LG V50 Review – A Dual Screen Phone

LG launched its latest model – V50 in May 2019 which comes with another screen to make it a Dual Screen Phone!

It’s different than Samsung Galaxy Fold, but a bit similar to Nintendo’s 3DS – a game boy vibe! I like LG is exploring the possibility of a new user experience which we shall be happy to see the result.

LG V50 is also the first 5G phone from LG, and I am hoping they could use this dual-screen set to the fullest then we will have more options for future purchase reference!

Let’s follow Blablaphones for a better dive! 🙂 🙂 🙂

(The very first 5G smartphone from LG which will be extraordinary and super-fast!)

Product: LG V50 ThinQ 5G(You need to buy another screen with your own expense)
Display:  6.4″ OLED (1440 x 3120pixels) 19.5:9 ratio (538 PPI density)
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855(7 nm)
RAM: 6 GB
Storage: 128GB storage, microSD slot
Camera:  12.0 MP(OIS) + 12.0 MP(telephoto & 2x optical zoom & OIS) + 16.0 MP(ultrawide)
Front Camera:  8.0 MP + 5.0 MP(wide)
Battery: 4,000 mAh and Fast battery charging 18W(50% in 36 min) / Qi fast wireless charging 10W
Colors: New Aurora Black
Other Features:  Corning Gorilla Glass 5(front) & 6(back) / IP68 dust/water proof / Fingerprint (rear-mounted)

Design & Display

Yes, LG V50 still comes with a notch where houses the two selfie cameras, one is 8.0 MP standard camera and the other is 5.0 MP(wide).

On the back, there is 3-camera set horizontally placed on the top then a rear fingerprint scanner follows.

The front looks no big difference from other smartphone competitors’ phones. What we could only recognize it’s from LG is from its Logo and the thinQ marked on the back.

The screen is 6.4″ OLED which LG ensures you the best TV-like viewing experience on our hands. it’s really nice to see LG implements their developments for smartphones.

LG announced and introduced the world-first 8K OLED TV in March 2019, the resolution is 4 times of 4K. What if LG makes this technology on their future phones? it must be a very beautiful contrast and vibrant colors on the tiny screen that we look at all day long!

LG V50’s front is made by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the back is Corning Gorilla Glass 6 which means better protection and prevention if you drop it on the ground or anywhere.

Dual Screen Support

Now, we come the best part of this phone! The Dual Screen!

Nintendo got rumored that they are thinking about making their phone for mid-range games, but LG V50’s dual-screen set looks like the phone Nintendo wants for a long while.

I like the idea that it’s not a fold phone, but a dual-screen phone that makes it more durable and long-lasting.

(The dual-screen that comes with LG V50 makes it looks similar to the phone version of Nintendo 3DS but with a full-screen experience!)

The Benefits of a Dual Screen

Imagine you are making a video call to your family or friends, we used to only see one side is on the screen and the other is in the smaller frame on top of that.

If you have a dual-screen of LG V50, you could experience both of you could see very clearly on both full-screen. And, you will definitely find it so clearly since the screen is from LG’ 8K OLED TV technology.

The viewing experience is really amazing!

(Making a video call? LG V50’s dual-screen could let you see both of you on the best screen so far in the world!)

Looks at the below photo, I find it’s really annoying that I check the restaurant or cafe I am going to meet my friends, then my friends ask me to share the location. The whole process is:

Open Google Maps, and find the spot
Click share options
Jump to another app to post the link(I don’t like this step much!)

What if we have this LG V50 dual screen? The whole process becomes:

Open Google Maps, and find the spot
Click copy and share the info on the dual-screen no matter via Whatsapp or message

I know I am just being lazy, if this could save me 5 seconds each time, I would be happy to own one!

(Share something is no needs to jump in and out apps with LG V50’s dual-screen, simply copy and post in the apps appeared on the dual-screen. So easy!)

Camera

LG V50 comes with 5 cameras in total, and it makes think of the biggest cliche for the competition so far in the smartphone industry – the more cameras the better?

I don’t blame LG on this, let’s look at what Apple does on the camera? No big changes for the basic set or components but they come with better results no matter by iOS updates or the new features each September?

So, I think LG could do better than just upgrading the hardware but also some breakthrough software enhancement for the camera? It’s just my first thought when I see this 5-camera set.

(The horizontal camera set on the back of LG V5O looks different than any other phones!)

LG V50’s camera supports the most that V40 could do. For example:

3D light effect: use the different light mode to make the object stand out
zoom-in shots: the same as Huawei’s macro mode for any tiny animals in the field
wide-angle selfie: no need to worry cut some of your friends’ heads or legs anymore
Cine shots: 3-second video then lets you brush over the area you’d like to animate

Triple Shots

The triple shots is the signature of LG’s camera feature. The idea is to take each photo with three rear cameras – standard, telephoto, and super-wide-angle!

And with a dual-screen, you are able to see the result in a full screen for better user experience. It’s getting so easy & convenient for me to choose the photo that I need to suit my mood at that time.

I think for the user experience part, LG did quite well to make it the next level!

(LG V50’s dual-screen could let you choose the perfect photo once you click triple shots!)

Performance & Battery

For the very first 5G phone, LG put a larger battery in LG V50’s body which is enough for normal daily use. if you are a hardcore game player, you might need to take a powerband or adapter with you everywhere.

LG V50 uses Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 for the best performance although now we have 855 plus.

I notice there is a cooling system inside the body to cool it down once it reaches some certain degree after connecting 5G or playing a CPU-consuming game. It looks like those ones in Samsung Galaxy Note 9 & Note 10, all work well!

(LG V50 got a cooling system to cool down your phone due to the connection of 5G.)

LG thinQ Smart Home

We all understand that the phone on our hands every day is the key to the future, and that’s the reason why so many smartphone manufacturers still insist to make smartphones without getting good profits back.

The phone on our hands today will be the controller to the TV, fridge, and the wash machines.

Please look at the photo below, it’s the easy-understanding demonstration how the current LG smart home appliances work with our phone or just talk to them.

I personally have an LG SIGNATURE Air purifier at my place, yeah, I care about the air so much! Hahaha…

It works well with my phone. Before I finish work and about to go back home, I log in LG’s smartThinQ app and find my air purifier and turn it on. Once I got home, the air is so fresh and I feel safe in mind!

(In the near future, we could use our phones to control all the smart home appliance for a nice and neat experience.)

Downsides

Top#01 Too expensive

The price is over $1,000 when it first launches. There are less and fewer people will trade one grand for a phone on our hands in recent years, and the time we change phones is getting longer and longer.

So the price is really something that bothers many people who would love to own one of LG V50.

Top#02 Battery performance for 5G

It’s still a question when it comes to the 5G connection. With the over USD$1K price, we expect to see more capacity for the battery like ASUS zenfone 6’s 5,000 mAh battery.

Will it run out of battery very quick since it’s connected 5G? We might need to let time to tell us!

Let’s expect to see more updates from LG 5G, before that we could try to imagine the feeling by this video:

Top#03 The Camera

We only notice the dual-screen of LG V50, but if you look closer for its camera set, you would definitely find it boring.

I think people tend to see MORE think-outside-the-box & LG-signature camera features from LG. The camera is the 1st thing that people care about buying a new phone, so LG might need to run faster on this.

Conclusion

I love this LG V50 – a Dual Screen Phone since it’s the alternative choice for a fold phone so far. Korean smartphone manufacturers will figure out with a better idea in the near future.

The dual-screen enhances many aspects of the traditional phone experience. and I cannot wait to own one for my daily driver.

I hope you enjoyed this review and if you have any questions about LG V50 Review or want to leave your own personal review, leave a comment below.

(All Photos: LG)