The LG V10 has a screen unlike anything we've seen. Yes, we've seen second screens before, however, this one is one display panel one corner of which has been cut off. And it has a second display driver and backlight, specifically for that upper portion of the panel that works as a second screen.
This allows it to show an image and track touch input with minimal power draw, which in turn enables some helpful controls you can access without having to wake the phone (like muting the sound or turning on a flashlight). It also keeps you abreast with any new notifications - instead of color coded messages from a notification light you get to see the app's icon.
On paper the screen of the LG V10 seems to be powered by the same technology as the one on the LG G4, but it actually has a higher contrast ratio (1490:1). The maximum brightness level is somewhat lower (432nits vs 532nits) but the black levels are much lower resulting in the improved ratio.
Display test
50% brightness
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
LG V10
0.07
100
1449
0.29
432
1490
LG G4
0.09
108
1240
0.43
532
1238
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
0.00
172
∞
-
410
∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ max auto
-
-
-
-
540
-
OnePlus Two
0.16
180
1139
0.30
399
1334
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
0.10
150
1563
0.43
590
1382
In terms of color accuracy, both screens are pretty much identical with overall good scores (Avg deltaE 4.9 and Max deltaE of 10.7 for the primary colors plus black and white). LG hasn't provided any ways for you to adjust the screen color temperature to their liking otherwise we could have achieved a more color accurate result with a slightly warmer setting.
The LG V10 screen shares the amazingly low minimum brightness level of only 3.9nits that we first saw on the LG G4, which means it will go quite easy on the eyes when you use the phone in pitch dark settings.
Going outside of such murky areas, the LG V10 screen offers above average legibility at max brightness. Since the brightness slider is all too eager to reduce the nits you'll want to keep it in the upper half.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Nokia 808 PureView 4.698
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ 4.615
Samsung Galaxy E7 4.485
HTC One A9 4.274
Samsung Galaxy A3 4.241
Samsung Galaxy S6 4.124
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 4.124
Samsung Galaxy Note5 4.09
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 4.033
Apple iPhone 5 3.997
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 3.997
Samsung Galaxy A5 3.895
Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor 3.879
Samsung Galaxy A8 3.859
Apple iPhone 6 3.838
Motorola Moto X (2014) 3.816
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 3.799
Apple iPhone 6s 3.783
Vivo X5Pro 3.706
Samsung Galaxy A7 3.679
Oppo R5 3.678
Samsung Galaxy K zoom 3.675
Nokia Lumia 930 3.567
Apple iPhone 5s 3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5 3.549
Nokia Lumia 735 3.547
Motorola Nexus 6 3.543
Apple iPhone 6s Plus 3.53
Alcatel Idol X+ 3.527
Apple iPhone 5c 3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 3.509
Oppo R7 Plus 3.499
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo 3.487
vivo X5Max 3.472
LG G Flex2 3.465
YotaPhone 2 3.453
Samsung Galaxy J7 3.422
Motorola RAZR MAXX 3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 3.419
Meizu MX5 3.416
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active 3.406
Nokia Lumia 925 3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5 3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 3.352
Oppo R7 3.32
Samsung Omnia W 3.301
Motorola Moto X Play 3.222
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S 3.155
Samsung Ativ S 3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini 3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom 3.118
Nokia N9 3.069
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL 3.065
Apple iPhone 6 Plus 3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note 2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier 2.958
Sony Xperia Z1 2.95
HTC One S 2.901
Lenovo S90 Sisley 2.892
Sony Xperia Z5 2.876
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express 2.861
BlackBerry Q10 2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II 2.832
Sony Xperia Z3+ 2.824
HTC Desire Eye 2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1 2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus 2.801
BlackBerry Z30 2.79
Sony Xperia Z5 compact 2.784
Meizu MX4 Pro 2.765
LG V10 2.744
Sony Xperia M5 2.69
Sony Xperia ZR 2.672
Huawei Ascend P1 2.655
Xiaomi Mi 4i 2.641
Sony Xperia Z3 2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 2.616
Sony Xperia T3 2.609
BlackBerry Passport 2.595
Xiaomi Mi 4c 2.574
Microsoft Lumia 640 2.563
Nokia Lumia 900 2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G 2.546
HTC One Max 2.537
Nokia Lumia 720 2.512
HTC One 2.504
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua 2.503
Motorola Moto G 2.477
vivo Xshot 2.465
Sony Xperia Z 2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4 2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro 2.416
LG G Flex 2.407
Huawei Honor 7 2.406
ZUK Z1 by Lenovo 2.382
HTC Desire 820 2.372
HTC One (M8) 2.371
Motorola RAZR i 2.366
Meizu MX4 2.366
Meizu m1 note 2.362
Sony Xperia ZL 2.352
HTC One M9 2.334
LG G4 2.317
Samsung Galaxy Note II 2.307
HTC One E9+ 2.305
HTC One (M8) for Windows 2.291
Oppo R1x 2.281
Oppo Find 7a 2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero 2.272
Apple iPhone 4S 2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim 2.262
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra 2.253
Nokia Asha 311 2.25
Sony Xperia C4 Dual 2.235
Xiaomi Mi Note 2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014) 2.233
LG Nexus 5 2.228
Huawei P8 2.196
Nokia Lumia 820 2.193
HTC One (E8) 2.185
Oppo N3 2.181
Nokia Lumia 920 2.17
Huawei Honor 6 2.169
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 2.166
OnePlus Two 2.165
HTC One X 2.158
Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML 2.149
LG Aka 2.145
Nokia N8 2.144
Nokia Lumia 620 2.142
Archos 50 Diamond 2.134
Nokia 515 2.134
HTC Desire 500 2.129
Sony Xperia C3 Dual 2.12
Sony Xperia acro S 2.119
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020 2.103
Oppo Find 5 2.088
Huawei P8lite 2.078
Sony Xperia SL 2.078
Nokia Lumia 630 2.056
BlackBerry Z10 2.051
Moto G 3rd gen max manual 2.026
Huawei Ascend Mate7 2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active 2.022
Apple iPhone 4 2.016
HTC One mini 2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3 2.001
Huawei Ascend P7 1.992
LG G2 1.976
Sony Xperia E4g 1.972
OnePlus One 1.961
Oppo R819 1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray 1.955
Lenovo Vibe X2 1.952
Sony Xperia Z2 1.944
Sony Xperia E3 1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320 1.941
HTC One mini 2 1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera 1.938
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime 1.935
Sony Xperia J 1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500 1.931
ZTE Blade S6 1.927
LG Nexus 4 1.926
LG G Pro 2 1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 1.913
Nokia Asha 308 1.911
HTC Butterfly 2 1.905
Sony Xperia T 1.894
Meizu m2 note 1.892
BlackBerry Leap 1.892
Nokia Lumia 830 1.887
HTC Desire X 1.878
HTC Windows Phone 8X 1.873
HTC Butterfly 1.873
HTC Butterfly S 1.867
Huawei Ascend P6 1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate 1.845
LG G2 mini 1.838
LG G3 1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520 1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim 1.797
Sony Xperia V 1.792
HTC Desire 816 1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim 1.769
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini 1.759
Sony Xperia U 1.758
Meizu MX3 1.754
LG Optimus G 1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra 1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact 1.735
Acer Liquid Jade S 1.734
Sony Xperia SP 1.733
Oppo Find 7 1.691
LG Optimus 4X HD 1.691
HTC One V 1.685
BlackBerry Q5 1.682
Asus Zenfone Selfie 1.68
LG Optimus Vu 1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) 1.675
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9 1.672
LG Optimus GJ 1.666
ZTE Nubia Z9 1.659
LG Optimus 3D Max 1.658
HTC Desire V 1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 1.622
Microsoft Lumia 532 1.615
Jolla Jolla 1.605
Microsoft Lumia 435 1.598
Sony Xperia Z Ultra 1.578
Sony Xperia go 1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160 1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core 1.563
LG Optimus G Pro 1.552
Motorola Moto E 1.545
LG Optimus 3D 1.542
Nokia Asha 302 1.537
Samsung Galaxy Core Prime 1.507
BlackBerry Curve 9320 1.488
Sony Xperia M 1.473
Oppo N1 1.47
Sony Xperia E4 1.467
Meizu MX 4-core 1.462
Nokia Lumia 610 1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 1.4
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo 1.393
Microsoft Lumia 535 1.393
Sony Xperia M2 1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 1.38
Sony Xperia E1 1.372
Nokia Lumia 625 1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355 1.361
Sony Xperia L 1.351
Xiaomi Redmi 1S 1.35
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 1.35
HTC Desire 510 1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua 1.331
Sony Xperia miro 1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand 1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 1.315
Xiaomi Redmi 2 1.311
HTC Desire C 1.3
Nokia X 1.291
Sony Xperia C 1.283
Nokia Asha 503 1.281
Nokia Asha 501 1.27
LG Optimus L7 1.269
Nokia Lumia 510 1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame 1.245
LG Optimus L9 1.227
Meizu MX 1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young 1.22
Sony Xperia E 1.215
Nokia XL 1.204
Sony Xperia E dual 1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C 1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 1.18
Nokia Asha 305 1.178
Nokia Asha 306 1.175
Sony Xperia neo L 1.169
Sony Xperia tipo 1.166
Nokia Lumia 520 1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos 1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2 1.114
Connectivity
The LG V10 has all the connectivity goodies save for a dual-SIM option. It comes in GSM and CDMA flavors (the latter will happily work on GSM networks if the bands match up). The fastest mobile data option is 300Mbps LTE Cat. 6 and you get 42Mbps on 3G.
Locally, the situation is pretty familiar with Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac bearing most of the load with Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA add-ons. For low-power connectivity there's Bluetooth 4.1 LE with the apt-X audio codec.
NFC is on-board so the V10 is compatible with Android Pay (LG is rumored to be working on its own system too). You get the benefit of fingerprint security too.
Anyway, our unit came with DMB-T TV tuner, though this is a regional thing. All regions will get the IR blaster for TV control though.
The wired microUSB 2.0 port handles USB storage and TV out (SlimPort, but it seems that not all regional versions support it).
On the software side you get a DLNA server support and Miracast, plus a number of LG-specific features. One is SmartShare Beam (transferring files between LG devices) and LG AirDrive, which does the same but with a computer (you need an LG account).
Battery life
The LG G2 with its 5.2" screen had a 3,000mAh battery, then the G3 with a 5.5" screen, the G4 and now the LG V10. The V10 is slightly thinner than the G2 (8.6mm vs. 8.9mm), but not by much. What we're getting at is that the internal volume has gone up while the battery capacity hasn't changed in over two years now.
LG rates the V10's talk time at 18 hours and about as much, close to 17 hours. Even the G2 did better than this. The web browsing and video playback times are average. Nothing spectacular when you consider the screen was at a modest 100 nits (well below average).
As a result the endurance rating works out to 56 hours, just over two full days. The standby power draw is fairly low, but that's with the second screen off. Turning it on brings the LG V10 down to 46 hours endurance rating. The impact is fairly small, with or without the second screen you'll get two days of moderate usage and one day of heavier usage.
Note that we're testing a Korean unit, LG says that international units units will perform better in Europe and the US as they should be better optimized for the local networks.
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