LG V40 ThinQ Review: A Five Camera Android Contender
LG V40 ThinQ: Display, Design, And Build Quality
Considering its relatively large 6.4-inch screen, the LG V40 ThinQ has a somewhat slim and sleek design. LG is offering the phone in two colors -- Aurora Black and Moroccan Blue – and it measures in at 2.98 x 0.3 x 6.25” and weighs just 5.96oz. With such a large screen, the V40 ThinQ’s dimensions are obviously bigger than something like a Galaxy S9, but versus the Galaxy Note 9, which has the same sized screen, the V40 ThinQ is thinner, shorter, less wide, and it weighs less too.
The overall design language is about as clean as it could be, considering all of the features packed into this phone. The front is essentially all-screen, with tiny bezels all around. At the very top, there are two selfie cameras (8MP / f1.9 / 80° and 5MP / f2.2 / 90°) nestled in a notch, right next to a forward-firing speaker. Yes, the V40 ThinQ has a notched display, but LG gives users absolute control over the notch. The phone’s second screen functionality for alerts and other notifications makes use of the space on either side, but if you don’t like the look of the notch a simple toggle will turn it into a black bar resembling a typical bezel.
As mentioned, the back of the phone is home to three separate cameras, a 12M f/1.5 shooter with optical image stabilization and dual-pixel phase detection auto-focus, a 16MP wide-angle shooter with f/1.9 aperture and 107 degree field of view, and a 12MP telephoto camera with an f/2.4 aperture and 2 x optical zoom. To the right of the cameras is the flash and just below is the circular fingerprint reader. The back of the device is made of a composite material that is an absolute fingerprint magnet. It’s not going to shatter like a glass-backed phone, but it’ll definitely look funky with daily use – you’ll be happy LG included a microfiber cloth in the box for keeping this thing clean.
The button and port configuration on the LG V40 is pretty standard fare. The left side of the phone is home to the volume rocker and a Google Assistant button (you can see that in action in the video on the previous page), and the right side of the phone has a combo SIM / MicroSD tray and the power / lock button. All there is along the top edge is a single microphone port, and the bottom houses another microphone, a speaker grille, a standard 3.5mm audio jack, and the USB-C charge and sync port.
Other than the back of the phone which has a slippery, plastic feel, the LG V40 ThinQ seems impeccably built. The buttons have virtually no play at all and depress with satisfying click and tolerances are super-tight all around. We should mention that the phone is IP68 water and dust resistant and also MIL-STD-810 certified, so it makes sense that the tolerances are so tight and everything feels solid and durable.
The 6.4” OLED display on the LG V40 ThinQ is top notch too. It features a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and QuadHD+ 3120 x 1440 resolution, which works out to a 536.92ppi pixel density. It also supports HDR10, for wider dynamic range with supported content. In the real world, the display is bright and sharp, while saturation and color temperature seem spot on. At its max brightness (about 500 – 600nits), it is not the brightest display we’ve seen, but it is definitely a high point on this device.
We should also mention that the audio output on the V40 ThinQ is surprisingly good. Its 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC technology makes audio coming through headphones sound about as good as any smartphone, the phone supports DTS:X 3D surround, and the Boombox speaker functionality – which uses both the top and bottom firing speaker and a chamber inside the phone to optimize audio quality – results in some surprisingly high volumes that can easily fill a room. Of course, the bass response isn’t strong with such small drivers, but the audio output will surprise most users that have been stuck with older phones that don’t pay much attention to audio quality.
The overall design language is about as clean as it could be, considering all of the features packed into this phone. The front is essentially all-screen, with tiny bezels all around. At the very top, there are two selfie cameras (8MP / f1.9 / 80° and 5MP / f2.2 / 90°) nestled in a notch, right next to a forward-firing speaker. Yes, the V40 ThinQ has a notched display, but LG gives users absolute control over the notch. The phone’s second screen functionality for alerts and other notifications makes use of the space on either side, but if you don’t like the look of the notch a simple toggle will turn it into a black bar resembling a typical bezel.
As mentioned, the back of the phone is home to three separate cameras, a 12M f/1.5 shooter with optical image stabilization and dual-pixel phase detection auto-focus, a 16MP wide-angle shooter with f/1.9 aperture and 107 degree field of view, and a 12MP telephoto camera with an f/2.4 aperture and 2 x optical zoom. To the right of the cameras is the flash and just below is the circular fingerprint reader. The back of the device is made of a composite material that is an absolute fingerprint magnet. It’s not going to shatter like a glass-backed phone, but it’ll definitely look funky with daily use – you’ll be happy LG included a microfiber cloth in the box for keeping this thing clean.
The button and port configuration on the LG V40 is pretty standard fare. The left side of the phone is home to the volume rocker and a Google Assistant button (you can see that in action in the video on the previous page), and the right side of the phone has a combo SIM / MicroSD tray and the power / lock button. All there is along the top edge is a single microphone port, and the bottom houses another microphone, a speaker grille, a standard 3.5mm audio jack, and the USB-C charge and sync port.
Other than the back of the phone which has a slippery, plastic feel, the LG V40 ThinQ seems impeccably built. The buttons have virtually no play at all and depress with satisfying click and tolerances are super-tight all around. We should mention that the phone is IP68 water and dust resistant and also MIL-STD-810 certified, so it makes sense that the tolerances are so tight and everything feels solid and durable.
We should also mention that the audio output on the V40 ThinQ is surprisingly good. Its 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC technology makes audio coming through headphones sound about as good as any smartphone, the phone supports DTS:X 3D surround, and the Boombox speaker functionality – which uses both the top and bottom firing speaker and a chamber inside the phone to optimize audio quality – results in some surprisingly high volumes that can easily fill a room. Of course, the bass response isn’t strong with such small drivers, but the audio output will surprise most users that have been stuck with older phones that don’t pay much attention to audio quality.
