You may have read my previous review on the LG V60 ThinQ 5G and its Dual Screen accessory cover, and while that review was based on about a week of usage, some things change when you’re using a device long term. You start to notice some things you may have missed or things might have changed due to updates. Regardless, a long term review usually is more accurate of how a device will hold up over time. That’s why I figured it was time to give an update on this LG V60 ThinQ 5G now that I’ve been using it as my daily for a considerably longer time now.
I’ll start this off by saying that there were some issues I had at the beginning but most of those issues have been solved already and for the most part, it has been pretty smooth sailing from there. The LG V60 ThinQ 5G, which we’ll just refer to as the LG V60 from here on out, has been fast, responsive, and everything a flagship device should be, aside from a couple compromises here and there.
I will say that in terms of design, the LG V60 does look much better than the previous V40 and V50 which pretty much looked identical, aside from the camera element in the back. The V60 looks much classier and upscale and the new blue and gold color really pops.
DUAL SCREEN
If your version came with the Dual Screen cover or if you purchased on separately, you’ll also want to pick up a regular case for just the LG V60 on its own. This is because after using nothing but the Dual Screen cover for about two weeks, it had some annoyances that I just didn’t want to deal with anymore every single day. Mainly, the Dual Screen cover is great for productivity, multitasking, and is actually pretty cool, but it’s heavy and cumbersome. Lugging it around in my pocket wasn’t the greatest and trying to use the LG V60 one handed was nearly impossible. It was a pain to use in the car and I couldn’t use any of my phone holders with it.
That changed once I got a regular case for the LG V60. You lose that productivity, but you gain portability and ease of use back. I’d like to say that I didn’t stop using the Dual Screen though. I switch back and forth depending on my needs. I recommend that you do the same and it’ll make owning the LG V60 that much more enjoyable.
On a side note, there aren’t that many choices though when it comes to cases for this so you’ll be pretty limited to what you can find.
HARDWARE
Like I stated above briefly, I’m impressed with the hardware. This is a really affordable flagship with a Qualcomm 865 and 8GB RAM, where most phone with this setup are $1000+. I love the fact that the LG V60 still has upgradable storage via SD Card. Audiophiles will love that this is still one of the few phones with an audio jack along with a Quad-DAC.
On the subject of audio the dual stereo speakers on the LG V60 are really good. I can watch videos and play music pretty clearly with plenty of volume. These are actually some of the loudest speakers I’ve use in recent times where I don’t need to use an external speaker to really get loud.
I’m also quite impressed with the huge 5000mAh battery that will keep me productive all day long. I rarely drop below 50% in the evening, even with heavy usage during the day. This is one of the longest lasting smartphones I’ve ever used. There hasn’t been a day yet where I’ve had to plug in during the day to top off a charge. I can’t really say that about any other phone I’ve owned.
I’m also impressed with the speed and performance of the LG V60 ThinQ. I’ve had zero issues running the most performance heavy of games and pretty much everything runs smoothly on it.
I do miss the rear fingerprint reader. I sometimes forget it’s not there since I had grown so use to it. The under screen reader I just need to get used to. In terms of accuracy, it’s not as accurate as the rear one was. When it does work, it’s great but when it doesn’t, it can get annoying having to try over and over again to unlock. It’s also kind of a bummer that face unlock is no longer available as that was another unlock option. This is just something I’ll have to get used to as it does look like a lot of other phones are going the under screen reader route.
The only area where the hardware seems a little less than flagship is the display. While the display is a large, POLED screen that is nice and bright with vivid colors, it has very non-flagship specs. It only outputs in 1080p and has a refresh rate of 60hz. Most flagships have much higher resolution screens now with higher refresh rates. The lower specs however don’t seem to affect how nice the screen is still and I don’t think normal users would even notice the lower specs.
The LG V60 also seems like it’s a bit more scratch proof than the V40 or V50 was as those phones quickly picked up tiny hairline scratches on the back. This one doesn’t seem to have that issue yet.
LG SOFTWARE
I’ve read several reviews about the software being not that great because of LG’s launcher but in my opinion, I quite like it. I will say that I’m not a fan of Android’s Gesture’s Navigation Bar. Luckily, much of the user interface is customizable here. For instance, I’m currently using Android’s more traditional button navigation bar which I find much easier to use than the new gestures. The gestures to me don’t always do what I want them to do while the old buttons do.
I also changed the home screen to the “Home & App Drawer” setting as the default makes the phone feel like an iPhone where all your icons appear on the home screen. I didn’t like this as it made my home screens much too cluttered.
Lastly I pretty much have the phone set to “Night Mode” at all times. This is basically Android’s Dark Mode. I just prefer the darker UI colors, although you can have this set to either or have them automatically switch based on the time of day.
Those who have had previous experiences with older LG smartphones should feel quite at home here as there aren’t many changes for the most part. LG has been fairly consistent with their software.
The only thing I was worried about with the software is the frequency of updates. Because this is an AT&T device, updates are released when AT&T releases them. On my previous devices that were all unlocked, updates came quite often. Not sure if this will be the case now that this is an AT&T phone. What I do know is that I did receive the April security update which is a good start.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So how do I feel about the LG V60 ThinQ 5G now that I’m more ten one month into using it? I’m still using it if that’s any indication. For the most part, it’s better than my previous daily, the LG V50 ThinQ, but there are bits of it that aren’t. The obvious being that the screen is a downgrade, but for most people, I don’t think you’ll even notice a difference. However, I’m willing to overlook that mainly because the battery life in the LG V60 is unbelievable. I’ve never had a phone last as long as thing thing does between charges and I don’t even need to carry around a backup battery with me anymore or charge up in the car.
Let’s also talk about the price. This is one of the more affordable Snapdragon 865, 5G equipped phones out there right now. This is a bargain compared to a similarly spec’d Samsung Galaxy S20, so that’s something to seriously consider. Aside from that, the LG V60 is a winner in my opinion especially when you consider all that in comes with at that price point.
