Gadgetory

you know the drill new phone is released everyone's in a mad rush to review it then a couple weeks later we're all off covering the next hot new gadget how a phone ages is as important as that initial first impression so let's do something about that this sophomore follow up for the v-series was a multimedia monster a - a major big-screen player last year LG had an excellent opportunity to shake this market up but an oddly times launch and soft marketing threw a little cold water on building up some momentum now seven months later is this phone still a multimedia monster or is this performance simply monstrous like in a bad way how has this phone held up here's our LG v20 after the buzz the v20 arrived to find LG a company in transition licking its wounds from the g4 and v10 boot looping issues stumbling with the g5 s modular design flop even if this phone wasn't destined to be a top seller LG needed at least a critical victory the ability to show consumers that this company could course-correct and deliver and that's exactly what we got few phones in my review lineup have been revisited as often as the v20 as a creative professional there's a feature set here which really appeals we've produced several videos on this multimedia hardware real camera and real audio reviews comparisons there's nothing about this phone which hasn't been examined in detail and even revisiting it for this video might feel like something of a rehash the headphone jack for example remains the absolute best audio hardware we've ever tested it's a sublime experience plugging in nice headphones hearing your favorite tunes properly driven by great hardware and we've had a lot of fun revealing what this hardware is really capable of like using the microphones to record narration for a comparison video but when it comes to reviewing cameras a lot of testing is often hypothetical a collection of test shots mixing in some real-world photos review take with friends we can point to features like manual controls in a phone review and claim they'll benefit folks who appreciate those kinds of options it's rare that we actually need to rely on those features or really put them to the test for the editorial work we do on this channel the admission for this after the buzz no other phone has delivered anywhere near the amount of footage used in our actual reviews then video from the v20 when my samsung camera sensor cracked entire reviews were shot on this phone and the proudest accolade I can deliver is that no one really noticed I made the transition to 4k video reviews based on how well v20 footage blended in with my mirrorless cameras nothing hypothetical here this phone really got the job done a company in transition the V 20 will likely stand out as a unique design unto itself it's a practical look maybe charmingly ugly like a classic ThinkPad had a baby with a blackberry we've seen the direction LG is heading with the g6 and we'd be surprised if the next V didn't adopt at least some of this design language but talking about practicality the overall durability has been appreciated we lack the popular option of enhanced water resistance but milspec 810g drop resistance is on point for a phone which is just begging to be used aggressively out in the field that does bring me to my first criticism though this hardware is durable but a flat wide metal surface can be a bit slick with sweaty hands my v20 has spent most of its life in a case not because it really needed one against general lifestyle abuse but more to add some grip so I could hold on to it better the V 20 is also not a battery champ if you really use what it has to offer crank up the screen brightness shoot some 64 megabit per second video and then plug into that quad DAC it's not difficult to drain this puppy by lunchtime this is a noticeable improvement over its predecessor black pro features requires some pro power back it is sad to think that this might represent the last premium option with a removable battery along with the IR blaster a feature not widely appreciated by general consumers but one passionately used by fans however my main concern using this phone over these last several months has been software support sure LG advertised this is the first phone to ship with Android 7.0 but since then we've been waiting on updates my review unit on Verizon not only still on 7.0 but also months behind on security updates this moves us beyond the philosophical concerns of an expensive handset not getting software patches now instead the v20 really could use a little extra polish cleaning up some of those hitches stutters and app loading times we know this hardware is capable and we're not overly concerned with how this chipset will age over the next year but what will keep this phone running well running longer is better software refinement so let's wrap this up seven months later where's that leave us with the LGV 20 I can't stress this enough I've leaned on the v20 harder than any gadget I've ever reviewed in the past it's the standard by which I judge every other phone I review for content creation and multimedia performance the brute force raw hardware here is phenomenal for folks really looking to get everything they can out of it but this makes the conversation a bit frustrating that this Hardware potential hasn't been fully realized just quite yet yeah you've heard me say this before the V 20 is a beast it's an absolute monster but even a monster could use more attention and just a bit more love as always thanks so much for watching be sure to subscribe to this channel for more reviews like these and help us out with some carrying on your favorite social networks for pocket now I'm Kwon Carlos Pegg now some gadget guy on Twitter and Instagram and I will catch you all on the next review