's here today to answer that same question Danny can the LGV 60s camera really compete against other camera smartphones in its price point when it comes to just pure auto mode on the LG v 60 camera it might not be directly comparable some of the other flagships out there but when I did my extensive camera comparison versus the galaxy s 20 ultra a lot of people in the comments said it did very well or even surpassed the s 20 ultra in certain scenarios so even though that the v60 camera software can use an update I think where are you gonna shine on this is if you know how to use the manual mode on the v60 because there's still no other camera out there that has that much control over photo video and audio so I think if you know what you're doing you can make a flagship camera experience out of the v60 and I might dare to say that this is a very underrated or the most underrated camera of 2020 again you can watch Danny's video by clicking right here we'll also put a link below now before we move on to the selfie camera discussion we learned one thing during our review process if you're taking photos at night you'll want to take off the case we noticed that the mirror finish on the case was reflecting light onto the lens creating these light streaks in all our night photos of course that's fine if you think of it as an effect but this is definitely a design issue hopefully that gets addressed in the next iteration up front is a 10 megapixel selfie camera quality wise that's a step up from last year's v50 except for the fact that last year LG also offered a wide-angle camera up front which is always nice to have but I'll take better quality selfies over a wide-angle camera any day of course I'd like to happen though speaking of the selfie camera there are two features worth talking about for those Instagram boyfriends and girlfriends out there you can use the selfie camera to shoot a photo of someone else and then press this button over here to activate the selfie monitor which activates the other screen so the other person sees a preview of the photo you're taking that way the photo comes out just the way the diva had imagined no need to retake another feature uses the secondary screen as a fill flash you can adjust from cool to warm just in case you need extra lighting for those low-light selfies I can think of at least one person who could benefit from this feature another area where LG excels is audio both in terms of recording and listening having four microphones allows the phone to record natural ambient sound coming from multiple direction and here's what it sounds like with all that noise turn down I suppose you might hear the hum of my vent over there because of those four microphones are designed to pick up natural ambient sound and quickly I want to show you a new feature called voice token which supposedly minimizes background noise and focuses on mine boosting my volume I have the TV on and sonar playing some music so over here we're turning on voice bokeh so that the audio is focused on me and not what's happening around me let me know if it makes a difference in the comments section the v60 also has stereo speakers and they are both quite powerful you have a 1 watt speaker up here on the earpiece and a 1.3 want bottom firing speaker my amateur ears can definitely tell the difference versus of both the V 50 and my current favorite they 1+8 pro not only is the volume loud it's a good balance of bass and treble overall the volume coming from these speakers is rich and full and balanced audio files will also appreciate 32-bit quad DAC support meaning you can enjoy high quality sound closer to the original with an audio service and headphones that support back of course and yep you plug those headphones in via the phone's headphone jack the LGV 60 cones with a bigger than average 5 thousand milliamp hour battery this extra juice in the bank is necessary considering the secondary display is powered by the phone and does not have a battery of its own that said even with plenty of dual screen use the v60 lasted me more than an entire day on a single charge about nine hours the screen on time without the case battery life is even more impressive close to two days with average use and when it finally conked out the bundled 25 watt charger got me to 50% in 30 minutes and 82% after an hour it slows down after that I finally got to a hundred in one hour and 45 minutes which was still respectable considering its large battery mr. Reddick asks does it come with a quick charge 4.0 charger yes both the phone and the charger support quick charge 4.0 can you charge it with the caisson yes you can LG actually includes a dual screen charging adapter that magnetically attaches to the bottom of the case like so and in case you're wondering charging speeds are not affected by this attachment it takes the same amount of time as it were if you plug it in directly and in case you misplace them LG sells replacements for $8.99 a pop Ethan asks does it have wireless charging yes the phone will wirelessly charge with any Qi wireless charging accessory even with the case on that said don't expect the same superfast wireless charging speeds we've seen from the likes of the oneplus 8 pro is it like having two phones in one I'm gonna say no first of all the phone does not have dual SIM support at least not the model that I'm reviewing secondly while some apps will allow you to install the same instance of one app twice like on whatsapp I don't think that's the point of this phone before you wrap up its a rapid-fire round does it have an IP rating yep the v60 has an IP 68 rating but that rating does not cover the case house LG software in 2020 it's fine it's not my favorite Android implementation but it doesn't offend me either unlocked version not in the US nope in other markets maybe what about security the v60 actually has a built in in display fingerprint scanner it's actually one of my biggest complaints about the device it's slow and unreliable so is the LG V 60 thank you 5g dual screen your gadget match at just under $800 LG puts itself in a very good position as one of the most affordable flagships in the market today when last year's V 50 was released it was priced at $200 higher so clearly LG strategy is different this year and it's one that I fully support with the likes of Xiaomi and Oppo and to a certain point one plus pricing within striking distance of Samsung and Apple I've said repeatedly in reviews of those phones that while specs and performance wise the price asked is justified brand wise they're not there yet so the best thing for them to do is to be able to undercut competition with competitive pricing that's exactly what LG did this year and they chose to focus on one important feature that everybody else seems to have deprioritized while every phone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor apart from that $700 non-pro 1+8 starts at $900 you can get the LG v 60 for just a dollar short of 800 to do that LG's had to make some compromises like not to include faster refresh rates and higher resolution screens I'm gonna say the controversial thing here and call some of those features gimmicky but to quote my buddy Chris Velasco of Engadget while the industry has started to change our eyes haven't what I'm trying to say is that if these are cuts needed to deliver a more affordable price then I don't need that higher res display that said the LG v 60 also delivers in other areas between its loudspeakers quad DAC support and headphone jack it's audio features are hands-down better than any brand to say its battery life is impressive it's an understatement Penn support is a plus and the possibilities its dual screen case offers rushers in a new way of thinking about computing on a smartphone ken asks on Instagram do you really need that extra screen need probably not all of us can do anything that we need to do on just one slab of glass but what you're buying when you get the v60 is the option to elevate your multitasking productivity and entertainment game to a whole nother level the option to pair accessories add a secondary screen use your wired headphones as well as a third-party stylus those are things that all-in-one you can't find on any other phone and for all of these things we give it the gas match seal of approval and if these things appeal to you then the LGV 60 is your gadget match if you're looking for the best Android camera phone get the pixel for still the champ in my book and from the looks of it it's on sale right now for only $4.99 is it really an upgrade something that you want I assume you're talking about whether or not this phone is an upgrade from the V 50 if you own last year's model the camera is such a huge improvement on the v60 but I'd still wait another year nonetheless what about the $700 one plus eight that's the cheapest snapdragon 865 device if processor is really your most important consideration then go ahead the one plus eight is the cheapest snapdragon 865 option out there and come to think of it it's not talked about as much for the same reasons why tech nerds pass on the v60 the lack of a high-res screen and fewer cameras I wouldn't recommend the v60 if you were looking to save money sure get the oneplus eight if you really want that processor but I'd argue there are great choices for less like Google's pixel 3a and even last year's oneplus 70 I have one last friend to bring on Juan Carlos Abagnale some gadget guy who's really covered the v60 extensively and whose thoughts best summarized the point that I'm trying to make one for me the big hook with the v60 is choice in one phone you can have a regular phone you can have a note competitor you can have a surface competitor and consumers aren't married to one feature set or form factor I couldn't have said it and even and that was our LG v 60 thank you unboxing and review if you liked this video make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel hit that Bell icon so that you get notified as soon as we post a new video follow us on social media follow the behind the scenes fun stuff and as always make gadget mash calm your daily habit until the next video I'm Michael Josh thanks for dropping by [Music] [Music]

Channel: GadgetMatch

Views: 997,590

Keywords: GadgetMatch, Gadget Match, Michael Josh, michaeljosh, technology, LG, LG V60, LG V60 ThinQ, LG V60 Review, LGV60 Unboxing, LG G60 dual screen, v60 dual screen, lg dual screen, android 10, foldable, dual screen, 5g, lg v60 thinq 5g, lg v60 thinq 5g dual screen, Bamboo Ink, LG V60 vs V50, LG V60 vs OnePlus 8, LG V60 vs Galaxy S20+, LG V60 vs Pixel 4, LG V60 pen support

Id: E9mB0IMFvBQ

Length: 32min 35sec (1955 seconds)

Published: Fri May 01 2020