This marriage of conformist design, solid performance, and sub-$600 price could make it a good mid-range choice
It’s been a while since I’ve carried an LG phone that might draw stares. Over the years, the company’s ThinQ series has grown to belie its name, getting thicker and bulkier with each iteration. I remember holding the LG V60 ThinQ in my hands at a launch event last year as LG execs told me that a big change was coming.
The LG Velvet 5G (approximately $599 in the U.S.) Android 10 smartphone is the harbinger of that change.
Gone is the bulk and thick, utilitarian edges. In their place is a sleek, subtle design that shows far more glass than metal. The front of the 6.8-inch, Android 10, 5G handset features waterfall curves that meet a thin chrome spine, which features a power/sleep button on the right side, volume rockers on the left, and below that, a dedicated Google Assistant button. Along the bottom edge is a speaker grill, USB-C power and data port, and a throwback 3.5 mm headphone jack (the phone does not ship with earphones).
The back has the same curves and a completely new camera array in what LG is calling a “raindrop” design. I hesitate to tell them that raindrops are larger at the bottom, not the top. Still, it is nice to have an almost entirely smooth back broken only by the raised profile of the top 48 MP camera. Right below it is the 8 MP wide lens, which is above the 5 MP depth camera (for AR operations) and at the bottom is the LED flash. It’s easily one of the most attractive designs for a camera array that I’ve seen to date.
At 167.2 x 74.6 x 7.9 mm, the LG Velvet is slightly narrower than Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro Max, but also significantly lighter. The iPhone 11 Pro Max weighs 226 grams, while the LG Velvet weighs a svelte 180g. I only mention this to make it clear that, while this is an inarguably large phone, it never feels bulky in the hand (unless you drop it into the optional, $199, Dual Screen case, but more on that later). I do wish LG had opted for a matte finish because the glass is a little slippery. I felt most comfortable carrying it in a case. If, however, you want to leave the phone open to the elements, the LG Velvet is both IP68 (1.5 meters of water for 15 minutes) and MIL-STD 810G rated. I did not subject it to an aggressive drop test but did put the phone under running water without any issue.
More broadly-speaking, LG’s new design language brings it into alignment with a host of other Android handsets like OnePlus’ attractive OnePlus 8 Pro and even Samsung’s Galaxy S line.
Display
While the LG Velvet’s design says flagship, there are numerous choices, like the price ($599) and CPU (Qualcomm Snapdragon 765) that say “mid-range.”
The display, for instance is P-OLED, which means that instead of glass, the brilliant, 20.5:9 screen features a plastic substrate. At 2460 x 1080, it’s a lower resolution than the slightly smaller OnePlus 8 Pro (3168 x 1440). The refresh rate is a standard 60Hz, as opposed to the 90Hz (and more) I’m seeing on newer Android phones and that I expect on the next iPhone. Interestingly, the phone failed “TestUFO” refresh rate test I’ve successfully used on multiple phones. In fact, it reported an unusual stutter.
That aside, most of my experiences with the 395 ppi screen were positive. Images are crisp, colors pop, and blacks are suitably dark.
While basically an edge-to-edge screen, the LG Velvet’s display has, especially along the top and bottom edges, a slightly larger bezel than you might expect. I only noticed this when I compared the screen to the OnePlus 8 Pro. At the top is a teardrop cutout for the 16 MP front facing camera.
Underneath the screen is a well-positioned fingerprint reader where I registered my thumb and then effectively used it to unlock the phone throughout the course of my testing.
Picture time
If you’re looking for an above average camera array with a solid collection of shooting options, including portrait mode, a flexible time-lapse, slow-motion Night view shots (significantly more grain than what you might get from an iPhone 11 or OnePlus 8 Pro), and more, the LG Velvet has got you covered.
The main camera features a 48MP sensor, which if you shoot at full resolution packs the image with enough information that you can zoom in significantly and still have decent detail. Most of the time, though, you’ll be shooting at 12MP, which squeezes four pixels worth of information into each pixel for better color, contrast, and detail.
I can zoom up to 2X, which is nice, but, as more and more Android phones are adding 3X, and even 5X optical, this feels a little out of step.
The 8MP wide angle, which shoots up to a 120-degree field of view, does a good job of pulling in a lot of scene information. By default, the camera auto corrects the ultra-wide distortion, which straightens any lines that might be bowed and does not appear to lose much, if any, visual information.
The 5MP depth camera is mostly useful for the fun AR stickers and questionable 3D photo effect. The latter separates the foreground and background of the portrait shot and, as you tilt the camera back and forth, the foreground moves separately from the background to give it an almost lenticular 3D effect. In one of my portrait shots, this created a bizarre image tearing around my head. Suffice to say, this is not my favorite features.
Portrait mode, which works on both the front and rear cameras, is mostly effective. The rear camera does a nice job of blurring the background. Post shot, I can use a nifty slide to incrementally control the bokeh. Unfortunately, on both the front and rear cameras I found the camera blurring the subject ever so slightly so that my face had a sort of double-exposure effect. It’s something I hope LG can fix in software.
The camera shoots solid 4K video, however I noticed during shooting and playback on my TCL Series 6 4K TV a slight stutter that might have been a framerate issue, even though I was not shooting at a higher frame rate (you can shoot 60fps but only up to 1080p).
Sound effects
LG has a nice habit of building in some impressive and unusual audio skills into their handsets and the LG Velvet is no exception. LG’s 3D audio can create an immersive (and loud) experience direct from the phone’s stereo speakers. However, it’s the recording features that are arguably stranger and more impressive.
The LG Velvet is the first phone I’ve ever heard of to feature an ASMSR recording mode. ASMSR (Autonomous sensory meridian response) is something (usually sound) that creates a specific physical response (tingling in the scalp, body, and spine). Most people associate it with amplification of typically subtle or even imperceptible sounds; think leaves rustling, wind blowing, food chewing, water running, hands moving over scratchy material, and even whispering. The LG Velvet has a recording mode that can pick up and focus in on these sounds (using the phone’s two ultra-sensitive microphones) and make them, essentially, the star of the show. I used ASMR recording mode on running water and my hand caressing paper and found the effect compelling and weird.
Performance
LG saved a couple of bucks with the mid-range performing Qualcomm Snapdragon 765, backed by 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Aside from lower Geekbench numbers and the 4K video operation, I didn’t notice anything that would belie the last-gen silicon. Instead, streaming video, games (Asphalt 9 Legends), web browsing, and virtually every other operation I tried worked as well as they do on more powerful devices.
Battery and 5G
This is a 5G phone, but lacking a SIM and the ability to travel, to a place with some decent 5G coverage, I couldn’t test that aspect of the phone.
As for battery life, I easily got a day on a charge. The only exception is when I slipped the phone into the optional Dual Screen case and played a long movie on the second P-OLED display. Then I watched as battery life tumbled by 70% over the course of 2 hours.
It is nice, though to find wireless charging in a relatively affordable mid-range smartphone. The phone worked with all my Qi-based chargers.
That Dual Screen case is available with the phone for an additional $199. Combined, the phone and case are approximately $798, which makes the combo an decent value. It’s useful in situations where you want to type on one screen and have, say, the Microsoft Word app on the other or, or two run two different apps, full screen, at once (Twitter one side, Google News on the other), for timed, hands-free selfies, or, as I did, when you want a hands-free platform to watch Thor.
The screen swap technology is a bit wonky as whatever screen settings you have will switch back on their own if you let either screen sleep. I will say, though, that watching Thor on the secondary P-OLED display is an even better experience than watching it on the main phone screen because the Dual Screen display is completely flat. There is a bit of distortion that happens on the LG Velvet’s curved edges display.
While the LG Velvet Dual Screen case is thinner and lighter than the one used with LG’s V60, it’s still pretty bulky. I do like the secondary, monochrome external display, which offers you a view of time, date, battery life, and a few notification icons. Still, taking photos with the case on is unwieldy and, since I take more pictures than I do watch movies or do productivity work on the Velvet, I prefer carrying it without the big Dual Screen case.
Overall, the LG Velvet is a big step in the right direction for LG Mobile. It’s thin and comparatively light, has a gorgeous screen, and generally pleasing performance. It’s not as impressive as, for example, the OnePlus 8 Pro, which rivals the best in Android (and iOS) with excellent design, photography (oh, those macro photos) and performance. Plus, I think the LG Velvet could use a software upgrade to fix some minor feature hiccups on 4K and portrait mode. Fix them, LG, and I’d like LG Velvet 5G enough to recommend it without any reservations.
The LG Velvet 5G start shipping on July 22. Pricing will vary by carrier.
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July 22, 2020 at 09:50PM
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