Lack of LED Notification

[tesladroid]

Not sure why so many reviews have not highlighted this. It's a huge feature of a phone. One that was high on the list of why I sent back my iPhone 7 Plus and came back to Android.

I found this out today while doing more research on the phone, and honestly, it's a big enough deal for me that it made me cancel my pre-order.

The V20's always-on notification area would be fine, but this phone doesn't even have that. I'm not looking to pick up my phone to see if I have a missed call or important email I'm waiting on from across the room.

This is mostly just FYI for anyone who may not otherwise know this. Since I have been explicitly looking for this now, I've found a couple reviews that mention this, but most don't.

 

[X1tymez]

Doesn't the always on display replace it? HTC does have LED notification.

 

[race4life]

It has always on notification like the V20 but it's in the middle of the phone. I have always had a LED light and thought that I would always need one. I had the Note 7 and then moved to the V20. Both had always on notification and now I prefer that over the LED blinky light.

 

[tesladroid]

The way I understand the v20 is there's a setting or an app that makes the AOD blink or flash like an LED. It's being able to see at a glance from an angle or across the room if I have something waiting. If I'm with the phone, there's no difference to me in picking the phone up or looking at it.

I haven't done much research on the v20 because the size doesn't work for me.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[ajb1965]

The way I understand the v20 is there's a setting or an app that makes the AOD blink or flash like an LED. It's being able to see at a glance from an angle or across the room if I have something waiting. If I'm with the phone, there's no difference to me in picking the phone up or looking at it.

I haven't done much research on the v20 because the size doesn't work for me.

Posted via the Android Central App

I have the T-Mobile variant of the V20, and I know of no such feature native to the device.

 

[Morty2264]

Oh no! That is an enormous issue for me, as my LED light saves me multiple times a day. I'm curious as to why LG went that route.

 

[cohoman]

Wow, thanks for pointing out the missing LED issue. That will certainly affect my decision on getting a G6.

 

[Almeuit]

Doesn't bother me much -- I have had a few phones without it and got used to the display popping up when something comes in (if I want it to).

 

[Laura Knotek]

I haven't had a device with an LED notification since I used a Blackberry back in 2011.

 

[Jeyd02]

The way I understand the v20 is there's a setting or an app that makes the AOD blink or flash like an LED. It's being able to see at a glance from an angle or across the room if I have something waiting. If I'm with the phone, there's no difference to me in picking the phone up or looking at it.

I haven't done much research on the v20 because the size doesn't work for me.

Posted via the Android Central App

Have The V20. Basically the phone uses the 2nd screen for all your notifications and time. If you get a new notification a little icon will just appear in the little 2nd screen on the top.

 

[flyingkytez]

I really liked the notification LEDs too. But with advances with the AOD (always on display) technology, it's much more battery efficient than before (the LG G5 AOD uses less power than Samsung S7's AOD). The LG G5 AOD uses 0.8% of battery per hour, and don't forget when the devices is in your pocket, AOD turns off completely. Hopefully, the LG G6 uses a newer and better AOD technology.

 

[muckrakerX]

I currently switch between a G4 and a V10. When I'm using the V10, I don't miss the notification light at all. When I use the G4 I DO miss the 2nd screen, but mostly for the flashlight toggle.

 

[recDNA]

Not sure why so many reviews have not highlighted this. It's a huge feature of a phone. One that was high on the list of why I sent back my iPhone 7 Plus and came back to Android.

I found this out today while doing more research on the phone, and honestly, it's a big enough deal for me that it made me cancel my pre-order.

The V20's always-on notification area would be fine, but this phone doesn't even have that. I'm not looking to pick up my phone to see if I have a missed call or important email I'm waiting on from across the room.

This is mostly just FYI for anyone who may not otherwise know this. Since I have been explicitly looking for this now, I've found a couple reviews that mention this, but most don't.

I couldn't agree more and I have a V20 and still miss led notifications. They are much easier to see at any distance. Another feature that made Android great disappearing.

 

[jeffmd]

I never use the LED because the interval is too long. It is much quicker for me to just pull down on the screen then stare at it waiting for a blink.

Other reasons im not worried about it, 1) always one notifications display and 2) smart watch.

 

[ajb1965]

I never use the LED because the interval is too long. It is much quicker for me to just pull down on the screen then stare at it waiting for a blink.

Other reasons im not worried about it, 1) always one notifications display and 2) smart watch.

This! Even my Fitbit tells me when I have a message or an upcoming calendar event. The dependency on LEDs is waining now that AODs are becoming the norm. I'll take the trade off of less bezel over LED any day of the week.

 

[Morty2264]

I really liked the notification LEDs too. But with advances with the AOD (always on display) technology, it's much more battery efficient than before (the LG G5 AOD uses less power than Samsung S7's AOD). The LG G5 AOD uses 0.8% of battery per hour, and don't forget when the devices is in your pocket, AOD turns off completely. Hopefully, the LG G6 uses a newer and better AOD technology.

You bring up a good point about AOD, for sure. I'm the type of person that would want my screen to wake for a text, but wouldn't want that to occur for things like email, etc. I don't think my Honor 8 has that specific tweak, but it'd be cool if future devices did.

 

[tesladroid]

You bring up a good point about AOD, for sure. I'm the type of person that would want my screen to wake for a text, but wouldn't want that to occur for things like email, etc. I don't think my Honor 8 has that specific tweak, but it'd be cool if future devices did.

My S3 and Note 4 screens would stay off unless I received a text, call, or voicemail. Everything else and the LED would just blink.

I ended up getting a Pixel. So far it seems to be the same way as long as you enable the LED notifications.

 

[Morty2264]

My S3 and Note 4 screens would stay off unless I received a text, call, or voicemail. Everything else and the LED would just blink.

I ended up getting a Pixel. So far it seems to be the same way as long as you enable the LED notifications.

That's awesome! I'll have to root around in my settings to see if I've just missed something. That's entirely possible.

 

[SZQnl]

Depends on your usage and the visibility of the AOD whether you'll miss the NLED or not.

If I'm holding my phone or have my phone directly in front of me all of the time then the vibration and AOD will be fine. But if it's a distance away, e.g. when I'm cooking, then the NLED is perfect as it's much more visible and the different colours tell me whether it's important, e.g. green for SMS, WhatsApp etc, or if I can ignore for later, e.g. blue for Facebook.

It may seem like a minor issue but smartphones are all about convenience and NLED delivers this simply and cheaply. It's not a nice feeling when you shell out so much money for a new phone and yet feel a little disappointed that you've lost something useful.

I'll reserve judgement until I see it as I've never used a phone with an AOD but I'm pretty sure i'll wait to see what else comes along this year.

 

[anon(10185658)]

AOD is the new LED notification. I'm not losing any sleep over it. Can't understand how this is a deal killer, but then I moved from iPhones to Android over a year ago.