Smartphone SpotLight: LG V40

LG’s finest industrial design, power packed Android smartphone. The V40 is distinctive, modern, and stacked with desirable features, a phone seemingly destined for inevitable stardom. To cap off 2018, LG’s releasing the Lg V40. A 5 camera no-nonsense flagship that aims to take the best bits of the G7 from earlier in the year and improve upon them in every way possible.

The Great

• 5 cameras
• Snapdragon 845 processor,
• Massive OLED screen,
• Excellent battery life,
• Waterproof
• Wireless charging,
• MicroSD storage
• A headphone jack on a phone.

The Not

• Awkward to hold
• Slow camera autofocus
• Nothing Special

The Conclusion

The LG V40 is a terrific alternative to the iPhone XR and Huawei Mate 10. More than that, it is described more accurately as a blend of the 2. But with 5 cameras.

Jack of All Trades

Want a sleek, durable handset that’s practically all screen. A device with gobs of performance, super long battery life, an amazing camera and a headphone jack. How about water resistance, wireless charging, microSD expandable storage and support for any cellular carrier, too? This is it. The V40 will reportedly feature five different cameras, two on the front and three on the back. The triple camera setup on the back will apparently be arranged similarly to the P20 Pro, featuring a standard lens, wide angle lens, and a third lens that could be for bokeh effects.

The 5 Cameras

The biggest feature of the V40 is its five-camera setup — three sensors on the back and two on the front. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an Android phone with this many cameras, but that doesn’t take away from LG’s implementation whatsoever.

• Rear camera 1 — 12MP main sensor with OIS and f/1.5 aperture
• R camera 2 — 16MP wide-angle lens with f/1.7
• R camera 3 — 12MP telephoto 2x zoom lens with f/2.4
• Front camera 1 — 8MP main sensor with f/1.9
• F camera 2 — 5MP wide-angle shooter with f/2.2

That Screen

The only thing that sets LG’s phones apart is there screen. They have the best looking and highest quality OLED screen on the smartphone line up. It gets as bright or clear as Samsung’s screen outdoors but with a crisper more attractive color segment. OLED stands for “organic light-emitting diodes,” and it’s very different from the popular LCD screen technology seen in most phones recent years.

The V40 uses an LG-made OLED display, and while past LG panels on the V30 and Pixel 3 XL have left us yearning for more, that’s not the case with the V40. This screen is robust and beautiful and can display true, actual blacks. LG does a lot of things right here, offering a truly beautiful display, fast internals, great cameras, and an exquisite design. The small(ish) battery and high price tag are definitely downsides to keep in mind, but even so, this is a phone that should absolutely be on your shortlist this holiday shopping season

The Design, Don’t let it Slip

The back of the LG V40 is made out of glass, and while just about every Android flagship has this same construction, LG’s done something unique to make the V40 stand out. The LG V40 has almost nothing in common with the V Series phones that have come before it. The only thing remaining from the Second Screen is a floating widget. The metal back and giant chins have been replaced with glass and slim bezels. Everything that was sharp and industrial is now more premium and svelte. It’s a gorgeous design that is absolutely stunning, Its sleek and by sleek I mean slippery. It will slip through your fingers like star systems slipping through Grand Moff Tarkens fingers.

LG V40 Quick Spec Look

• Display
  6.4-inch OLED FullVision display
  538ppi
  3,120 x 1,440 resolution
  Corning Gorilla Glass 5
  19.5:9 aspect ratio
  HDR10-capable
• SoC
  Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
  2.8GHz, octa-core
  GPU Adreno 630
  RAM 6GB LPDDRx4
• Storage
  64 or 128GB
  UFS 2.1
  MicroSD expansion up to 2TB
• Audio
  Boombox Speaker
  DTS:X 3D Surround Sound
  32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC
  3.5mm headphone jack
  Audio Tuned by Meridian
  Super Far Field Voice Recognition
• Battery
  3,300mAh
  Non-removable
  Fast wireless charging
  Quick Charge 4.0-compatible (ships with QC 3.0 charger)
  Qi wireless charging
• USB Type-C port
• IP rating IP68
• MIL-STD 810G certification
• Network LTE-A 4 Band CA
• Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
• Software Android 8.1 Oreo
• Colors New Aurora Black, New Platinum Gray, New Moroccan Blue, Carmine Red

The Final Thought

Instead of straying from the pack, the LG V40 blends in with this year’s fleet of flagships. LG finally decided to stop playing around with gimmicks and made the best phone they possibly could. It has everything you wants but lacks the thing you didn’t know about, and that is where it fails. The V40 has a tough road ahead if it wants to stand out, but if you give the phone a chance, you just might be impressed with what you see. Pre-orders for the LG V40 are open now with full retail availability as of October 18. The phone ranges from $900 to $980 depending on where you buy it, making it one of the most expensive flagships of the year.