I can tell you from my experience that the battery life is much better than the V20. I can get a full day easily with moderate usage (listening music, phone calls, text, web browsing).
The camaera seems almost instant to me on auto. That is just my opinion as I am not comparing it to any other. It fires quick, but when I was doing some shots at an event, I seemed to miss the actual photo. However, I am a horrible photographer. These were for people that were moving and other fast moving items.
I personally love the phone, while I would have been happy with phones from other manufactures, the price is what sold me, and I had a V20. There are always deals going on with the LG V series. They seem to list for a high value, but it is usually easy to get them much cheaper. Whether through Amazon or some trade in any phone deals.