Since its debut in 2015, LG’s V series has become the company’s way to experiment with new features like a secondary display and things like leather-backed phones and more. This is like Samsung’s Galaxy Note line compared to their main Galaxy S phones.
While the V series hasn’t been available in Canada, this year is the first year that LG has brought a V series device up north with the V60 ThinQ.
Design & Hardware
For those who have used LG devices in recent years, the V60 will look and feel very familiar. The blend of metal and glass materials makes the device feel a lot more premium. The back of the device takes a lot of inspiration from the Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+, especially in the way the cameras are situated.
The most striking thing you’ll notice about the V60 is how large the device is, its absolutely massive which can be a good or bad thing. If you’re someone that likes larger phones like the iPhone 11 Pro Max or Galaxy S20 Ultra, then you’ll feel right at home with the V60.
The V60 has a 6.8-inch FHD+ P-OLED FullVision display that offers a resolution of 2460 x 1080 and 395 PPI. The screen looks great from all angles with colours that pop and deep blacks. It’s almost like looking at a small version of LG’s OLED TVs.
One thing that would make the V60’s display even better would be if it has a high refresh screen. The V60’s display is 60Hz while the Galaxy S20 series and OnePlus 8 Pro have 120Hz displays.
While the V60’s display has built-in a fingerprint sensor, I found it to work most of the time but there were times where it didn’t recognize my finger. Unlike the G8X ThinQ, the V60 doesn’t offer face unlock and it’s not clear if it’ll come in a future software update.
Powering the V60 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor with Qualcomm’s X55 5G modem with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage plus a microSD card slot.
Battery life isn’t an issue thanks to the V60’s 5,000 mAh battery. I was able to get more than a day of usage from the device. There’s also 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC, headphone jack, LG 3D Sound Engine, HDR10+ support and IP68 water and dust resistance.
When you buy a V60, you’ll also get the Dual Screen attachment that basically adds another 6.8-inch screen to your phone.
The Dual Screen attachment for the V60 has a 360 Freestop hinge, so you can put the accessory at any angle. To connect your V60 to the accessory, you just slot it into the USB-C port (like putting on a battery case) and that’s it.
You’ll still have access to the phone’s headphone jack, buttons and speaker but to charge your phone with the attachment on, you’ll need to use the included magnetic contact to USB-C adapter. It would have been great if LG put a USB-C port instead of the need for an adapter.
The back of the attachment has a slightly gripped texture that makes it easier to hold the device. The Dual Screen accessory feels mostly solid but is made from hard plastic, so who knows how well it will withstand the test of time.
The LG V60 ThinQ from a number of carriers and retailers, pricing can be found below.
- Bell
- $0 on a 2-year Premium Plan
- $1,100 CAD No-term
- Koodo
- $380 CAD On Tab Extra Large (i.e pay $380 Upfront and the remaining $720 is paid on a $30 month Tab charge for 24 months)
- $860 CAD on Tab Small (You’ll pay $860 upfront and $10 a month for 24 months to pay the remaining $240 CAD)
- $1,100 CAD outright
- Telus
- $0 upfront and $45.83 CAD per month over 24 months
- $300 CAD upfront and $33.33 CAD per month over 24 months
- $700 CAD upfront and $16.67 CAD per month over 24 months
Update – July 27th, 2020: Since publishing this review, Bell and Telus have launched their 5G networks in a few cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal. It’s worth noting that both of their 5G networks are fairly small, so it will be a while before 5G is available nationwide.
Software
The LG V60 is running Android 10 with LG’s skin on top. I haven’t been the biggest fan of LG’s Android skin but it gets the job done most of the time. If you have used LG’s phones in the past, then you’ll know what to expect.
While the V60 isn’t technically a foldable device like the Galaxy Fold or Motorola Razr, Android 10 does bring some improvements for foldable and dual-screen devices.
You’ll find your usual array of LG pre-installed apps like LG SmartWorld, RemoteCall Service or QuickMemo+. But most of the software tweaks on the LG V60 are for the Dual Screen attachment.
When you have the Dual Screen accessory attached to your phone, you’ll see a little bubble icon on the right side of the screen that looks like a book. Tapping that will bring up options for the Dual Screen attachment including:
- Swap screens
- Show main on Dual Screen
- Show Dual Screen on main
- Put the main screen to sleep
- Turn off Dual Screen
With the Dual Screen attached to the V60, you can use some app in a wide view where the entire app is spread across both screens. I didn’t find that to be useful and most of the time, I would have a YouTube video on one screen and then reading the news or checking emails on the other.
There are apps that do take advantage of the second display such as in the camera app when you take a phone or video and press the gallery to view it, it will automatically open a preview on the second screen.
The LG Dual Screen can be used as a full-screen virtual keyboard, controller layout for certain games and for being trying to be more productive by browsing the web on one screen and emails on another.
As I said in my G8X ThinQ review, I wish that LG would have made the whole Dual Screen experience more fluid. Right now, it still feels a bit janky to use, LG should take some inspiration from Windows 10 and iPadOS to help make multitasking much better.
Camera
For cameras, the V60 ThinQ has three of them, one 64MP standard that uses Pixel Binning to 16MP, 13MP Super-Wide and a Z Camera (which is LG’s ToF Camera).
Photos that were taken on the V60 look good with some detail but they’re still not up to the same level as the Google Pixel or iPhone.
The camera app on the V60 has a few different modes including:
- Studio
- Portrait
- Photo
- Video
- Manuel Camera
- Night view
- Panorama
- Story Shot
- Manuel Video
- Slow-mo
- Time-Lapse
- Flash Jump-Cut
You can shoot up to 8K video on the V60 as well as 4K and 1080p HD video at 60 fps. The phone can also shoot video in HDR10+ which will enhance the colour and contrast for more vivid videos.
Videos shot in the V60 actually look good but I don’t see a point to having a phone that shoots 8K video. The number of people with 8K TVs is fairly small but there are more people buying 4K TVs.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the V60 is a good device that makes improvements over LG’s previous Dual Screen device, the G8X ThinQ. The V60 makes a great alternative to the Galaxy S20 series (which starts at $1,319 CAD) or the iPhone 11 Pro (which starts from $1,379 CAD).
Pros
- Beautiful 6.8-inch OLED display
- Solid performance
- Good camera with great video quality and can shoot 8K video
- DualScreen attachment can be useful (especially with Android 10)
- A massive battery that lasts more than a day
- Cheaper than other Android flagships
Cons
- The phone is enormous in size
- 60Hz refresh rate compared to other devices with 90Hz or 120Hz
- LG’s UI has gotten better but could still use some work
- No 5G on current Canadian carriers the phone is available on
TheCanadianTechie 