The LG V60 and VELVET Review: A Classic & A Design Restart
by Andrei Frumusanu on July 15, 2020 9:00 AM ESTSystem Performance
System performance of the two LG devices are interesting as they’re one of the first times we’re able to contrast Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765 versus the Snapdragon 865 from the same vendor, using the same software optimisations and design. We’re expecting the S765 to naturally fare worse, but the question is, how much worse is it?
Starting off with the web browsing test in PCMark which is very sensible to performance responsiveness of the DVFS system, we see that the V60 and Velvet both fare quite averagely. The V60 is in line with the OnePlus 8 devices at 60Hz in this test which is pretty much what we’d expect, but that also means it’s also slower than last year’s G8, which seemingly didn’t have an as quite conservative software configuration.
The Velvet isn’t doing well at all and besides of the weirdly behaving S20 Ultra with the Exynos 990 at 60Hz, is the worst performing devices here.
The writing sub-test which is generally more indicative of every-day performance of a device is again also quite contrasting between the two phones. The V60 fares well as is amongst the better performing Snapdragon 865 devices. The Velvet, which certainly not a slouch, compares more alike a 2018 flagship device in the scores.
In the Photo Editing test which makes use of the GPU power, there’s a huge difference in performance between the two phones. Again the V60 is in line with other S865 devices, whilst the Velvet tends to really lag behind the pack with its weaker GPU.
Overall, in PCMark, we see the V60 ending up on par with other 2020 flagship devices, although not quite able to best Samsung’s software optimisations. The Velvet is as expected a lower performing device, but it’s still quite a notable difference in the scores.
In the web-browsing and Javascipt browser tests, things are largely bottlenecked by the single-threaded performance of the CPUs of the SoC. With the Snapdragon 765 using a Cortex-A76 at 2.3GHz peak, the end performance is naturally quite a bit less than the more expensive flagship silicon. Generally, it seems the SoC falls in somewhere between a Snapdragon 845 and 855 in terms of performance, which is right where you’d expect it to be.
Overall Performance
Overall, the LG V60 was a very good performer and offers amongst the best experiences in 2020 – although LG’s lack of a higher refresh rate screen does mean it doesn’t quite give the smoothness that other devices are able to provide – although that’s just a compromise between performance and battery life.
The LG Velvet was actually a bit disappointing for me, and it really reminded me that the processing power of today’s SoCs are actually being fully utilised for daily usage of the phones. It’s not that the Velvet was unusable or a slouch, but I immediately noticed that it wasn’t quite as well of a performer compared to say the V60. In general terms, I would say the phone feels more like a 2018 flagship device in terms of responsiveness.
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rocketman122 - Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - link
"The Snapdragon 765"nope youre out. I had the g4. bootloop. now im using a v20. only because the battery swapping is awesome. shame they didnt continue with that. the rear camera glass is crap and cracks nonstop. this one reviewed will is also looking like it will break.
shame. next phone....ta da asus rog 2. im done with LG.
Xex360 - Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - link
They made really interesting phones like the V20, now it's all garbage they look all like copies of cheap Chinese phones, to be fair it's the case of almost all phones now, less features and ugly screens, what we used to call dead pixels is now acceptable, people seem to be blind sheep now...flyingpants265 - Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - link
It's just like the netbook phenomenon, they're making low-spec versions that LOOK like flagship phones, but selling them for full price!....and in this case "at zero dollars" when you purchase with a contract. So you're on the hook for $500 for a brand new crappy budget LG/Samsung phone with 3GB RAM specifically created for suckers like you.Yes consumers are really dumb, but review sites are the real guilty party.
Nobody should have stood for $999-1400 phones, as consumers we make the economy turn, demand cheap $140 phones like the Realme X which isn't sold in the west, instead Oppo pushes their Reno/OnePlus for $500-1000 even though it's literally almost the exact same thing.
Or $299 like the Nexus 5 or OnePlus 1.
If the phone is $999+ it better be amazing and have a 5 year warranty at minimum.
Quantumz0d - Thursday, July 16, 2020 - link
Exactly. Apple dictates everything now, whatever they do gets free pass. A dead pixel zone for 3 years+ people are fine with that bullshit. And removal of I/O is also great, in computers like Macs, Soldered trash, Surface Book whatever that abomination is again lacking 3.5mm jack.Apple's democracy ruined the tech market, $200 earphones which are throwable after 1-2 years max same like a smartphone. What a bunch of bullshit.
Dave_S - Sunday, August 2, 2020 - link
I still have the V10 and use the V20. Love both phones, hate the company that made em. Both those phones have a feature set that you cannot find in any other mobile except maybe the Chinese brands (that no one in the west wants a part of). QAD DAC, Removable batteries, 3.5mm Jack, IR Blaster, 2nd always-on-display, FM Radio, True Dual-sim+SD, rugged non-glass back, easily repairable. All great features that if a phone manufacturer reproduced today with upgrades to Processor, RAM, cooling, and display would be a Samsung killer for sure. But LG being such a dysfunctional company would find it impossible to pull off.flyingpants265 - Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - link
Just hijacking this comment to laugh at LG.HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
SNAPDRAGON 765 FOR $599 or whatever insane price... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Try like $149!
Fulljack - Wednesday, July 22, 2020 - link
cheapest SD765 is Redmi K30 5G at $220how you come up with arbitrary $149 baffles me
AdhesiveTeflon - Thursday, July 16, 2020 - link
Yep I suffered 2 G4s with the boot loop, and my current G6's camera lens is broken (although it was -20F outside and in my pocket. I'm on the "never again" train too.hanselltc - Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - link
Just from the spec sheet alone, this already looks kinda disappointing. Good to see the battery gets better, but it took a 1080p60hz panel and a 5000Mah battery. V60 will remain one of the top choices for those wanting a headphone jack, but otherwise I don't see any reason to buy this over say an Oneplus. They *really* need to ditch LG displays.TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - link
So other then great battery life and a headphone jack, you cant think why someone would want one of these over a oneplus.Seems like you have found two great reasons right there. And honestly, 1080p isnt enough on a sub 7" screen? I can barely tell the difference between 720p and 1080p at this size, let alone 1440p or higher. Just a ton of useless pixels you wont see 99% of the time draining the battery, which you WILL notice 99% of the time.