LG V40 ThinQ Review: More Cameras For The Most Versatile Phone On Android
In 2018 LG began pushing the ThinQ branding to pretty much most of their devices – from phones to their TVs. Earlier this year, LG dropped the G7 and added the branding to it as we got the G7 ThinQ. It was a great jack-of-all-trades device that didn’t get much attention. I would pinpoint it to a lack of marketing as all I saw was banner ads on sites and that’s it.
Now moving on from the G-series, we now have the V-series for LG this year w/ the V40 ThinQ. This is their device originally geared towards creators as I’m not sure what crowd it is aimed for lately. The V40 is their flagship for the 2nd half of the year adding more to what they did w/ the G7. But in a comparison between the G7 and the V40, its really all about the cameras save for a few other details. However, we will touch on its features/specs as well. Let’s hit the start button on our LG V40 ThinQ review.
So w/ the V40, the notch remains along w/ the Boombox speaker, headphone jack, dedicated Google Assistant button, metal frame + IP68 dust/water resistant glass body. All of these aspects are great save for the notch which people will have a love/hate relationship with and the glass body which is heavily prone to scratches.
The V40 is like a mesh of the Galaxy S9 & last year's V30 w/ most of the G7 specs.
It is the same size as the Note 9 but w/ a better screen-to-body ratio. With our hands-on w/ it, I thought it was a bit too tall to use comfortably but I was wrong. The display utilized here is a massive yet beautiful 6.4inch OLED panel. It offers superb colors, brightness, & viewing angles that makes everything you watch on here look amazing. Almost as goods as Samsung’s OLED panel on the Note 9.
- 6.4inch QHD+ OLED display w/ 3120 x 1440 resolution
- Snapdragon 845 CPU
- 6GB of RAM + 64GB of storage expandable up to 2TB via microSD
- rear-facing f/1.5 12MP standard lens + f/1.9 16MP super wide-angle lens + f/2.4 12MP telephoto 2x zoom lens w/ optical + electronic image stabilization
- front-facing f/1.9 8MP standard lens + f/2.2 5MP wide-angle lens
- IP68 dust/water-resistant body
- Hi-Fi Quad DAC + Hi-FI streaming for wireless audio
DTS: X 3D Surround Sound + Boombox Speaker - rear fingerprint reader
- Android 8.1 Oreo w/ LG UX
- dedicated Google Assistant button
- 3300 mAh battery w/ Quick Charge 3.0 + wireless charging
LG made sure to beef up the specs on their flagship for the 2nd half of 2018 just a bit. So along w/ a Snapdragon 845 CPU and 64GB of storage expandable up to 2TB via microSD, LG stepped the RAM to better compete w/ the rest of the Android flagships. So instead of 4GB, the V40 touts 6GB of RAM to better keep up w/ all of the image processing, Google Lens searches, multitasking, and everyday tasks you would normally use.
Although the spec sheet lists a 3300 mAh battery that sounds measly, it really does live up to the ‘all-day’ battery life LG suggested it would. It lasted longer than the G7 and longer than the S9 but align closer tot he S9+. On heavier days, I was able to get closer to 20 hours of usage before I got the 15% low-battery. Another upside of this battery is Quick Charge 3.0 to top off the battery quickly.
The V40 offers 5 cameras but are any of them good?
Now onto the big deal that everyone is looking to hear about – the cameras. Yes, all of them. All 5 of them to be exact w/ 2 in the front & 3 in the back. So on the rear, you got a standard f/1.5 12MP sensor, a super wide-angle f/1.9 16MP sensor, and a f/2.4 12MP telephoto sensor. The standard lens in a lower MP than the G7 but offer more pixels to grab more light & be better in low-light. The super wide-angle lens offers a 107-degree view as the telephoto offer a 45-degree view w/ 2x zoom.
Although you have the choice of several lenses, the main shooter is still the best for most conditions. It gives you the sharpest results as the Super-Wide it good w/ a bit less distortion & more of an image and the telephoto winds up being the noisiest & darker of the 3 rear shooters w/ no stabilization. You still have AI Cam, Super Bright Mode, and manual photo/video options. On the video side of things, it offers the great video quality you would expect from LG. You still got the lovely Cine Video feature w/ Point Zoom + luts/filters for video.
The Triple Shot feature allows you to take a photo using all 3 lenses for one shot giving you 3 different perspectives. When using a single lens, you can get a triple preview of what the shot would look like using the other lenses before you take a shot. Just make sure you’re not capturing a moving subject or else things will get blurry. The CineShot feature sounds a bit gimmicky but its pretty cool and dedicated to the creatives out there. This allows you to select and animate the parts of your photo that have any type of movement to bring still images to life
The 2 shooters in the front offer a f/1.9 8MP lens and a f/2.2 5MP wide-angle lens – which is the same as the G7. So along w/ the standard & wide-angle selfies, you can do a little more here than LG’s previous device. You can do portrait mode & portrait lighting introduced on the iPhone X. My results w/ them haven’t been to the point to want to use them. In regards to the results are on par w/ the G7.
On the surface, it looks like LG retained the same old software scheme on the V40 but they did do a lot of little things here. You got a bit less bloatware, more subtle streamlining present, Google Lens within the camera app, and LG’s own take on Google Feed. You can turn off a lot more in the Settings, add this/that to your theme, and more to make it your own. However, it’s still only running Android 8.1 Oreo at this time of this review. No telling when Android 9.0 Pie will make its way to this but a slightly more pleasurable software experience from LG.
You don't get more versatile than the V40 ThinQ for smartphones.
The V40 is the ultimate swiss army knife smartphone – even a bit more than the G7. You got a total of 5 cameras that are all good w/ no bad gimmicks present, Quad-DAC for wired headphones + Boombox speakers w/o headphones, and an all-day battery life – all on a great OLED display. I just wish LG beefed up their marketing so more people would be aware of their great flagship smartphones as an option for Android users.
However, LG is commanding a high cost for their latest & greatest w/ the V40 ThinQ. You’re gonna have to shell out close to $1K as it will cost you $980 for full retail but around $30 or so for the monthly payments for 24 months. But if the hefty price tag is a bit of a turnoff but still want the LG flavor, you can still go the G7 ThinQ and be great. I didn’t think I’d like the V40 as much but I do. Funny enough, this is the same feeling I got from the G7 as well.
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