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LG Velvet: Modern Design, But Still Incomplete
June 29, 2020
 
The LG Velvet, is a total reinvention for LG. From the shape of the body to the camera array to the colors, the Velvet signals something totally new.
 
Figure 1: LG’s Velvet

Source: Android Authority
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The back of the device is minimalistic, covered in colorful Gorilla Glass and a new camera array. The cameras are supposed to represent a falling droplet of water and its very thin, at just 7.9mm thick and still has a fairly sizable 4,300mAh cell.
On top of the phone, is a SIM card tray with microSD card expansion, and on the is a USB-C port, speaker, and a headphone jack. LG decided not to include the quad DAC often found in its high-end phones, but it does include a 3D Audio Engine that makes music sound more full. The display is a 6.8-inch flexible OLED with an aspect ratio of 20.5:9 and a resolution of 2,460 x 1,080 and produce very accurate color temperature. The sides of the display are curved, which certainly looks modern, and adds to the perceived thinness of the phone.
 
At the top of the display, is a teardrop-style notch cutout, probably the most outdated aspect of the device as a hole punch cutout would have been more contemporary. There is also an optical fingerprint reader under the screen and it’s slow and inaccurate, and usually more of a nuisance than a convenience. Specs include:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
• X52 5G mobile platform
• 6GB RAM
• 128GB storage
• microSD card expansion
• 4,300mAh battery
• Qualcomm QuickCharge 4+
• Wireless charging

LG opted for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G instead of the more powerful Snapdragon 865 chipset, but there are benefits to LG using this chip. But it has an integrated 5G modem, which saves both space and cost, which keeps the phone thin while still covering sub-6GHz 5G spectrum. LG included 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in the device. These specs are effectively the default for a “good” phone in 2020, and while they aren’t jaw-dropping, they get the job done. LG was able to fit a respectable 4,300mAh battery into the Velvet — a surprise since the phone is so thin. In contrast, the Huawei P40 Pro Plus sports a 4,200mAh battery but has a thickness of 9mm vs the Velvet’s 7.9mm.  Battery life on the LG Velvet was about average.  The LG V60 has three camera sensors on the back and one on the front, which is standard a high-end phone.

• Main: 48MP f/1.8
• Wide: 8MP, f/2.2
• Depth: 5MP, f/2.4
• Selfie: 16MP,  f/1.9