The New LG Velvet Full Review

Introduction

The LG Velvet scores in our test in particular with its equipment: Where many other manufacturers save, the mid-range telephone shows what a smartphone can really do for fewer than 600 euros. The display is additionally fun and in particular convinces with very strong contrast values. additionally , the most camera takes phenomenal pictures in daylight. However, the Velvet has got to deal with a couple of criticisms: Among other things, the battery charging time is extremely long and therefore the image quality in low light also leaves something to be desired. The LG is certainly worth a glance .

Simple name, Simple design, Large display

The South Korean manufacturer LG is back with a replacement mid-range phone after a while . For the LG Velvet, the tech giant has not only found an easy name, but also introduced a minimalist and at an equivalent time refreshingly new design language. The white back of our test device is formed of glass and additionally to the most camera, which protrudes only slightly from the housing, the remainder of the lenses and therefore the LED flash are completely within the housing. The LG mobile opens with a metal frame and rounded side edges at the front and back. The Velvet may be a very chic smartphone in every respect.

But the display also looks good. LG uses an enormous 6.8-inch display during a very elongated 20.5: 9 format. It therefore has similar aspect ratios to a typical cinema film. The screen covers almost 90 percent of the surface, but the sides of the display are hard to miss, especially at the highest and bottom.

Strong colors in the fast lane

LG doesn't have an increased refresh rate, some smartphones can do that better at an equivalent price, including the Motorola Edge. the complete HD Plus resolution of two ,460 x 1,080 pixels and therefore the resulting pixel density of just about 400 ppi are perfectly acceptable. the utmost brightness of 500 cd / m² measured by us by manual adjustment and 644 cd / m² in bright ambient light should even be sufficient for many everyday situations.

The color representation of the Velvet is extremely pleasing. LG relies on a P-OLED display with strong colors and, above all, strong contrasts. It covers 143.7 percent of the quality RGB color space (sRGB), and therefore the mid-range telephone shows the DCI-P3 color space almost completely. The high color space coverage and therefore the strong contrast value of up to 170: 1 are definitely not a matter in fact for a smartphone within the upper bourgeoisie segment.

Powerful Battery

The battery installed within the LG Velvet is impressive: With a capacity of 4,300 mAh, it's an honest size, which is really the typical for far more expensive flagships. But it's also needed with such an outsized display. In our laboratory test, the battery power for 10:33 hours of permanent everyday use is below 200 cd / m² with simulated web use. that ought to bring you easily over an extended day, on the other hand there's not far more .

When charging, you'll choose from wireless and wired with the Velvet, because the LG mobile also supports wireless charging together of the few smartphones under 600 euros. However, charging is quicker with a cable - if not much faster: the supplied power adapter is comparatively weak at around 16 watts by today's standards, then the telephone can only get from 0 to one hundred pc battery capacity again after almost 2.5 hours. The short stop at the socket may be a bit more powerful: After half-hour of charging, 33 percent appear on the display - that's a couple of hours of use.

The performance hardware is not the problem ...

Like many other manufacturers of current Android mid-range smartphones, LG also relies on a Qualcomm processor from the 700 series. within the case of the Velvet, the Snapdragon 765G is employed , a hexa-core chip with a clock rate of up to 2.4 gigahertz. There also are six gigabytes of RAM under the hood.

The same hardware combination also can be found within the same-priced Motorola Edge. The test results from our laboratory are similar: Our test PDF file loads and renders the LG in a uniform 4.8 seconds, within the PCMark benchmark it's somewhat inferior with 8,003 points.

Our practical test, on the opposite hand, is somewhat divided. The manufacturer provided us with two Velvet test devices.With one among the smartphones, we frequently experience stutters and non-circular animations, here and there you'll also notice longer commemoration seconds, especially once you start apps. On the opposite test model with the identical software version, there are not any such delays. Apparently it's a software problem that would be solved with an update, since the hardware combination has already proven to be solid several times.

Three camera lenses, but no optical stabilization

The very minimalistically designed camera setup consists of three individual lenses. The rather prominently placed main camera of the LG Velvet snaps with 48 megapixels in resolution, but by default, images resolve with 12 megapixels thanks to pixel binning technology. Accordingly, the software calculates four recorded image pixels to make a final pixel. there's also an ultra wide-angle sensor and a bokeh lens for depth of field information.

Unfortunately, LG completely dispenses with an optical image stabilizer, so taking pictures and filming without a tripod requires a gentle hand to stay the shots as freed from shakes as possible. The video shoot works consistent with the built-in processor with a resolution of up to 4K at 30 frames per second. We recommend changing the video quality to Full HD with 60 frames per second within the settings for a more fluid recording, since the display of the LG only shows a maximum of FHD anyway.

The best camera in a mid-range cell phone in daylight

The camera takes remarkably good pictures under good lighting conditions. Although the software sharply sharpens the result, the pictures are very detailed and there's no noise in the least . In our test, the Velvet clothed to be the simplest photo telephone during this category for fewer than 600 euros; within the subjective assessment of our laboratory tester, it even ranks among the three best photo smartphones on the market at the instant .

However, the tide turns under difficult lighting conditions. the ultimate image quality depends extraordinarily strongly on whether you're taking pictures together with your blank check or use a tripod to require the image . within the latter case, the pictures still show a remarkably sizeable amount of details, a generally excellent image quality for difficult lighting conditions. But if you snap the photos from your blank check , the pictures suddenly appear as if from another cell phone: Very strong image noise, a touch insufficient sharpness and still an excessive amount of sharpening characterize the results. Our advice: after sunset, you ought to stabilize the velvet with any surface while taking pictures.

Price and equipment

The LG Velvet is priced at 599 euros. However, the scope of delivery is somewhat small: In addition to the smartphone itself, only the weak power adapter, a USB-C cable and a SIM card tool are included. A screen protector, a case or even a pair of headphones are not an option here.