I think it may be time to say goodbye to the LG V20

[RaRa85]

Your words...I guess I misunderstood something

".... Adjustable aperture. Just because it's actually a physical component and not relying some fake software to do it....."

I'm not a point and shoot guy, but when it comes to a phone I prefer using the Pixel 2XL and not just for it's camera. If I want to play with manual settings I have a pocketable DSLR with a motorized internal zoom.

When you take pictures with your Pixel 2 do you use a manual mode?

 

[Mike Dee]

I made that statement after the fact. When you take pictures with your Pixel 2 do you use a manual mode?

Pixels don't do much manually with the stock software but it's hard to take a bad picture so most people don't care. Nothing wrong with wanting a manual shooter or more adjustments.

 

[bbqwings2]

I got sick of my V20 lagging and stuttering around. I bought an essential phone and it comes today!
The other day I was about to throw my phone out the window because Google maps and Spotify were so laggy together it was terrible

 

[michail71]

The Note 8 hasn't lagged me yet but I'm keeping it mostly stock setup. Samsung is doing a much better job out of the box these days compared to what they to do. But it might just be the 6 GB of RAM.

 

[Agent3]

Well, I did it. I pre-ordered the S9+.

 

[RaRa85]

Well, I did it. I pre-ordered the S9+.

I'm not pre-ordering. I want to walk in the store and leave with my new shiny box.lol I like that feeling.

 

[Agent3]

I'm not pre-ordering. I want to walk in the store and leave with my new shiny box.lol I like that feeling.

Same here but Samsung.com had a deal the store couldn't beat. I was playing with the S9+ all weekend. You will love it!

 

[flyingkytez]

Don't update it! Learn from Note 4 owners..

 

[flyingkytez]

I got sick of my V20 lagging and stuttering around. I bought an essential phone and it comes today!
The other day I was about to throw my phone out the window because Google maps and Spotify were so laggy together it was terrible

Weird! How does a phone lag later down the road? Maybe try a factory reset? My phone has been performing the exact same way it did new. Guess too many junk apps?

 

[flyingkytez]

Using a Note8 (which should should be close to the S9's camera) now I've really come to love the camera in comparison. The V20 was good in full manual mode but the Note8 just nails the shots in every mode. It focuses so much faster and with greater accuracy.

There is very little lag from launch to shot too. I missed quite a few spontaneous shots on the V20 from lag time focus/exposure.

It's the first smartphone I've had that feels like it qualifies to be a real camera.

Note 8 is freakishly too long for me. I'd rather get a S9+

 

[flyingkytez]

Well the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are official and for me they tick all the boxes. Some of the boxes have changed.

What will I miss about the V20?

I will miss the build durability. I have to admit I put my second V20 through a lot of beating which is why I have to send it in for a replacement before i can upgrade. But it took A LOT of drops before finally landing at the right angle to damage the screen. I know I won't be able to get away with that on S9+.
I will miss the IR blaster. Not because it was a feature I needed but because it was just so convenient. Lose a remote. Kids take the batteries of the remote. Batteries die. You don't fix the problem. You just use your phone.lol It kinda transported beyond the mere mortal. Ha.
I'll miss HiFi audio recording direct from the phone. No other phone has come close to the V10 and V20 that I've used. I can't really say that I'll miss the removable battery since the battery life of the V20 was already so much improved over the V10 that I never bought a spare battery. I did buy an extended battery and that definitely was cool to have.
I'll probably miss the wide angle camera the most of all. This is just such a cool feature to have and I have taken many creative and beautiful shots using the wide angle sensor. Even more so on the V30 with the wider aperture.

Things in looking forward to.

Adjustable aperture. Just because it's actually a physical component and not relying some fake software to do it. I'm a smartphone camera enthusiast so the more things I can tinker with the better. That's why as good as the Google Pixel images are, I didn't really fall all the way in love with the point and shoot affair. Samsung has a pro mode that is very well balanced and laid out.
4k recording at 60fps. This to me is way more valuable than super slow motion 960fps recording. With 4k 60fps you can get the highest quality slow motion footage just by slowing down the video in post. And retain all that detail and crispness. I will surely put that feature to good use.
Telephoto lens. Well I'm losing out on the wide angle so the telephoto lens will allow me to find new creative ways to use that zoom lens. I already have some locations in mind to put it to good use as well.
Finally a great front facing camera. I didnt really care about the selfie camera too much but this year I have decided to get a lot of work done to my teeth after a number of years so the front facing camera is going to play a bigger role in my photos going forward. Plus I'm looking to take advantage of the larger aperture f/1.7 for date nights and such.
Stereo speakers. I'll have to test them in stores but stereo speakers is always a welcomed addition.
Better video stabilization and lightning fast focus. This goes under the camera section but Samsung phones have had great stabilization for a few years now which makes a gymbal more of a creative addition than a necessity. Also the dual pixel focus is proven to be not only fast but reliable in any situation.
Super AMOLED screen. The best in the business.

All that and the S9+ at least retains the headphone jack and microSD expansion. I have enjoyed my time with the V20 and glad to say I'm not leaving because I need too. These are all purely wants. I'm still waiting for the reviews and if all else fails I'll be upgrading to the V30+.

Come back and let us know your thoughts about the S9+! Samsung makes great phones, no doubt. I really love the auto mode on Samsung phones, super speedy, easy to use, and reliable. I still really like LG and what they are offering, although their camera isn't as great as Pixel or Samsung. I'm looking forward to the V30s ThinkQ.. with 256GB storage and 6GB RAM.. I do miss owning a Samsung phone as I was a Samsung user for many years.. but LG phone are best suited for people like me. The wide angle alone already is a selling point for me.. although I have a real camera, I occasionally use my LG V20 to take some nice wide angle shots.

 

[RaRa85]

Come back and let us know your thoughts about the S9+! Samsung makes great phones, no doubt. I really love the auto mode on Samsung phones, super speedy, easy to use, and reliable. I still really like LG and what they are offering, although their camera isn't as great as Pixel or Samsung. I'm looking forward to the V30s ThinkQ.. with 256GB storage and 6GB RAM.. I do miss owning a Samsung phone as I was a Samsung user for many years.. but LG phone are best suited for people like me. The wide angle alone already is a selling point for me.. although I have a real camera, I occasionally use my LG V20 to take some nice wide angle shots.

Yeah I know. I'm really going to miss my V20 as well and I was leaning towards upgrading to the V30+ but Samsung made the right moves this year. I guess I'll be taking panoramas again in place of the wide angle lens though. But I'm looking forward to this change. I still get manual controls in video as well and that really closes the gap for what I was using the V series phones for.

 

[RaRa85]

Plot twist: I'm keeping my V20. I think it makes sense to keep my V20 and pay it off and keep it than turn it in and start all over with a new device. I'll upgrade in December or January on my birthday. I have a replacement V20 coming in the mail next week as I haven't been the kindest to my unit. That'll give me a chance to see what the Pixel 3 will bring to the table as well.

 

[recDNA]

Does the s9+ have stereo speakers?

 

[RaRa85]

Does the s9+ have stereo speakers?

It sure does.

 

[flyingkytez]

Plot twist: I'm keeping my V20. I think it makes sense to keep my V20 and pay it off and keep it than turn it in and start all over with a new device. I'll upgrade in December or January on my birthday. I have a replacement V20 coming in the mail next week as I haven't been the kindest to my unit. That'll give me a chance to see what the Pixel 3 will bring to the table as well.

Yeah just keep it 1 more year.. this year's flagships are boring anyway... S9 is barely different than the S8. Wait for the next iteration. Plus the LG G7 was leaked recently, looks like the iPhone X.

Also don't make the same mistake I did selling your V20 so soon... hang on to it because you may not like the new phone, you'll never know.

 

[LuvMusic]

I'm still undecided on whether to upgrade my V20 or not. You know what they say, when you can't decide, don't. Just bought a new battery and my battery life is back to great. Try doing that with a sealed phone!

I'm off to the Tmo store with my son in a bit. He wants to upgrade his S7 Edge to an S9 Plus. I'll see what happens while I'm in the store, but, I doubt anything will happen for me.

My thinking right now is to wait. With 5G on the horizon, Oreo coming for the V20 and my phone running fine, just not feeling the need. Camera improvements are not a big deal for me....I have some very fine digital cameras so adequate on a phone is good enough. I do really enjoy the DAC. Yeah....going to wait unless something blows me away in the store. Wish my son wanted a V30 than I would bite on the BOGO deal.

Thanks for reading my ramblings!

 

[recDNA]

I like being able to switch batteries on the fly and love the ir blaster. Still I may buy the Note 9 and swap cards back and forth. The s-pen is handy at work. If Netflix develops a full screen option (crop) for Samsung screen ratio I will do it. S9+ doesn't offer much for me.

 

[datum9]

Either way, don't toss your V20 just yet. I did that when I got the S8+, regretted it so I ended up buying another V20. Luckily I got it before it was released in stores so the resale value was still very good, plus I got the bundle deal which was worth some money. The resale value for the V20 isn't much anyway so you're better off keeping it as back up or as an MP3 player or IR remote control.

Another thing is I think you get bored of using the same phone everyday, what helps is swapping the phone case every week and changing the theme so it feels like you're using a different phone. Also buy a cheap mid-ranger phone and use it once in a while to get a feel for a different phone. Put the V20 in the drawer for a week, then use it again and see how great it is compared to other phones.

Pretty much my situation here. I like some things about S8+ I have and most I don't.I posted a review.

All in all, V20 offers more for the money than S8+

With S8, I don't like the stupid 18.5:9 screen ratio, curved edges or built-in battery. Yes it's very fast and the PQ is awesome. But.

 

[datum9]

I just can't stand AMOLED screens. Everyone always says they have got much better, but every time I look at my wife's S7E, I'm reminded of that ugly yellow tint and over saturated colors they all have. Until they can fix that, it's an absolute deal breaker for me.

Sadly, I think even with the advancements in the camera and stereo speakers with Samsung or other phones, the V20 is still the overall best package for a phone. It has all the features, does them extremely well, and still has an LCD display. The sacrifices you do make (I.e. Not being the best camera hardware) just aren't that big in the grand scheme of things.

The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking I'll be using this phone until its dying breath with the way the market is trending towards usable removing features and making it so fragile in the name of looks that it's covered up by a case anyway.

I think screen picture quality is the only advantage Samsung S8 plus has over V20. It's rich and vibrant and very high resolution. However in every other category, V20 wins and wins overall.

I went from LG Optimus G Pro to LG V10 that got bricked, got mad at LG, went to Note 4, which has been OK but a bit slow, then went to Samsung S8 Plus and now plan to go to V20!

I could have gotten V20 when it came out, which happened right at the time when my V10 self-destructed, so I didn't want it for 2 reasons - first, wanted to see if V20 develops bootloop issues, second was the price. Now 1st doesn't appear to be an issue and on the second point, the price is rapidly coming down.

I got several new Samsung Note 4 for about $100, now that's a steal. It's an older but high-end phone at the time. I think V20 however is a better deal as it's dropping in price, will probably break below the 200 barrier for used models if it hasn't already.

when v20 starts to sell for 100 for Like-NIB models like Note 4 does now, a year or two from now, it's a spectacular deal.