The Price & Value
It’s challenging to find a flagship phone selling for under $1000 in the North American market. Most phones seem to be between the $1200 to $1800 range for their flagship models. However, LG has managed to deliver a phone with pretty much most of the flagship features and specifications for under $1000!
You can buy the LG V60 Thinq for as low as $799 USD or $1100 CAD, which includes the phone and the separate dual-screen attachment at some carriers! There are only two colors available currently, Classy Blue and Classy White. As well, some mobile carriers are offering free LG TONE earbuds with the purchase of the phone.
The Flagship Specs
The definition of flagship specs keeps changing almost every few months with all the advancements and innovations in tech. So what is considered flagship for one user may not be the case for a tech enthusiast who is keeping tabs on a soon to be released flagship phone with higher-end specs. The same is true for the LG V60 ThinQ. If you are upgrading from a phone that is a year or two old, this phone will definitely seem like a flagship device.
Before I get into the specs, you can also check out my Ultimate Phone Buying Guide here to familiarize yourself with some of the specs below.
// The Good News
- Dual Screen Capability
- 5000 mAh Battery
- 6.8″ FHD+ OLED Display (1080 x 2460 pixels)
- 8 GB RAM
- 5G Network Ready Connectivity
- 8K Video Recording Capability
- Triple Camera Setup (64 MP Main, 13 MP Wide-Angle 117º, 3D depth detection)
- 10 MP Standard Front Selfie Camera
- 32 Bit High Fidelity Quad DAC
- 3.5 mm Headphone Jack
- 4 Channel Microphones (Voice Bokeh/Focus Feature and ASMR feature)
- Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 865
- QuickCharge 4.0+ / 25W
- Wireless Charging
- Gorilla Glass 5
- On-screen Fingerprint Reader
- 128 GB Internal Storage (expandable to 2 TB max)
- IP68 Dust & Water Resistance Rating
- Bluetooth 5.0 & NFC Capable
// The Not So Good News
- No Dedicated Zoom Camera (Only has a feature to crop in 2X)
- 60 Hz refresh rate (Newer phones have a 90 and 120 Hz refresh rate)
- 395 PPI (pixels per inch) – Not as sharp as other flagship displays
- The Samsung Galaxy S20 has a 563 PPI & the iPhone has 458 PPI
Content Creator Friendly
This phone also strikes me as being somewhat YouTube or vlog creator friendly because of the Voice Bokeh feature and the ASMR feature. If you do a quick search on YouTube for ASMR, you can see that it has a serious audience and following. Most of the content creators that make ASMR videos use a Blue Yeti microphone or something similar to capture detailed sound. In the right environment, such as a closed room and some padding to reduce sounds, I can see the ASMR feature being used for beginners who want to get started with ASMR videos. Or maybe even for recording sound effects for sound design while video editing without having to buy a separate microphone. The Voice Bokeh feature is also pretty impressive, in that it can focus on your voice by reducing or drowning out ambient background noise by using a slider. I can see this feature being used for people who like to do daily vlogs in public places such as travel vloggers or food vloggers.
So… What Does It Mean For You?
Well, the amount of features and flagship specifications makes choosing this a phone an easy decision. I still like to use wired headphones when listening to music, and having a 3.5 mm headphone jack is still something I look for in 2020. Having a phone with a 5000 mAH battery is also amazing since you can expect great battery life and less battery drain due to the 60 Hz refresh rate. 8 GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 865 chip is plenty adequate for multi-tasking and using the split-screen functionality. Having 5G functionality helps to ensure that you are future-proofed when 5G becomes the norm.
The included 128 GB of internal storage will also go a long way helping you to save all those higher resolution photos and videos. If you are doing a lot of 4K or 8K video recording for YouTube, Vimeo, or the like, definitely look at getting a microSD card. This phone supports expansion up to 2 TB, which is fantastic considering that some laptops ship with less than 1 TB storage.
Let’s talk about productivity. How many times have you been messaging someone about a restaurant or video, then having to switch screens, copy a link, then switch back to your chat window to paste it? Sure, you can use Android’s split-screen feature for Apps that support it one screen, but imagine having a separate dedicated screen for your browser while you are looking at restaurant reviews or opening hours and another screen for chatting? Or how about researching your next phone purchase on one screen (on ahem… this website), then viewing your carrier’s phone plans. You can see that what some people find as a gimmicky feature, can really improve productivity if you like to have multiple things on the go. Don’t forget, you can also use the dual screen folding design to prop the phone up when watching videos.
There isn’t much to take issue with the LG V60 ThinQ aside from a standard refresh rate if you are a mobile gamer. I think most users will not care about having a 60 Hz screen. I like to feel my phone in my pocket, so size and weight are not a concern for me, but at 218 grams, it may be for some users. As well, I think they could have made the dedicated Android Assistant button on the side of the phone dedicated to launching the camera instead since that is a feature people will likely use more. Afterall, you can always say “OK Google” to summon the Google Assistant.
Verdict?
Just get it, you will not regret it. This is a balanced and well-rounded phone. I would get the dual screen attachment since it isn’t that much more of an expense for the funtionality it can give you. Bonus if you can score the free LG TONE earbuds too!
