LG is one of the smartphone manufacturers that has always tried to be innovative. A good example of this fact is the significant changes found in the new G5 when compared to its predecessor. In a fashion similar to that of their biggest South Korean competitor Samsung, LG also believes that there is a place for an additional high-end device not part of the flagship G lineup. The smartphone in question is LG V10 whose review you are about to witness.
This is not just a model combining the best current specs on the market. In it we can observe LG’s different and fascinating vision as regards the device’s design and capabilities. This phone presents you with two front-facing cameras and one rear 16MP camera. What is even more interesting, though, is the second screen in the upper part of the smartphone which supplements the main 5.7″ Quad HD screen, thus bringing additional and convenient functions. However, this is not all that the V10 can impress you with. To explore its capabilities in greater detail, simply continue reading the lines below.
If you want to find more information about the current price and availabilitiy of this device, you can check the following link: http://amzn.to/1TkchvV
Contents
Design and construction
Display
Specs sheet
Battery
Software
Performance
Temperatures
Camera
Verdict
Design and construction
Apart from being attractive, the LG V10’s construction also feels rather sturdy. It not only feels this way, it really is because the phone features a stainless steel frame, which is stronger and heavier than aluminum, and an elastic back panel which is two times more scratch resistant than conventional plastic. The smartphone can also boast with a military certificate for being shockproof. It is almost impossible to bend the hard metal frame, which also protects the screen against potential cracks, for example.
LG V10’s back resembles coarse rubberized texture that can hardly be scratched. There is no chance of you noticing any fingerprints on it, but it is possible to find a small sand particle stuck on this coarse finish. On the other hand, the uneven texture ensures better grip and reduces the chance of the device slipping out of your hand. Even though this is a 5.7-inch smartphone, holding it with one hand is relatively comfortable because of its chamfered edges and thin 8.6 mm profile. The V10 weighs 192 grams. It must be borne in mind, however, that when manipulating the phone with a single hand, almost half of the screen will not be in the reach of your thumb.
At the back you will find a lot of the available components. The 16MP camera is there, which comes with a dual LED flash and laser autofocus. In comparison to the G5, however, here the buttons for volume control and the Power button are positioned just under the rear camera, as it is typical for a lot of LG modells. The volume controls have a distinguishing coarse texture, so that you can easily find them without having to turn the smartphone around to see what you are pressing exactly. Between them you can find the round and smooth Power button. Characteristic of it is the integrated fingerprint sensor in a similar way to the Nexus 5X and some Lenovo models. This placement of the buttons is quite comfortable and you will easily get used to it. It is at the back again that you shall find the unobtrusive LG logo positioned at the lower right corner.
The front part of the device, however, is even more attractive with its two cameras and two screens, which shall be discussed below in greater detail. Above them you can find the earpiece and the proximity and ambient light sensors, while below the screen you will only observe LG’s logo, as the traditional Android buttons are part of the screen. There is no LED notification indicator, but you won’t need that because the second screen takes care of this function in a much better manner.
You will not find any buttons or ports on the sides but the bottom contains an integrated microphone, loudspeaker, headphone jack and microUSB port for charging and data transfer. Also, at the top you can observe a second integrated mic and an IR blaster.
Under the hood
You can easily remove the back and even more easily remove the battery. This will be a necessary operation if you want to use the Nano-Sim and microSD card slots, which are placed one on top of the other, by the way. There are some symbols right next to the slots which guide you, so that you will not mistake the position of the two cards – the SIM card is below and the microSD card goes on top of it.
Display
LG V10’s features a 5.7″ display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. In this way you are provided with a highly-detailed image. Additionally, the pixel density is 515 ppi or, in other words, the screen becomes of the “Retina” type if looked at from 18 cm or more. Also, the IPS panel presents wide viewing angles and vivid colors. When outdoors, especially under bright sunlight, you will be faced with reflections but they will be no obstacle to screen visibility, particularly if you’ve bumped up the brightness. You won’t find any fancy modes or manual settings of the screen.
The table below displays the maximum brightness and color temperature measured on a white screen.
Second screen
What makes this model stand out is not the detailed display, but its second screen. It is 2.1″ and with a resolution of 1040 x 160 pixels. You can customize its content and keep it turned on, while the main display is off.
In this way, while the 5.7-inch display is turned on, the 2.1-inch one can provide info about recent apps, upcoming plans, quick contacts, music player control, app shorcuts and a given signature. When the main screen is off, the second one displays time and date, battery details and all kinds of notifications and missed calls. If you swipe once, you will find shortcuts to sound settings, Wi-Fi connection, flashlight and camera. In case you don’t like the idea of it being turned on all the time, you can simply disable this function, but at least our oppinion is that a small and unobtrusive signature in the upper corner would not annoy any user – on the contrary, it is a useful novelty and not an unneccessary attraction.
Specs sheet
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OS
Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop)
CPU
Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992 (2-core, 1.82GHz, Cortex-A57 & 4-core, 1.44GHz, Cortex-A53)
RAM
4GB
Internal storage
64GB
GPU
Adreno 418
Display
5.7-inch IPS LCD capacitive multitouch display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, and a second 2.1-inch display with a resolution of 1040 x 160 pixels
Connectivity
Bluetooth v4.1, A2DP, LE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, A-GPS, NFC
Cameras
16MP with laser autofocus, OIS, LED flash (rear), 5MP (front)
Features
Nano-SIM card slot
microSD card slot (supports up to 200GB)
microUSB v2.0 (SlimPort 4K)
integrated loudspeaker
3.5 mm audio jack
FM radio
a camera with geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile recognition, panorama, HDR
fingerprint scanner
accelerometer
gyroscope
proximity sensor
compass
Battery
3000mAh
Dimensions
79.3 x 159.6 x 8.6 mm
Weight
192 grams
Battery
This smartphone comes with a 3000mAh battery which doesn’t sound like a small capacity, but we must not forget the 5.7″ Quad HD display and powerful Snapdragon 808 mobile processor. The second screen will also have an effect on the overall power consumption. To put an end to the speculations, we conducted five different tests including phonecall, Wi-Fi and 3G Web browsing, video playback and gaming. Again, the settings used were as per our tradition – screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2, Wi-Fi module turned on, and turned off 3G, Bluetooth and GPS.
Talk Time
Web Surfing - Wi-Fi
Web Surfing - 3G
Video Playback
3D Gaming
In this test the screen doesn’t affect the battery life, since the proximity sensor turns it off during phone calls.
Smartphones
Results (min.)
Result
difference
Price
LG V10 3000 mAh, 5.7-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
1062
0 %
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LG Nexus 5X 2700 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
990
- 6.78 %
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Lenovo Vibe X3 3600 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
628
- 40.87 %
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HTC One A9 2150 mAh, 5.0-inch, AMOLED, LG V10 quick review – an attractive and functional high-end device
666
- 37.29 %
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Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994)
1346
26.74 %
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Samsung Galaxy S7 3000 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 8 Octa (8890)
1366
28.63 %
Check price
We run our Web surfing test with a custom-made script, which browses through 70 popular web pages.
Smartphones
Results (min.)
Result
difference
Price
LG V10 3000 mAh, 5.7-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
434
0 %
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LG Nexus 5X 2700 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
441
1.61 %
Check price
Lenovo Vibe X3 3600 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
610
40.55 %
Check price
HTC One A9 2150 mAh, 5.0-inch, AMOLED, LG V10 quick review – an attractive and functional high-end device
426
- 1.84 %
Check price
Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994)
600
38.25 %
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Samsung Galaxy S7 3000 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 8 Octa (8890)
691
59.22 %
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This test uses the same custom-made script, but we use 3G connection instead of Wi-Fi.
Smartphones
Results (min.)
Result
difference
Price
LG V10 3000 mAh, 5.7-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
374
0 %
Check price
LG Nexus 5X 2700 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
362
- 3.21 %
Check price
Lenovo Vibe X3 3600 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
493
31.82 %
Check price
HTC One A9 2150 mAh, 5.0-inch, AMOLED, LG V10 quick review – an attractive and functional high-end device
331
- 11.5 %
Check price
Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994)
0 %
Check price
Samsung Galaxy S7 3000 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 8 Octa (8890)
500
33.69 %
Check price
For this test we use a looping 720p movie.
Smartphones
Results (min.)
Result
difference
Price
LG V10 3000 mAh, 5.7-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
489
0 %
Check price
LG Nexus 5X 2700 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
609
24.54 %
Check price
Lenovo Vibe X3 3600 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
871
78.12 %
Check price
HTC One A9 2150 mAh, 5.0-inch, AMOLED, LG V10 quick review – an attractive and functional high-end device
522
6.75 %
Check price
Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994)
513
4.91 %
Check price
Samsung Galaxy S7 3000 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 8 Octa (8890)
998
104.09 %
Check price
In order to simulate 3D gaming, we use Epic Citadel cycles at High Quality setting.
Smartphones
Results (min.)
Result
difference
Price
LG V10 3000 mAh, 5.7-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
182
0 %
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LG Nexus 5X 2700 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
230
26.37 %
Check price
Lenovo Vibe X3 3600 mAh, 5.5-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
373
104.95 %
Check price
HTC One A9 2150 mAh, 5.0-inch, AMOLED, LG V10 quick review – an attractive and functional high-end device
164
- 9.89 %
Check price
Sony Xperia Z3+ 2930 mAh, 5.2-inch, IPS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994)
181
- 0.55 %
Check price
Samsung Galaxy S7 3000 mAh, 5.1-inch, Super AMOLED, Samsung Exynos 8 Octa (8890)
395
117.03 %
Check price
Power Saver mode
In the settings menu, and in the form of an app on the homescreen, you can find a Power Saver mode that restricsts certain functions (it will lower screen brightness and disable vibration). This mode can be turned on straightaway or when the battery charge reaches 15% or 5%. You will also find an option disabling the second screen and a game optimizer adjusting game quality for the sake of longer battery life. Also available are the standard details on battery usage level and remaining time.
Software
LG V10 comes with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OS which has been greatly changed because of the also available LG UI. In this way the dropdown menu has a specific layout that can be observed in the image below. The same can be said about the other menus as well as icons, which also come with an altered appearance. They are square which makes them look better arranged.
The pre-installed apps are not so many, but you can find a good number of useful functions in the settings menu. Nonetheless, you are presented with Evernote and QuickMemo+ for notetaking, an FM radio, weather forecast app, file manager, LG Backup for backups and system rstore, LG Health to monitor your activity, QuickRemote remote control and LG SmartWorld.
Settings menu
QSlide and Dual Window
QSlide provides functions traditional for LG devices, and you can find a shortcut for it in the dropdown menu. It allows you to simultaneously open up to two apps in small windows. Thus you can take note of the calendar while you are using the calculator, or read your messages and even watch video. You can also use a slider to adjust the opacity of these windows. The Dual Window option is similar – it splits the screen into two parts each of which is occupied by a certain app.
Home screen
This is a submenu in the screen section, which allows you to customize your home screen in the way you want it. You can choose a theme or download one. Furthermore, you can pick a wallpaper or screen swipe effect. Also present there is the EasyHome mode which simplifies the design and enlarges icons and font size, leaving only basic apps on the home screen.
Lock screen
As it is traditional for all LG models, here you will also find the Knock Code option for screen lock via a tap pattern. You can also choose the information you want to show up while the phone is locked (for example, you can add a telephone number in case you lose your smartphone).
Button combination
Apart from the three traditional buttons you can rearrange, there are four additional buttons you can add to make a total of 5 buttons. The following options are available: QSlide, QuickMemo+, Dual Window and a button opening the dropdown menu. Also, you can pick betwen a white or black background for them, and we can mention that the buttons might not shown when you open some apps.
Mini view
To reduce the screen size you need to swipe left or right across the Back, Home and Overview buttons. You can customize the size of the screen and its placement to the left or right.
Shortcut key
The volume controls have additional functionality. The volume increase button can serve as a shortcut to Capture+, and the volume decrease button can lead you to the camera menu.
Fingerprint scanner
The fingerprint scanner at the back of the phone can be used not only to unclock the screen, but also to give access to locked photos in the gallery or notes in QuickMemo+.
Smart settings
Depending on where you are – at home or away from home, you can activate preliminary set modes with particular settings. Also, you can set the music app to be automatically started when you plug in your headphones.
Smart cleaning
Here you can check the occupied RAM and internal storage, and the options for cleaning of unnecessary files.
Accessibility
Performance
LG V10 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992 CPU, which provides four 1.44GHz Cortex-A53 cores meant for everyday tasks and are easy on the battery, plus two 1.82GHz Cortex-A57 cores. They are more powerful and are engaged when there is an increase of load. We are talking about a 64-bit mobile processor produced through a 20 nm manufacturing process which is capable of 4K video recording and playback, and also supports ULTRA HD screens and Quick Charge 2.0 for fast charging. In its specs sheet you can also find Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11n/ac, and LTE Cat 9 that can provide download speed of up to 450 Mbps and 50 Mbps upload speed. The same mobile chip is used in models such as LG G4, Nexus 5X and Lenovo Vibe X3. Additionally, the smartphone features Adreno 418 GPU and 3GB RAM. More information about the Snapdragon 808 can be found in Qualcomm’s official website: https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/processors/808
Our testing unit came with 32 GB of internal storage and, as it was already mentioned, there is a microSD card slot that supports up to 200 GB.
CPU
Geekbench 3.0 (Multi-Core)
Vellamo 3 Metal
Vellamo 2 Metal
Geekbench 3.0 is Primate Labs cross-platform processor benchmark which simulates real-world scenarios and gives a combined score, based on the results of integer, floating point and memory performance.
Smartphones
Results
Result
difference
Price
LG V10 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 4GB RAM
3115
0 %
Check price
LG Nexus 5X Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 2GB RAM
2519
- 19.13 %
Check price
Lenovo Vibe X3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 3GB RAM
3097
- 0.58 %
Check price
HTC One A9 LG V10 quick review – an attractive and functional high-end device 3GB RAM
2711
- 12.97 %
Check price
Sony Xperia Z3+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) (4-core, Cortex-A57, 2 GHz), 3GB RAM
3650
17.17 %
Check price
Samsung Galaxy S7 Samsung Exynos 8 Octa (8890) (4-core, Exynos M1, 2.6 GHz), 4GB RAM
5391
73.07 %
Check price
Metal 3 is the latest version of Vellamo’s CPU benchmark.
Smartphones
Results
Result
difference
Price
LG V10 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 4GB RAM
2337
0 %
Check price
LG Nexus 5X Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 2GB RAM
2126
- 9.03 %
Check price
Lenovo Vibe X3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) (2-core, Cortex-A57, 2.0 GHz), 3GB RAM
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