The eagerly-awaited LG V20 is about to break covers in San Francisco later today. The company, in a bid to create buzz around the upcoming device, has been teasing key features for the last few days.
In 2015, LG V10 was a huge success and even took away the limelight from G4, especially in the United States. This year, the modular design language-based LG G5, despite being a standout flagship phone in the market, failed to enthuse consumers, leading to losses for the company. All the eyes are now on the V20, and the company is hoping the new phone will give it some respite from the current predicament.
LG V20 is expected to come with loads of upgrades in terms of design and internal hardware over its predecessor. Here are the key specifications, which are most likely to feature in the upcoming phone.
Design and display:
Since LG G5 failed to elicit buyers, the company has ditched the modular design language for the V20. Unlike G5, in which the battery could be replaced by pulling the chin at the bottom, the V20 will have sliding cover on the back so the whole device remains intact all the time.
As far as display is concerned, it is expected sport a 5.7-inch QHD (aka 2K: 2560x1440p) screen.
It is also said boast a dedicated ticker-display on top so that users can easily access frequently used apps, answer calls without interrupting the current activity or play music, check time, date, battery status and other notifications. It will also have a Type-C USB port.
Processor, RAM and storage:
LG V20 is expected to come packed with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core SoC (System-on-Chip) backed by 4GB RAM, 32GB/64GB inbuilt storage with an option of expansion.
Mobile Operating System:
Last month, Google confirmed that the LG V20 will be the first phone to hit stores with Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box.
The Nougat comes with new features and improvements over the previous generation Marshmallow. It brings bundled notification, improved battery optimisation, multi-window options and more value-added features to enhance users' experience.
Read more: Android 7.0 Nougat released: 16 key upgrades of Google's new mobile OS update over Marshmallow
Camera:
LG V20 is said to house 16MP+8MP dual-cameras — one with a standard 78-degree lens and another with a 135-degree wide-angle lens, the same as the LG G5.
The 135-degree lens offers a viewing angle approximately 1.7 times wider than those of existing smartphone cameras and 15 degrees wider than the human eye's field of view.
On the front, it is said to pack two 5MP (or 8MP) snappers with wide-angle field of view.
Battery:
To power the big high-resolution display, LG has reportedly incorporated a 4,000mAh battery. In our opinion, it is more than sufficient to make the phone last a whole day, if not more, under mixed usage.
Value-added features:
Besides the secondary ticker display, LG V20 is also expected to house two more value-added features — a fingerprint sensor and a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC (digital to analog converter) audio technology, which is said make the phone produce crisper, clearer sound and decrease ambient noise on earphone.
LG V10 came with "MIL-STD-810G Transit Drop Compliant" certification by MET Laboratories. This guarantees that the device would be able to survive accidental drop. We believe the V20 will also come with similar certification.
Also read: LG G5 Review: A knight with not so shining armour
Release and price:
In 2015, LG V10 was unveiled on Oct. 1 and got released in select markets the same month. If this is taken as any indication, LG V20 may hit stores by the end of September.
AS far as price is concerned, LG V20 (unlocked) might cost around $700.
Watch this space for more updates.
