LG V40 ThinQ

As we had previously revealed in our exclusive report, the design of the LG V40 ThinQ is largely similar to that of the LG G7 and the previous LG V series smartphones, except for the presence of the triple-camera setup at the rear and the screen notch at the front. The build remains the same: glass-and-metal sandwich design. From the looks of it, at the front, the LG V40 ThinQ has a screen which covers most of the front fascia of the phone, with curved edges on the right and left side. At the top, there’s very thin bezel, with the only sizeable part left in the form of a screen notch where the earpiece and the dual-front-facing camera setup are housed. There’s a small chin below the screen. The phone measures 158.7 x 75.8 x 7.79mm and weighs 169g. From the front, if you let go of the notch, it almost looks like the Samsung Galaxy S9. At the rear, it all starts getting interesting. With the V40 ThinQ, LG is moving to a Huawei P20 Pro-like triple-camera setup. However, it’s laid out horizontally, unlike the P20 Pro and the recently unveiled OPPO R17 Pro. Below the triple-camera setup, there is a circular-shaped fingerprint reader. There’s the V40 ThinQ branding and the LG branding. On the right side of the phone, there’s the power button. On the left side of the phone, there are three buttons: two volume controllers and one other button which is meant to be a dedicated trigger for Google Assistant. This placement could be confusing for those moving over from previous LG V-series phones which had their power buttons on the left. You can disable it if you don’t plan on using it, but sadly there is no option to remap it. Good thing, LG hasn’t ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack just yet. The phone has been IP68-certified for dust and water resistance. Moreover, the new device is even MIL-STD810G compliant (something we absolutely love about LG’s premium phones).

In the rear-facing imaging setup, the LG V40 ThinQ bears a 12MP primary sensor with ƒ/1.5 aperture and 1.4?m pixels. This lens offers a 78-degree field of view. The secondary camera sensor features a 16MP resolution with ƒ/1.9 aperture and 1.9?m pixels. This wide-angle lens offers a FOV of 107-degrees. The third camera sensor on the phone’s rear is a 12MP telephoto lens with ƒ/2.4 aperture, 1.0?m pixels and 2x optical zoom equivalent field of view. At the front, the phone houses a standard 8MP shooter with an f/1.9 aperture which is paired with a wide-angle 5MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. In real-world usage, this triple rear camera setup does offer a flexible and versatile experience. Each camera can be used independently depending on how you want the final image to look like. If you cannot make up your mind, there is a Triple Shot feature which takes an image from all three cameras. However, this happens in sequence and not simultaneously, which could result in blurry images if either the phone or subject moves. Then there is the fact that all three cameras are so different from each other that the resulting shots can vary greatly in terms of their composition, colors and overall clarity. The phone is able to record 4K videos at 60fps, so that’s a plus. It is also capable of recording 1080p videos at 30fps, 60fps and 240fps (slow-motion).

The LG V40 ThinQ comes with a screen that’s similar to that of the V30, V30s ThinQ, and the LG V35 ThinQ, but it has a notch. There are two ways to think (pun intended) about it. It brings a higher screen-to-body ratio but also a notch that gets in the way. However, LG’s way of handling a screen notch is much better than what Apple offers. I am okay with a notch as long as it doesn’t come between me and the game I am playing or the video I am watching. If you’re someone who hates a screen notch, no matter what, then the V40 ThinQ doesn’t look like a good upgrade from previous-generation LG V series phones. On the other hand, the processor remains the same, and so does RAM and storage. The two primary aspects that have actually received an upgraded are the camera setup and loudspeakers. The V40 ThinQ offers a triple-camera setup at the rear and stereo BoomBox loudspeakers. The battery life is about the same as well. So, coming from the V35 ThinQ, there is no denying that the triple camera on the new phone does open up more possibilities, but will not be a major upgrade compared to what its predecessor already offers. If you can resist, you should most probably be able to stick to the good-old V35 ThinQ, for a few months more.