LG Velvet: Beautiful & Affordable 5G

Earlier this year, LG was teasing a new look for their smartphones which alluded to the Velvet. This is a 5G-capable device w/ flagship + damn-near flagship specs in various areas – all within an great-looking device. Now let’s not get things confused, I am not putting the Velvet in a flagship category – at least not a top-tier one. It gets really close but not quite to what we just experienced in our LG V60 ThinQ 5G review. Let’s begin.

LG was teasing the Velvet as a completely new design language ahead of its launch and its a refreshing departure from the most recent G & V-series. LG’s new look comprised of glass + metal is dubbed their 3D Arc Design sporting curved corners on each side. This makes for a better-feeling phone in your hand – ergonomically. The in-display fingerprint reader is the same from the V60. Not the fast but not the worst either. Being an LG smartphone, you still have the headphone jack present. The audio output via its speakers sounds great but there is no Quad DAC inside though.

With LG being one of the leaders in displays, don’t expect them to slouch here in this department. The super-tall 6.8inch OLED display is a stellar one – even w/ a 1080p resolution panel. You get bright + accurate colors, dark Blacks, good viewing angles, and a good level brightness. The same goes for the DualScreen accessory. Since they have yet to do so, don’t look for a fast refresh rate of 90Hz or 120Hz. LG keeping it standard w/ the 60Hz panel on the Velvet. Maybe we’ll see it for 2021?

On paper, this may appear to be a top-tier flagship. But in its execution, maybe a step down. Not quite a mid-range though.

6.8inch Cinema FullVision 1080p OLED display w/ 2460 x 1080 resolution
Snapdragon 765 5G CPU
6GB of RAM + 128GB of storage expansion up to 2TB via microSD
a triple rear camera setup consisting of an f/1.8 48MP wide-angle, an f/2.2 8MP ultra-wide, and an f/2.4 5MP depth sensor.
f/1.9 16MP selfie camera
IP68 dust/water-resistant body
In-display fingerprint reader
3.5mm headphone jack
Bluetooth 5.1
stereo speaker w/ LG 3D Sound Engine
Android 10 w/ LG UX
4300 mAh battery w/ 18W fast charging + wireless charging

Now, this is interesting as this our 1st device being powered by the Snapdragon 765 5G processor. This is Qualcomm’s 1st commercial 5G modem on their chipsets that’s a step down from their high-end silicon. Now we were testing in AT&T’s 5G E areas so we were only getting about 20Mbps down + about 9Mbps up. So no real 5G testing here, unfortunately.

LG gives the Velvet pretty good performance + amazing battery life.

The Velvet definitely ran pretty close to their top-tier 865/865+ CPU inside. So from multitasking, streaming YouTube/music + podcasts from Spotify/emailing, & some gaming on it as well. LG also made sure to include the now-standard of 6GB of RAM + 128GB of storage expandable up to 2TB via microSD card inside as well.

LG gave this a 4300 mAh battery inside which works really well in keeping up on a day-to-day use case. By using the 765 chipset, you get the speed w/ lower power consumption and makes for amazing battery life. Heavy usage can get me to when I go to sleep around 30%-40% of juice while light to moderate can get me a little over 2 days. They included an 18W charging brick inside and supports both Quick Charge + wireless charging as well.

LG went for an original look for their camera cutouts. The Velvet’s shooters are meant to resemble a raindrop in motion w/ the main 48MP sensor up top, the 5MP depth sensor below that, the 8MP ultra-wide below that, & then the single LED flash.

The cameras are good but not as good as what LG gave us on the V60.

Now the 48MP sensor can pull off some good shots w/ crisp images w/ accurate colors – just as long as there is enough light around. Other times the images come out a bit over-processed, the colors can be on the more flatter side at times. It can also be hit or miss in the low-light category.

The ultra-wide being a low MP-count suffers as well as it is decent in well-lit situations but not as sharp & not a lot of detail present. The 5MP depth sensor didn’t really display the need to be here. Especially when this could have been a telephoto sensor instead. I would say the image processing is at fault here.

The 4K video is good as you do have video features like Voice Bokeh, ASMR recording, 4K Timelapse, and more. Which is a bummer as it looks like LG finally nailed their camera w/ V60 and took a step back on this one.

The LG Velvet: Good device but lacking a standout feature to compete with.

The Velvet offers a new look to the LG design language as well as a high-end mid-ranger. You get a tall display that looks amazing, performs well, great battery life, good shooters capable of 4K video – all while supporting 5G speeds. I honestly think pricing compared to the competition can be a tough sell for some.

This is why I say that. The V60 is around $800, iPhone 11 starts at $700, or the OnePlus 8 for $800. So the Velvet pricing is at $600 so its only $100-$200 difference for a bit more powerful processor and better cameras/videos. But outside of that, it is still a great phone but you gotta keep the competition in mind for that price point.