LG Velvet Review: THE Mid-Range 5G All-Rounder! By JuanBagnell

Now, we know how much it'll cost lg's 2020 strategy is kind of stunning. Streamlining the parts and making the lineup more consistent across the board. Productivity and multitasking are the key features from the style 6 to the velvet to the v60 stylus support large screens, big batteries, while the lg friends idea died after the g5. The spirit of that modular phone lives on the velvet on its own is a handy, 5g midrange, but with a couple key accessory purchases, it can become a no light competitor or a dual screen device, or both lg took similar parts from the v60. Almost identical displays a wonderfully consistent bottom edge with the speaker and the ports and curving the edges to shrink some dimensions, garnering, much more positive reactions. This is a gorgeous phone.

I'll, never be able to sum this up as eloquently as tech alter did in his recent video. I highly suggest you check out his breakdown on costs, but it's an experience. Furthermore, I'm happy to confirm it might not look as exciting in your browser, but the velvet is built to impress when it's in your hand, I got that phone flip on the first take. My concerns remain for curved glass velvet feels like you're, holding an ultra-thin rail. It's an interesting illusion that the exact same size display can feel so much smaller than the v60, but for someone who rolls phones around in the dirt for my camera reviews, it would make me extremely anxious to take the velvet out naked, which has also been a nice change of pace for a lg launch.

Most of the commentary focusing on the dual display case, but lg showing off some much nicer accessory partnerships. I can't stress enough how different that is, I'm still kind of struggling to find a case I like for my v60 and that ecosystem matters. We just take it for granted that you can find any permutation of case or cover for Samsung and Apple devices. One of the strengths of the velvet is that it can be a dual screen, but it doesn't have to be a dual screen all the time. So it's encouraging to see it launch with some fantastic case options.

If style is going to be a selling point for the velvet, it needs to bring a decent wardrobe. This is a well-considered and nuanced package. The haptics, for example, a delightfully subtle pop to them in the keyboard, with the same shutter button pulse in the camera app. I love the feel under my fingertips. I'm still not the biggest fan of in-display fingerprint sensors, but lg has improved a lot over last year's g8x.

But, as I mentioned in my OnePlus video I do wish the sensor were just a little higher up on the screen. This is a tall phone to have it mounted so low, but point for point. There aren't any major warning signs and nothing. You can point to outwardly as this being the less expensive option for lg. It doesn't feel like the compromised poor person phone, which is pretty rad for the lg lineup this year.

Even the style 6 feels pretty nice, but this is not a phone built for spec sheet nerds. I produced a standalone benchmark video looking at some harder hitting tests that I run and the velvet performs about where we would expect a 600 or 700 series Qualcomm chipset to land. Of course, some tech enthusiasts were critical about that and how you can buy less expensive devices with more powerful CPUs. The audience for my videos is likely lopsided for that enthusiast representation, so I might suggest remembering there's a whole world of consumers out there with varying needs and wants and that most of the cell phone industry is actually hovering between Pixel 3a and iPhone 11 pricing. The galaxy a51 was one of the top-selling phones of the first half of 2020 and the iPhone SE helped stave off some disastrous financials for apple.

This last quarter. That's a broad spectrum of gadget and there's no one correct answer for price to performance. There's nothing concerning about the velvet's performance. So long as we approach that conversation, honestly. Do you want to edit and render 4k video from your phone? The velvet can do that.

It's not as fast as some phones with more powerful internals, but it can still hang with lower cost consumer laptops for producing high quality video. So I'm not too worried about average consumer expectations. Do you want a game on your phone all, but the most graphics demanding titles are going to play fine? Do you want a game on your phone while you're also streaming that awesome, Michael Jordan documentary on Netflix at the same time, yeah the velvet does that better than any other phone on the market outside another lg raw compute power is only one metric to consider against the whole rest of the phone, and it's my assertion that average consumers have been overbuying compute power for years now? Moving on the audio game is on point. I have a full deep dive with the charts and the graphs and speaker comparisons on the patreon. comgadgetguy, but the tldr you're going to get solid upper pack speaker performance and even though we lose lg's signature, quad DAC the 3.5 millimeter port here is still one of the best options available on any phone quality numbers that pretty much outpace every other android handset outside lg quad DAC phones. So we might not get the same audiophile tier of ear candy, but it's still plenty good enough to handle most listening situations, especially when paired with consumer grade headphone options and the camera side performs better than I was expecting.

This is lg's first foray with a pixel binning, 48 megapixel sensor, and it's clear we're seeing a push towards juicier and sharpened images that social media ready flare when shooting full auto. But I think the HDR juicy look works for most target demographics. This phone's, pointing at- and you can still swap over to a manual mode and capture a cleaner image if you're the type who wants to edit or slap on a filter, though I will reiterate same with Samsung and OnePlus. This year on these new sensors, I don't see much of any benefit to letting the phone decide when to use HDR. I think it's just better to stick HDR to always on when you're in auto mode and then swap to a manual mode or a pro mode.

If you want a flatter image, just my two cents, all the fun stuff is still here. Color filters, a depth sensor that ties into a huge collection of fun portrait options, a 4k, video, selfie camera and better still, the software stabilization is shockingly good. It has the ultra steady 1080p mode, but shooting 4k 30 handheld, while I'm running after my daughter on a push-bike, that's perfect! I do personally miss having built-in manual video controls, but film has been working decently well and happily supports both rear cameras. It's not my favorite solution, but it is a solution. So I'm going to be collecting more samples, and I'll be producing a standalone camera deep dive.

But again I don't have any dealbreaker concerns here. This is an easy pickup and go snapshot. Camera we're in perfectly competitive territory for this tier of phone, even trading blows well against the OnePlus 8. We shouldn't be surprised that more expensive devices can outperform it, but I'm not seeing any critical dealbreakers at this tier. Like all cameras, it's a different collection of pros and cons and the consumer who really lives with this phone and gets a feel for the camera.

I think they're in for a solid photography experience now. The overall software discussion is often where we land those tough criticisms for lg, but the velvet has also performed better than expected here too. Yes, we all chuckle when we get the pop-up not to try and remove the battery, but seeing as how lg was one of the last manufacturers to hold out on removable batteries, and I still get comments from g5 and v20 owners on my videos. It's not completely off the pulse to remind people that they shouldn't be trying to remove the backs off their phones. Now I think it's kind of a tired and hack criticism of lg devices, which kind of shows you didn't dig much deeper into the software lg's UX has never been more polished, a lot of elements cribbed from Samsung and something that I think we'll start calling the South Korean style of skin.

But elements are cohesive. Performance is consistent, and the layout makes sense for such a tall phone. But if we're going to talk about software, how about a quick breakdown? Excellent display settings to dial in the look you want or blast the vibrancy while playing video, we don't get the audio file controls of the quad DAC, but we do get volume, normalization, EQ and the lg 3d sound engine for better spatial audio. Other manufacturers are getting praised for finally, adding similar audio processing lg's been doing it for a while live. Caption is ready to go out of the box, which I still think looks like magic watching.

Real-Time speech-to-text transcription there's a respectable collection of built-in theme options, always on display and lock screen shortcuts. Lg and Samsung still rank high for contextual awareness, macros, auto launching apps or services based on location and connections, optimized, charging and adaptive battery controls, game launcher and screen, recording options, lg's, fantastic music gallery and audio recorder apps. The velvet also delivers a more polished desktop mode than previous lg phones, and it might be the only mid-ranger I know, of to sport a decent desktop mode. Someone please correct me in the comments there if I'm off, but I don't think Samsung or Huawei have offered that in this range of phones and that's just the phone that's before we get to dual screen and stylus software. So I do share some criticisms for the stock keyboard.

It's far from unusable. You know that reviewer infomercial acting how do thumbs even work, but lg's keyboard is on the twitchy side. I'd say I have a pretty good feel for it. After adjusting some settings for autocorrection and punctuation, and I still have to correct more often than when I'm typing on board. That said, until Google makes board smarter or makes android able to recognize a second display.

Lg has to roll their own solution for a dual screen: landscape keyboard pull the board apart practice a little, and it's a fine typing experience, eminently preferable to landscape typing on a single screen phone and if you need to hit the little button in the corner and swap to board a keyboard on an android phone should never be some savage deal. Breaker remember how we used to celebrate these kinds of customization options like that was a strength like that was the point of android. Instead of pretending that no consumer should have to mess with any settings out of the box, that computer doesn't exist, everyone needs to tinker and customize a little. Now that whole software section took a while, didn't it, because software is more nuanced than just what skin you see, it's really easy to pick a few sticky spots and focus on those as dealbreakers and that's lazy. That's not a review! That's confirmation! Bias, lg, delivers a full-fledged premium.

Software experience here, and it's a feature set indistinguishable from more expensive phones and, of course, there are pros and cons and that's no different from any other phone. Also deserving a mention updates and support have improved substantially over the last couple of years. V50 was on time for the June security update. V60 has kept pace with some significant bug. Fixes lg has already promised to offer the velvet UX upgrade to last year's phones.

G7S and v40s have been on android 10 for a couple of months now, there's always room for improvement, but it's intellectually dishonest to complain about software and not point out the humongous strides lg has made in software and update support. This is not the same company we saw during the lg g4. That was five years ago. We should look for ways they can still improve, but you have to let that baggage go and as if this video wasn't long enough already, the velvet can morph into a different tier of device with a couple of accessories. Active pen support is such a rad feature to bring to the mid-range.

It might be nice to have a version with a built-in stylus silo, but this current strategy for lg is to streamline, so it doesn't make sense to add costs and split. You're manufacturing on alternate phones just include the hardware to support the pen and customers who want to use. It can pick up a stylus that will also work with many windows, PCs and from the software side. This isn't just a fine point replacement for a finger, got pressure, tilt, shortcuts screen grabbing, screen off notes, GIF creation, doodles document signing this is not an afterthought. This is beautifully integrated, and then you slap on a dual screen case, and you have a whole second phone screen to use.

The velvet has a larger screen area at a higher resolution and tighter pixel pitch than a galaxy fold from the g8x to the velvet. This is a more refined accessory. The hinges are stiffer, and they support the phone better when you prop it up. Changing the front of the case to plastic makes me a lot less concerned about durability and scratches, and I'm really stoked to see a universal magnetic charge, port work back and forth between the v60 and the velvet. I really don't get the folks complaining about this.

I kind of dig this feature: cable, snaps on and off easily who doesn't like magnets. Furthermore, I bought a spare for nine dollars, so I could keep it in my car who's really complaining about this. Oh, it's so hard to charge. You can take it out of the case. You can charge it wirelessly, or you can get a spare adapter.

I feel this is easier than some folks are making it out to be and there's just so much more. You can do with more screen like this shouldn't even be a question. The answer is yes, you want more screen two apps at the same time, streaming content while playing a game, a larger area for a live chat. While you watch a live screen, mapping and looking up points of interest, multiple document support a customizable game controller for any game with on-screen controls, a wide view. Keyboard option I mean you'd- have to have nearly zero imagination to look at this hardware test out Google Maps in wide view and then call it a day.

Wide view is the weakest thing to do with dual screen. We get it. There's a seam in between the screens, but you still can do it. If you want the larger canvas, it's a little less pretty, but it works, but then there's a ton more. You can do with multitasking.

On top of that, and there's more, you can do with a dual display that has active pen support on both screens. It's like you've got two Galaxy Note lights in your pocket. I've got some standalone videos on dual display. If you want more info how to set them up, maybe even just use them more efficiently. I'm also expecting to see a handful of office and productivity.

Apps start supporting this hardware better, as we get closer to the Surface Duo launch, but I want to leave off this dual display conversation replying to some folks complaining about size. This is the velvet. It can be one of the sleekest phones on the market. If you want that this is the velvet in a dual display case, which is thinner than a galaxy fold, and you get more physical screen real estate. This phone can do both it's disingenuous to act like the velvet is too thick.

Looking at it in a dual display case and then comparing it against naked single screen phones- oh it's such a beast. You know what you'll probably never see. You'll, probably never see a reviewer put a galaxy s into a wallet case and then complain about how much thicker that is than a naked iPhone. We would mock that reviewer. The dual display case is a techie wallet case: full protection around the phone which completely covers the phone screen when closed.

You can use the case to prop a screen up or both screens up, and it has a whole second screen. There is no retort. Oh, my poor tech enthusiast arms. This one-handed experience whoa is me. I guess.

Reviewers aren't looking around. Ladies out there at supermarkets with mini purses and keychains attached to their phones. I think you can toughen up, but lets at least try to keep our comparisons. Oranges to oranges, cases augment a phone. Some cases are aesthetic, some are durable, some include stands or pockets or flaps all cases add some size to a phone complaining about case size, while ignoring the context of what functionality that case brings is at best lazy and at worst rigged and disingenuous.

Removing that comparative context is what someone might do if they wanted one brand to lose, but I digress. Okay, that was a lot of talking, and we should probably wrap this up. Where does that leave us with the lg velvet? I'm feeling pretty good about this phone at the announced USA launch price. I touched on this in my velvet versus OnePlus 8 showdown, and I think my price guesstimate was pretty close for that comparison and remember that's full MSRP. So if you can find some sales on other phones, why wouldn't you think there might be some sales or promos over the life of the velvet, too again oranges to oranges, if you're, comparing one phone's sale price to another phone's full MSRP, but this is fun.

Let's break this down for 100 more. The OnePlus 8 has a faster processor and a higher refresh rate display for one hundred dollars less. The velvet has the same storage capacity plus micro SD card expansion, a high quality headphone jack built in wireless charging, a 4k video selfie shooter. This is rated ip68 and 810g shock resistant. Lg pay supports a couple banks for mag stripe payments, but mag stripe.

Payment hardware is in here similar camera hardware, on both phones, full USB 3 support on both phones, though lg has a much more usable, desktop mode, there's. Definitely some back and forth on battery life versus fast charging, but for a hundred dollar price difference. That's a good fight, close that hundred dollar gap with a memory card to triple your storage and grab yourself. An active pen, stylus and you've got a crazy feature spread for a 5g handset, and you aren't really penalized for price. If you choose not to use some of this potential phone to phone, this is a solid showdown against a galaxy a71, more expensive, build materials, USB 3 with a desktop mode.

Wireless charging, rated water resistance, stereo speakers they're the same price, but you can't turn an a71 into a note light, and you can't add a second screen, which is why I've been so happy to see a bit more even-handed commentary on the velvet. But there are still a few of those lg ROG whistles out there that kind of ruffle the feathers it's too thick compared to what it's not powerful enough compared to what it's too expensive for what you get compared to what you know, the drill, the only thing that makes all of our gadgets better is competition and there's no holistic phone to phone comparison where this isn't solid competition, I'm really not looking to get cranky or Randy in these reviews. For us consumers in the United States, the velvet is the most feature: complete 5g midrange on the market. Today you might not need all of these features. You might not care about 5g, but it's not fair to pan the phone when it absolutely accomplishes what the manufacturer is setting out to do, and it has so much to offer a broad group of consumers.

Lg deserves some kudos. It's a great phone as always folks, thanks so much for watching, for sharing these videos and subscribing to the channel more than just reading a spec sheet and cherry-picking a few dealbreakers. We have to spend more time with reviews living with the phone is completely different from unboxing a phone under embargo, and, let's be frank, that starts with you out there in the audience. If I really take the time to dig into a phone and share those experiences, YouTube punishes my channel for being less timely, I'm already moving more content to written pieces on my personal blog unless this content gets shared and supported all you're going to get is the same trending topic popularity, echo chamber. So, if you'd like to help support the production of more conversations like these, there are those links down below there's the support page on some gadgetguy.

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Source : JuanBagnell