LG V60 ThinQ 5G Dual Screen

amazon LG V60 ThinQ 5G Dual Screen reviews

The LG V50 ThinQ has brought some firsts to the company’s smartphone lineup. It’s LG’s first phone to support standard 5G bands and the first to catch on to the folding phone trend, albeit through an accessory that adds a second screen instead of a folding OLED display. Now, LG wants to repeat the trick.

Just one problem. The upcoming phone – the LG V50 ThinQ – is average, at best.

That’s not to say the new LG V60 ThinQ is a bad phone. With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, 8GB of RAM, and superior Android 10, the device has a lot going for it. However, at $800, or $900 with the Dual Screen accessory, it struggles to stand out from the many excellent flagship phones you can buy today.

Design and port

The LG V50 offers an iterative design refresh over 2018’s LG V40, so you’d expect the newer LG V60 to modernize things a bit.

While the V50 has an almost larger notch than the Apple iPhone X, the V60 changes things to cut out the smaller semicircle. That helps make the big screen look even more expansive. While a pinhole cutout, like on the Samsung Galaxy S20 series, would make the phone look even more modern, the V60’s small cut is acceptable.

The phone has two design modes, depending on whether you use a dual-screen case or not. Without the case, the phone looks and feels relatively thin, especially for a device of its size. The camera module on the back isn’t as flat as the V50, but it doesn’t protrude as much as the latest iPhone, Pixel, and Galaxy models.

You’ll find the USB-C port and headphone jack on the bottom, while on the left edge, there’s the volume rocker and dedicated Google Assistant button. The power button is located on the right side.

The LG V60 isn’t small, to begin with, and with the case, it’s downright bulky. The advantage, however, is a second screen and protection for your phone in the event of a drop.

This phone is thinner than Real’s properly foldable phones like the Samsung Galaxy Fold with its dual screens attached. The LG V60 is 0.59 inches thick with the case back, while the Galaxy Fold is 0.66 inches thick when closed. That’s surprising and a point in LG’s favor.

Put the device in the easy case. All you have to do is slide it down from the top, making sure that the USB-C slots into the phone port. To charge your phone, you’ll then need to use the included magnetic USB-C adapter or charge it wirelessly. You’ll see a small monochrome display on the case’s front showing information like the time, battery life, and notifications. It’s a handy addition.

The LG V60 comes in two colors – Classy Blue and Classy White. They both look good, but I’m a fan of Classy White’s slightly pearly look.

Display quality

While the LG V60 ThinQ 5G has an OLED display, the resolution sits at 1,080p – a step back from the V50 ThinQ’s 1,440p display. Combine that with the refresh rate of only 60Hz, and you get a mediocre display experience, at least compared to other modern flagships.

Maybe trivial isn’t the right word. Colors on the screen remain bright and vibrant, and thanks to the fact it’s an OLED display, black levels remain deep and dark. We also easily saw the screen in sunlight. It’s a great display in many ways. However, the competition has taken display quality to the next level, so the LG V60 ThinQ feels left behind.

In the display, you’ll also get an optical fingerprint sensor – which is a minor disappointment. While accurate, the sensor is a bit slow to respond. I can’t help but assume an ultrasonic sensor would provide better performance. There’s no facial recognition on this phone, so a quick fingerprint sensor is crucial.

Dual screen case

The most interesting feature of the LG V60 ThinQ is the dual-screen case. That is not a truly foldable phone like the Samsung Galaxy Fold or Motorola Razr. While those phones offer a foldable display, the Dual Screen accessory adds a second screen of the same size and resolution.

Dual monitors can come in handy, especially when multitasking and gaming. When multitasking, the second screen makes it easy to watch videos on one side and take notes on the other. Using the LG GamePad with compatible games makes mobile gaming interesting.

On the other hand, the extra bulk is a serious concern. If you’re used to a big phone and use your phone for a lot of productivity, this case is worth the effort. But if you find it like a gimmick, then you can safely skip the purchase.

You can also swap on and off the case if you want. It’s easy to add or remove instances. You can keep it at home. Or you can leave it at home for everyday use, but take it on a Friday trip. That doesn’t add some flexibility that Google’s true folding phones can’t offer. It also leaves you with an extra accessory to keep track.

Performance

The LG V60 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There’s also a MicroSD card reader, so you can expand the built-in storage if you want.

In everyday use, the V60 ThinQ is relatively fast, even during heavy multitasking. That’s to expect from a Snapdragon 865-equipped phone. It performs well in benchmarks, although there aren’t many Snapdragon 865 smartphones to compare it. That is the benchmark we achieved.

The phone continues to work fine during mobile gaming. I played a few rounds of Fortnite and Asphalt 9 on my phone, with good results. However, this is what I would expect to see from any flagship phone.

Software

LG V60 ThinQ 5G has Android 10 with LG skin. At first glance, the software looks fine. But the more I used it, the more bloatware I found, and most of it couldn’t be easily removed.

Some bloatware is common to the Android interface – like the Gallery app, most people can use Google Photos. Other unnecessary software that is less common, and includes pre-installed games like Modern Combat 5 and Sniper Fury, can thankfully be removed. The carrier installs some apps. McAfee recommends T-Mobile. It all adds up to too many apps, and it isn’t very pleasant. Worse, many apps can be disabled, so they’ll still take up space.

Other aspects of the software can also use the job. LG’s skins have long been known to rearrange apps, and that still happens here. After choosing to sort the apps alphabetically, we installed a few new apps – and they were placed right at the bottom of the list rather than in alphabetical order. Also, the phone kept telling me to come to learn how to use gestures.

In a word, LG’s software can be described as annoying. In an age where even the likes of Samsung are trying to slim down their Android interface, LG would do well to follow their lead.

Image and video quality

LG has updated the camera array for the V60. The result is a triple-lens system with a 64-megapixel f/1.8 primary sensor, a 13-megapixel f/1.9 ultrawide lens, and a 0.3-megapixel time-of-flight lens used to capture depth information.

It’s disappointing to see the lack of a telephoto lens. Most flagship phones offer this feature, and some, like Samsung’s S20 series, offer excellent flagship zoom. In LG’s defense, though, the fact that the main sensor is 64 megapixels allows the phone to take lossless photos at 2x zoom, and doing so in the Camera app is just as easy as it is on phones with a telephoto lens. With digital zoom, the phone can provide up to 10x images.

Photos were taken in good light are detailed, but the camera struggles in low light, which is disappointing to see in 2020 when the Apple iPhone 11 Pro and Pixel 4 were great when taking low-light pictures.

The coolest thing about the V60’s camera is that it can record 8K video, thanks to the Snapdragon 865 chipset. That said, doing so will consume your storage space (362 MB per minute). Despite the high resolution, the video doesn’t look as good as it did on the iPhone, thanks to its improved stabilization and image processing.

The front-facing camera has a resolution of 10 megapixels and is mostly of good use.

Great battery life

The best thing about the LG V60 ThinQ is its battery. A huge 5,000mAh battery powers the device. The display has 1080p and 60Hz resolutions, the phone easily lasted a day of heavy use, with 40% spare.

To test the battery, I set it up to continuously stream 1080p video over Wi-Fi with the display at full brightness. It only lasted for 13 hours. That is a great result.

where can you get a LG V60 ThinQ 5G Dual Screen online

LG V60 ThinQ 5G LM-V600AM 128GB GSM Unlocked 6.8″ P-OLED DisplayTriple 64MP+13MP+0.3MP Camera Phone Classy Blue: Buy it now

LG V60 ThinQ 5G LM-V600AM 128GB GSM Unlocked 6.8″ P-OLED DisplayTriple 64MP+13MP+0.3MP Camera Phone Classy Blue with 3 Months Mint Mobile Service Included (Mint 3GB 3 Month Plan): Buy it now