LG V40, what would you want to see?

[flyingkytez]

The G7 ThinQ wasn't that bad actually despite the annoying notch, they did add lots of improvements. People complain about battery size but honestly, the Snapdragon 845 plus newest Android OS is much more efficient nowadays so a 4000mAh wouldn't be feasible.

What I expect to see on the V40:

• Dual Pixel technology finally? Why isn't LG aggressively focusing on the camera? It's not that it's bad, just lacks the wow factor.. plus their "auto mode" lacks. They need a strong software development team to create better post processing algorithms (like Google's Pixel or iPhone) plus invest in better camera hardware. The G7 ThinQ auto photo detection wasn't good according to the previews and didn't improve the photo.

• 21MP camera. Sony has a very high resolution camera, this would be very cool if they can do it. Maybe have a partnership with Sony and they'll cut LG a deal on the camera? Cropped photos would look great! No more pixelation.

• WIDER angle cameras (front and rear).. the wide angle POV had shrunk starting with the V30... the V30 had a narrower front selfie and rear 2nd camera (due to the complaint about the distortion). I REALLY liked the V20's super wide FRONT selfie despite the quality being a little bit low, now on the G7 it just doesn't look cool anymore being so narrow.. I'm OK with distortion, just crop the photo if you don't like it. That's what wide angle cameras do anyways (like on the GoPro). The ultra wide front selfie is one of the most used feature on my V20.

• Return of IPS LCD (or an upgraded type of LCD). I just don't like AMOLED despite using them for over 6 years, just something doesn't feel right looking at an AMOLED panel.. colors are over saturated and whites never look truly white. Plus, I can use Waze or Google Maps with full brightness for hours without the fear of burn-in. Glad LG brought it back with the G7 ThinQ.. reviewers have said that it looked amazing.

• Return of removable batteries.. this has been long debated. Some people want it, some people don't care. I know... I HIGHLY DOUBT they would do it, but one could only dream. Who knows, maybe they'll blow us away with something.. removable back glass phone, possibly swappable colors too? [The iPhone 4 actually had a glass back panel that was EASY to slide right off, maybe they can do that!] The fact that you can change the color of the back would be a selling point already, plus the removable battery. This would gain the loyalty of long time LG fans and a guarantee that I'll switch. I don't care about wireless charging.. it's slow, heats up and damages your battery over time, and pointless especially if there's Quick Charge 3.0 plus USB C, even a monkey can plug it in. Plus, you have to set it PERFECTLY on the right spot or it won't charge.

• Quick Charge 4.0... I really like how LG included Quick Charge 3.0 starting with the G5.. it's VERY fast and now that QC 4.0 is available, I don't see why they won't include it. It's Qualcomm's technology and it's really good.. no need to worry about small batteries if you can charge it super fast.

• Octa DAC? Is that even possible? Why not break the mold and embarrass the other phones without a 3.5mm jack, and blow every single one of them out the water? The Quad DAC was very well received by audiophiles, yes the 3.5mm jack is still loved and still used by many.. feel sorry when I see people with those dongles.. so sad. Take 1st place with the best audio experience... Nothing wrong with having both Bluetooth AND a 3.5mm jack. Some manufactures will never learn or listen to their customers (RIP HTC, Motorola, and Essential).

• Boombox Sound (just like the G7). I really can't wait for this to be on the V40... I watch a lot of YouTube videos and the experience would be so much better. Also, make the front speaker work as a loud speaker so you have sound coming from the front and bottom.

• Return of 2nd screen.. NO NOTCH! LG was trying something different and it was working. What they need to do is build upon it.. it was great but was lacking a lot of customizable options. If it's going to be an LCD, then there's no excuse for not having it. Maybe have the 2nd screen fill the entire top of the screen so we get a longer and bigger 2nd screen instead of a square cutout? Just put the camera next to the front speaker. ALSO, maybe replace the entire 2nd screen for the Android notification bar entirely?

• New theme? I'm getting tired of LG's cartoon theme. Maybe hire an artist to redesign and refresh LG's theme? Their icons and OS never looks as "clean" as Google's themes or even Samsung now. Minimalistic is the new trend and what people like, make everything symmetrical like how Google puts everything in a circle.

• Here's also a good idea: make it optional to switch between LG's theme and pure Android. Now that would be a selling point since a lot of people prefer pure Android but as default, keep it LG's theme.

• Flat screen display... See how Apple manages to make all their phones flat but still maintain a small 2.5d curve on the edges? Apple knows that people LOVE accessories including tempered glass screen protectors.. this would also help LG because manufactures could provide screen protectors without the hassle of trying to put a screen protector on a curved screen (ahem, Samsung). Listen to the customers, they WANT to install a glass screen protector! The V30 was a pain, it's incredibly difficult and most of them just don't work due to the annoying curved screen.

• Include the Google Assistant button BUT make it entirely customizable! Why NOT!? That would just be so awesome, just like the older Galaxy Active phones.. either quick press, long press, or double press you can activate 3 different apps... Heck you can even use it as a camera shutter button. This is a selling point and it'll be very useful.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

Definitely don't want them to screw up the DAC by going to octa, if that even exists. Also definitely do not want removable battery.

 

[tadpoles]

You mentioned that a 4000 mAh battery would not be feasible. I'm not sure I follow.... It would work, the user would just, hopefully, end up with outstanding battery life.

I'd like to see an evolution of the DAC. Something comparable to the latest Sabres from ESS

I'd also like to see a camera that was undeniably great in auto mode and low light while still offering LG's knack for getting pro mode right.

6.3" display of amazing quality would be good

Minimal to no bloat

Outstanding durability, build materials, and build quality, not simply another glass phone

...and all the usual accoutrements of a contemporary flagship

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

You mentioned that a 4000 mAh battery would not be feasible. I'm not sure I follow.... It would work, the user would just, hopefully, end up with outstanding battery life.

I'd like to see an evolution of the DAC. Something comparable to the latest Sabres from ESS

I'd also like to see a camera that was undeniably great in auto mode and low light while still offering LG's knack for getting pro mode right.

6.3" display of amazing quality would be good

Minimal to no bloat

Outstanding durability, build materials, and build quality, not simply another glass phone

...and all the usual accoutrements of a contemporary flagship

This ^^

 

[Mooncatt]

I think I read that while they could go with something like an octa-DAC in the V20, it was a point of diminishing returns and was literally pointless overkill. I would prefer a beefed up stereo setup on the phone.

Regarding a 21MP camera, equally overkill. Every lens has a finite resolving power. If it has an equivalent resolving power of 16mp, then you could stick a 100mp sensor behind it and it would still look like a roughly 16MP image. Modern full frame DSLR's are sometimes having trouble getting full detail in their images because the lenses can't always keep up with the pixel count of modern sensors. These are lower pixel density sensors than a phone, with much larger and higher quality glass, meaning it would be easier to resolve all those pixels... But even they sometimes don't. With the pixel density of a smartphone camera, you'd need NASA satellite quality optics for the lenses to let you get the full detail from their sensors. I doubt that's possible in a smartphone with current technologies.

Given all that, a 21MP camera wouldn't excite me in the least. Unlikely to give you any more detail, will perform worse in low light, and have worse ISO handling. I'd much rather have a larger sensor with lower pixel density. I'd be fine with 16MP, or even a bit less. A true optical zoom lens would be awesome, but that would mean a thicker body (hey, more room for a larger battery!).

Aside from those two changes, basically give me a V20 style phone with current flagship level specs of processor, storage, and memory. If they really wanted to go all out, give us the ability to truly calibrate the screen colors.

No thank you to sealed batteries, lack of SD cards, AMOLED screens, glass bodies, removing headphone jacks and IR Blasters, and notch infestations.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

Somehow missed the 21 MP camera thing. Definitely do not want that. More MP <> better photos in any way. There are a dozen or so threads started by the OP that explain why.

Also definitely do not want a dedicated assistant button, mappable or not. It's already accessible from holding the home button.. why would that need a hardware key?

Also, also, and for the 1000000th time, LCD and LCD have nearly NOTHING to do with color saturation, reproduction, white point, etc. Those are all aspects of display calibration, which is almost entirely unrelated to the type of display and how accurate it can get. Both types of displays are equally capable of having nearly perfect color reproduction.

 

[chanchan05]

I'm confused. Will there even be a V40? Didn't LG announce they'll just focus on one flagship line now?

 

[Mooncatt]

Also, also, and for the 1000000th time, LCD and LCD have nearly NOTHING to do with color saturation, reproduction, white point, etc.

Yes and no. Technically you are correct and I'd still want an LCD for lack of burn in concerns, all else being equal. While both types of displays can be capable of accurate colors, such isn't the case with any model I've seen and calibration isn't an option. You get what you get. So based on past experiences, I've preferred the color accuracy of LCD's on phones over AMOLED. Give us a phone that lets us truly calibrate the display colors, and that issue would go away.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

Yes and no. Technically you are correct and I'd still want an LCD for lack of burn in concerns, all else being equal. While both types of displays can be capable of accurate colors, such isn't the case with any model I've seen and calibration isn't an option. You get what you get. So based on past experiences, I've preferred the color accuracy of LCD's on phones over AMOLED. Give us a phone that lets us truly calibrate the display colors, and that issue would go away.

The most accurate display ever put on a phone is on the iPhone X, it's LED. The second most accurate display ever put on a phone is also an iPhone, but LCD. Samsung's LED displays are calibrated excellently (in basic mode for sRGB, cinema for DCI-P3), etc. Default mode on most phoens does suck.

 

[flyingkytez]

Yes and no. Technically you are correct and I'd still want an LCD for lack of burn in concerns, all else being equal. While both types of displays can be capable of accurate colors, such isn't the case with any model I've seen and calibration isn't an option. You get what you get. So based on past experiences, I've preferred the color accuracy of LCD's on phones over AMOLED. Give us a phone that lets us truly calibrate the display colors, and that issue would go away.

If you photo edit on an AMOLED display, it will turn out different when viewed on an LCD, one of the problems I encountered when I had an AMOLED screen phone. Skin tones look too warm, whites just don't look white enough to me.

 

[flyingkytez]

I'm confused. Will there even be a V40? Didn't LG announce they'll just focus on one flagship line now?

They also announced that they will scrap the G7, and said it won't be called the G7. Now we have the G7.

 

[flyingkytez]

The most accurate display ever put on a phone is on the iPhone X, it's LED. The second most accurate display ever put on a phone is also an iPhone, but LCD. Samsung's LED displays are calibrated excellently (in basic mode for sRGB, cinema for DCI-P3), etc. Default mode on most phoens does suck.

Isn't the iPhone X using Samsung's AMOLED displays?

 

[flyingkytez]

Somehow missed the 21 MP camera thing. Definitely do not want that. More MP <> better photos in any way. There are a dozen or so threads started by the OP that explain why.

Also definitely do not want a dedicated assistant button, mappable or not. It's already accessible from holding the home button.. why would that need a hardware key?

Also, also, and for the 1000000th time, LCD and LCD have nearly NOTHING to do with color saturation, reproduction, white point, etc. Those are all aspects of display calibration, which is almost entirely unrelated to the type of display and how accurate it can get. Both types of displays are equally capable of having nearly perfect color reproduction.

AMOLED: Screen burn in, the end. LCD: you can leave your screen on for hours on high brightness and not worry about burn in. If you drive for Uber/Lyft, good luck if you have an AMOLED display.

 

[flyingkytez]

I think I read that while they could go with something like an octa-DAC in the V20, it was a point of diminishing returns and was literally pointless overkill. I would prefer a beefed up stereo setup on the phone.

Regarding a 21MP camera, equally overkill. Every lens has a finite resolving power. If it has an equivalent resolving power of 16mp, then you could stick a 100mp sensor behind it and it would still look like a roughly 16MP image. Modern full frame DSLR's are sometimes having trouble getting full detail in their images because the lenses can't always keep up with the pixel count of modern sensors. These are lower pixel density sensors than a phone, with much larger and higher quality glass, meaning it would be easier to resolve all those pixels... But even they sometimes don't. With the pixel density of a smartphone camera, you'd need NASA satellite quality optics for the lenses to let you get the full detail from their sensors. I doubt that's possible in a smartphone with current technologies.

Given all that, a 21MP camera wouldn't excite me in the least. Unlikely to give you any more detail, will perform worse in low light, and have worse ISO handling. I'd much rather have a larger sensor with lower pixel density. I'd be fine with 16MP, or even a bit less. A true optical zoom lens would be awesome, but that would mean a thicker body (hey, more room for a larger battery!).

Aside from those two changes, basically give me a V20 style phone with current flagship level specs of processor, storage, and memory. If they really wanted to go all out, give us the ability to truly calibrate the screen colors.

No thank you to sealed batteries, lack of SD cards, AMOLED screens, glass bodies, removing headphone jacks and IR Blasters, and notch infestations.

With a 21MP camera, there wouldn't be a need for a telephoto lens right? Because you can zoom in and not lose detail when it's blown up. The Samsung 12MP telephoto lens is whack, who said it was ever good? Doesn't look great to me. In fact what's the difference if you use the 2nd telephoto zens and just zooming in, I can barely tell the difference in quality, both look the same with the limited 12MP resolution. (BTW the Galaxy S8 & Note 8 camera is just meh, nothing spectacular). Yeah sure the sensors are bigger but it lacks the wow factor. I prefer high resolution, one of the reasons why I dumped my weak Galaxy S7, camera was boring (I did enjoy the fast focusing dual pixel technology though).

Also, why do people complain for the low megapixels of the front camera? It shouldn't matter right, because it's not about the megapixels? Then 5MP should've been fine right? Really curious about that.

So would you be okay if LG went with a 12MP instead of their traditional 16MP? I think they have a reason for the 16MP, though the sensor is small, when recording videos, you can zoom into a subject and the higher resolution gives it a clearer image.

Samsung's telephoto lens is useless: https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyNote8/comments/7a726k/note_8_zoom_lens_placebo/


So in theory a higher resolution like 4000x6000 you can just crop it and that will replace the need for a telephoto. A higher resolution will also look MUCH better when you're using the image for your Facebook page cover, which when viewed on a large screen, you can tell the difference.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

.............. lol

 

[Mooncatt]

With a 21MP camera, there wouldn't be a need for a telephoto lens right? Because you can zoom in and not lose detail when it's blown up. The Samsung 12MP telephoto lens is whack, who said it was ever good? Doesn't look great to me. In fact what's the difference if you use the 2nd telephoto zens and just zooming in, I can barely tell the difference in quality, both look the same with the limited 12MP resolution. (BTW the Galaxy S8 & Note 8 camera is just meh, nothing spectacular). Yeah sure the sensors are bigger but it lacks the wow factor. I prefer high resolution, one of the reasons why I dumped my weak Galaxy S7, camera was boring (I did enjoy the fast focusing dual pixel technology though).

Also, why do people complain for the low megapixels of the front camera? It shouldn't matter right, because it's not about the megapixels? Then 5MP should've been fine right? Really curious about that.

So would you be okay if LG went with a 12MP instead of their traditional 16MP? I think they have a reason for the 16MP, though the sensor is small, when recording videos, you can zoom into a subject and the higher resolution gives it a clearer image.

Samsung's telephoto lens is useless: https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyNote8/comments/7a726k/note_8_zoom_lens_placebo/


So in theory a higher resolution like 4000x6000 you can just crop it and that will replace the need for a telephoto. A higher resolution will also look MUCH better when you're using the image for your Facebook page cover, which when viewed on a large screen, you can tell the difference.

So you just completely skipped over my section on lens resolving power, huh? Because pretty much everything you just praised about 21MP was already addressed in my comment earlier.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

So you just completely skipped over my section on lens resolving power, huh? Because pretty much everything you just praised about 21MP was already addressed in my comment earlier.

To be fair, what you said did not support the conclusion that he reached 9 years ago before the first hundred thousand times it was explained that in photography in general, and especially on smartphones, megapixels is a number that's not even positively correlated with image quality, let alone the single driving factor of excellent camera performance.

If you could reframe your argument in a way that supports the conclusion that nothing except more MP can determine what the best camera is, then it may get read. But probably not.

 

[RaRa85]

I'm confused. Will there even be a V40? Didn't LG announce they'll just focus on one flagship line now?

Yeah they said that and then released the V30S ThinQ right before the G7 announcement and have a rumored V35 going exclusively to ATT. Even LG doesn't know what their plan is.

 

[Pollster]

The plan is apparently to announce a half dozen phones that then never ever come out.
I think the V30 is the last phone to actually become available

 

[mwake4goten]

The plan is apparently to announce a half dozen phones that then never ever come out.
I think the V30 is the last phone to actually become available

I'm kinda interested in the V30 but the older CPU has put me off. So waiting for the V40. I was also going to go for the LG 7 but the relatively low 3000mh battery and performance tests by phone arena show that LG 7 isn't as good as the V30 for battery performance. I hope V40 will have the best of both worries world's of decent cpu and good battery life.