LG V40 ThinQ review: five cameras to change your perspective

All too often, when we evaluate smartphone cameras, we are looking at incremental improvements. Each year, smartphone cameras get a little better than their previous models, but the only way to determine that is to make a lot of side-by-side comparisons. Most of the time, you can not wait for the camera is getting progressively better.

LG's new $ 900-and-up V40 ThinQ is different, however. In addition to a better standard camera than its predecessors, the V30 and the G7 ThinQ, the V40 has two additional rear cameras, which provide different perspectives and fields of view. In total, the V40 has five different cameras: one on the back, and two on the front, which gives its camera a level of versatility that other phones do not offer. It's not only an upgrade in the camera quality, it's an upgrade in what you can actually capture with your phone's camera.

We've seen phones with multiple camera systems for years; Sometimes they give us a closer look at our subject, like Apple and Samsung's setups, like those extra cameras are used for wave things, like "providing extra detail," as in the case of Huawei's P20 Pro. But the V40's camera is unique: it has a standard camera for normal shots, a super wide-angle camera for capturing a wider field of view, and, in a first for LG, a telephoto camera to get closer to your subject. It's like having a camera bag full of lenses built right into your phone. Similarly, the front camera system has both a standard lens and a wide-angle option to capture more in the frame.

That kind of flexibility is unique in the world, and it separates the V40 from an increasingly homogenous field of phones.

Aside from the new camera set up, the V40 will look very familiar to anyone who's been paying attention to the smartphone world this year. It has the same basic design and construction as the G7, with an aluminum frame and glass panels front and rear. That means it's scratchy: my V40 review unit already has a couple of scratches on the back glass, and I've only had it for a week. LG is not alone here – it's easy to achieve it – it's still a consequence of all-glass phones and it sucks.

The V40's 6.4-inch screen is similar to Samsung's Note 9, but the V40 has a smaller footprint than Samsung's behemoth. The phone itself is also more powerful than the Note 9 or iPhone XS Max, which makes it easier to hold all day long. Like the Samsung, this screen is an OLED panel, so it has rich colors, deep blacks, and excellent viewing angles. It's noticeably better than the V30's OLED screen, and it does not have any complaints with it.

The V40 is also familiar under the hood: it's running the same Snapdragon 845 processor as every other Android flagship in 2018, paired with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There's a microSD card slot for storage expansion, IP68 water and dust resistance, and a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio. The V40's single speaker is just like the G7's BoomBox system: it's shockingly loud and full even when you place the phone down on a table. The V40 also has the same haptic feedback as the G7, which is the best you can get in the Android world and almost as good as the Taptic Engine Apple uses in the iPhone. And there's the help button on the left side of the Google Assistant. Personally, I can take or leave this feature, but if the button bothers you, it is possible to disable it (but you can not remap it to something else, unfortunately).

LG has upgraded the battery capacity in the V40 – it's a 3,300mAh cell that provides reliable all-day battery life in my use. It's not as big as the Note 9's battery, but it lets the V40 last considerably longer than the G7. I've been able to get between five and six hours of screen time between charges, which is right up there with what.

Also improved over the G7 is the performance. Even though the V40 is using the same processor, its software feels better than the G7's, and interactions are smoother and faster as a result. The extra bit of RAM

LG's software interface is virtually the same as the G7's, and while it's not as good as Google's Pixel devices, it's miles ahead of where LG was just a few years ago. It's also easy to use, so you can make it look like a theme download from the Play Store. The bigger problem is LG's continued sluggishness with software updates: the V40 has the already-outdated Android 8.1 Android 9 Pie software. This is despite the establishment of a "Software Upgrade Division" earlier this year.

So with all of that similarity, let's dive into what actually makes the V40 different: that camera system.

The V40's rear cameras are a standard 12-megapixel camera with an optically stabilized lens and a 78-degree field of view. It's a lesser resolution than the G7's 16-megapixel main camera, but the pixels are 40 percent larger, which combines with the lightest lens.

Next to the standard camera is a 16-megapixel super wide camera with a 107 degree, f / 1.9 aperture lens. It has the same specs as the G7's super wide camera, and lets you capture a much larger scene than the standard cameras on other smartphones.

Finally, there's the new telephoto camera, which has 12-megapixel resolution and a 45 degree, f / 2.4 lens. Like the telephoto cameras on other phones, this gets you closer to the camera.

V40 gives you a more versatile camera right now. You can go from taking snapshots to a wide range of vistas, to close up portraits in just a matter of taps on your screen. LG has built in some clever features to its camera app to make the most of the three cameras, as well. Long pressing on the different zoom shots of each other in the field of view, so you can easily see what other cameras can catch before you take a snap.

There's a certain way to Triple Shot that will take a picture of all the cameras in one press of the shutter, so you're really interested in that, you can just shoot all three of them.

But not everything is perfect with the V40's camera, and pixel peepers will likely be let down by a number of things. For starters, because each camera has different specs and lenses, the image quality can vary wildly between them. The main camera produces the best images, followed by the super wide and then the telephoto. The telephoto camera is smaller sensor and dimmer, the non-stabilized lens (the higher a little less, the less light is let in) mean it really does not work well indoors at all.

Compared to the best phone cameras on the market, such as the Pixel 2, iPhone XS, or Note 9, the V40's standard camera is not great. It tends to oversharpen images, giving them a gritty feel, and it oversaturates colors aggressively. It's not a bad camera at all, but if you do it, it's very quickly become apparent.

Further, the Triple Shot has some annoyances that make it easier and more of a trick than anything else. Instead of snapping up all the cameras at once, it's in succession, starting with the super wide and ending with the telephoto. Whether you're going to have a shot at it or not, you're going to have a blurry image or a messed-up composition. It also makes a lot of things to do with all the shots that it takes a while to process and is not particularly useful. Composing a shot with the Triple Shot feature is very difficult, because it's hard to predict what the camera will capture. Finally, the system does not appear to give the telephoto camera enough time to autofocus in Triple Shot mode, so many of the tele shots come out when I use it.

Then there's the ever-gimmicky portrait style that is found on every phone now. Like others, the V40 will be used to make it look like you're going to have a great lens and shallow depth of field. But like every other phone with this feature, it's not a convincing effect and looks bad most of the time. LG has also aped Apple's portrait lighting features, which are designed to give you various lighting effects on your photos. They are terrible and look just as bad as Apple's, especially the ones who are supposed to make your photo look like a studio portrait but rather just look like a cardboard cutout floating in space.

Over the front of the phone, the standard selfie camera has 8-megapixel and an 80-degree, f / 1.9 lens. It's the same as the camera on the G7 and is fine. Next to it is a new, wide-angle camera that has a 5-megapixel sensor and a 90-degree, f / 2.2 lens. It is only possible that the standard camera, so you might be able to make it easier. The two cameras also enable portrait and self-portrait lighting effects for selfies, these features are terrible.

Overall, the V40 is an excellent phone, and probably the best one LG has ever made. It will not appeal to everyone – you will be a fan of big phones, for starters, and software purists will still be happier with a Pixel – but in a world where smartphones are becoming increasingly similar, the V40 differentiates itself with its unique camera system.

In addition, it has great performance, excellent screen, and reliable battery life. It improves the V30 and the G7. Even though the camera is not without fault, it is still more important than any other phone.

So often, what makes it easier to use it. And the V40's is hell, if it is not perfect.

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