Guest Scott Irving Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Despite the solid performance many users (including myself) have reported from LG's first flagship phone of 2015, the LG G4 didn't exactly make waves in the smartphone waters that LG would have been hoping for in 2015. It should be noted that overall Android sales were down vs. market expectations this year, but LG has shipped circa 14M handsets this year vs. Samsung's reported 72M, so more of a ripple from LG, rather than any major waves. So what can LG do to up the ante and improve their market foothold? The new V10 phablet is the reported 'Ace in the Hole' they are hoping will boost sales performance and break into (at least) Samsung's global market share and hold back Huawei, Lenovo and co in the process. The V10 comes equipped with some decent specs: 2560x1440 5.7" Quad HD display 16 megapixel rear camera with F1.8 aperture with OIS and Laser Autofocus Dual front facing 5 megapixel cameras 4K video capture Gorilla Glass 4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 with quick charging Adreno 418 Graphics Processor 4GB RAM 64GB ROM & SD up to 2,000GB 3,000mah removable battery Second screen Android 5.1 Lollipop To be fair to LG the specs are more than decent, the Snapdragon 808 performs well on the G4, as does the 16 megapixel camera, which has really pushed the boundaries for smartphone camera performance this year. 4GB RAM will be interesting when the performance benchmarks are compared against the G4 and it's 3GB RAM, but one of the highlights (for me) is the inbuilt 64GB storage, it raises the bar on what manufacturers can (and should do) with flash storage in 2015.Large internal flash storage plus SD Card capability for expandable storage is a big tick in the box for LG with this handset. There are some concerns I need to mention though, so lets start with the battery, When LG launched the G2 in August 2013 with a 3,000mah battery and a 1080p HD screen the company was lauded for utilising this combination as it offered more than 'all day' battery use that other manufacturers touted and didn't compromise on the screen quality. Fast forward to 2015 and there has been a trend to equip handsets with Quad displays, or even 4K with Sony's latest flagship, the Z5. Given the V10's is running the Snapdragon 808, 4GB RAM and the 5.7 inch Dual Screen the device will probably be quite power hungry and despite coming equipped with a power saving mode, I have some reservations about the battery lasting all day. Ideally a ,battery would have provided the extra oomph needed to last all day (possibly longer) without the need for battery saving utilisation. Recent offerings from Lenovo Zuk Z1 and BLU have provided devices with 4,000mah and 5,000mah batteries respectively, so it can be done, no excuses here LG! The other disappointment is the OS. LG has partnered again with Google this year to launch the Nexus 5X, LG's follow up to the Nexus 5 that launched in October 2013. The 5X comes with Android Marshmallow, so why couldn't LG have baked this into the V10 for product launch? Given the 3,000mah battery and the well known issues that the Lollipop OS has regarding battery performance, Marshmallow would seem a no-brainer given it contains Google's new Doze feature which optimises the system performance and application management whilst the screen is off. I can't help but feel that it will prove to be a mistake not to provide the latest Marshmallow OS update, unless LG can roll this out early January 2016, time will tell. That leads me to the Dual Screen functionality, a 2.1 inch second screen which sits atop the main display and highlights your most used applications and favorite contacts. I actually applaud the idea, for a handset that size it can be difficult to use a phablet with one hand at the best of times, so any features to assist users are welcome, but it is its placement that causes me most concern. LG already equip their Android skin with an optional notification toggle to bring down the notification bar with one hand rather than make you use two to achieve the same result,so I would suggest the sensible option would have been to integrate the second screen at the bottom of the overall display as it would have really helped make the device user operable with one hand, enhancing the overall user experience in conjunction with the notification toggle. Unfortunately I can't help but feel slightly disappointed with this device. I hope my view will change once I get my hands on a review unit, but I stand by my early criticisms of this device, maybe a future LG flagship could come equipped with appropriate battery sizie for the screen quality, Android OS with Doze and the Dual Screen at the bottom of the screen for greater one handed operation? If they can address this going forward then they might just create the tsunami needed to shake the market hold away from Samsung in the Android device sales spectrum. Follow @irvingscott and @modaco on Twitter for more V10 thoughts! View full item Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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