LG V60 First Look: LG Can’t Quit Dual Screens

LG V60 First Look: LG Can’t Quit Dual Screens

While a lot of other phone makers are trying to figure how to get in on the foldable trend, it seems LG isn’t quite ready to try its hand just yet. At least not in the same way. So like last year’s G8X, the new LG V60 is getting dual screens instead of a single display.

Available in white and a fetching new copper and navy colour combo, the V60 mostly keeps up with the kind of high-end components found on the Galaxy S20+, while getting in a small jab by retaining one component not found on any of Samsung’s recent flagships.

Before factoring in its second screen, the V60 comes with a 6.8-inch OLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chip, dual rear cameras, full 5G support, a giant 5,000 mAh battery, and even fancy features like 8K HDR10+ video recording. It also features 8GB of RAM, 128GB of base storage, and a microSD card slot.

Meanwhile, for sound, LG is continuing on with its tradition of supporting high-quality audio with the inclusion of a built-in 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC, a new 3D Sound Engine that boosts audio playback depending on what you’re doing (watching movies, playing games, etc.), and dual stereo speakers.

And unlike a Galaxy S20, the V60 still has a headphone jack. And with the V60’s four onboard mics, LG is promising something called Voice Bokeh, which works similar to Samsung’s Zoom-in Sound feature so you can more easily isolate audio from a specific person or source while capturing video simply by pointing the phone in their direction.

Around back, the V60 sports a 64-MP main camera with a large 1/1.72-inch sensor, along with a 13-MP 117-degree ultra-wide-angle camera and a 3D time-of-flight Z camera for capturing depth information. However, what you don’t get is a dedicated telephoto camera, which feels a bit weird since zoom cameras have basically become a standard feature on most high-end phones.

Instead, LG says that because of the V60’s 64-MP main cam, there’s enough resolution for people to crop in manually, so the phone doesn’t really need an optical zoom lens. I’m not sure I’m really satisfied with that explanation, especially the next time I’m trying to grab some pics at a concert or sporting event, but at least it shows that LG thought about it.

As for the V60’s Dual Screen accessory (which will come included at no extra charge), it is essentially the same thing we saw with the LG G8X, but just a bit bigger to match the V60’s larger 6.8-inch main display. In order to save money, the Dual Screen uses the exact same screen used on the phone right down to the notch, which doesn’t actually serve any purpose.

However, for this go around, LG is getting a bit of help from Google who has added better dual-screen support to Google’s first-party apps, which means you can now span a single YouTube video across both screens at once, even if that leaves you with a giant bezel that runs down the middle of the video.

Another small upgrade to the Dual Screen attachment is that LG increased the strength of its magnetic power connector, which should make it a bit less annoying to recharge the phone using the V60’s included adaptor.

Finally, while LG is being a bit cagey about pricing and availability, LG did say that like the G8X, it’s going to be “aggressive” and that the V60 will cost under $US1,000 ($1,515) (which is the starting price of the standard Galaxy S20) and potentially close to the G8X’s launch price of $US800 ($1,212). All quibbles aside, if LG can really deliver a new phone priced that low that still has flagship specs, 5G support, a giant battery, and a free dual screen accessory, the LV V60 could end up being one of the best sleeper phone deals of 2020.

Hopefully, we’ll have a chance to find out sometime later this spring when the V60 is expected to officially go on sale.