The V20 maybe LG's flagship centerpiece device, but because it arrives in December two months after its global unveiling and at the expensive price of Rs 54,999, it literally has no USP. This may be a harsh assessment of the situation, but just think about it and you will quickly realize that the phone indeed doesn't have much in way of differentiation or innovation or value for a person looking to buy a high-end Android smartphone. When the LG V20 was announced back in September, it had the privilege of being the first phone to run Android Nougat. It got it before the Nexus smartphones and it existed in a world before Google had its Pixel phones.
Now, India has got the Pixel phones which run Nougat and have exclusive access to the Assistant. Even the Nexus phones have received it. Even some of the Motorola phones are receiving it.
At 54,999 it is also a very expensive phone. Going by the way the Indian market works only iconic brands have managed to crack this price. Well, to be honest only two have managed that - Apple and Samsung. Now, because of the Pixel Google is also cracking it, but that’s also because of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. Google’s Pixel phones like the iPhone 7 also come with a massive marketing push, where we see massive banner hoardings all over the country and television ads are now quite common for both these phones.
LG is trying to sweeten the deal by providing expensive B&O headphones for free which are worth Rs 18,000, but chances are many wouldn't care for these as they are in the market for a phone. But more than this, people who spend this kind of money want a brand to flaunt and to LG's detriment, it is not a brand that commands the same respect as an Apple, Google or even Samsung for that matter.
Even if you look at the V20, it doesn’t have anything that you’d say is cutting edge. It is powered by a Snapdragon 820 processor and is coupled with 4GB RAM. Now, these specs are easily matched by older and cheaper phones like the OnePlus 3 and the newer OnePlus 3T and the Google Pixel come with the newer Snapdragon 821 processor.
Even its dual camera setup isn't new as LG's own G5 had the very same camera system and more sophisticated dual camera systems have been seen in phones like the Apple iPhone 7 Plus.
Quad HD displays are something we have been seeing for a while on phones. Their advantages aren’t also clear as they push the GPU harder because they pack more pixels and at the same time tax the battery of the phone.
The only unique thing about the phone is that it can withstand a drop of up to 4 feet and is shock proof because of its construction. But then again, Motorola’s Moto X Force which came late last year was phone whose screen was almost unbreakable. In fact, I have dropped that phone from the first floor of my house in the garden and it survived, so we’re not even talking about extreme ruggedness here too. And again, that phone was launched for less than Rs 50,000 and at the time, it used the best processor available in the market.
So, yeah, the LG V20 might be a nice Android phone, and it may even delight me once I review it, but it as of now doesn’t have any USP, and it is very expensive for what it is. As of now, I wouldn’t be recommending it, however, if it dazzles me, I may change my harsh stance.
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