GSMArena team, 16 November 2018

LG V40 ThinQ review

3. Lab tests - display, battery life, loudspeaker, audio quality

LG's OLED is not bad, but other OLEDs are better

The V40 has the largest display LG's put on a V-series phone. It's got a 6.4-inch diagonal and a 1,440x3,120px resolution in a taller-than-most 19.5:9 aspect ratio, while pixel density works out to 537ppi.

The display has rounded corners, like LG did first on the G6 beating everyone to it. There's a notch up top cutting into the pixels too and if you're the glass-half-full type of person you could adopt LG's interpretation by calling the horns the phone's Second screen and appreciate the extra screen estate. When it comes to notches though, being the bitter reviewers that we are, our glass might just be half empty.

The V40 pumped out 323nits in manual brightness mode, but the number shot up to almost precisely twice that in auto mode - so, one of the dimmer OLEDs when you're in control, but as bright as the other big-name rivals if you rely on the ambient light sensor. The G7 can shine even brighter, but it's packing an LCD and conventional wisdom says LCDs are brighter than OLEDs.

As we've come to expect from non-Samsung OLEDs, the one on the V40 does produce some very minor illumination in blacks, ruining what should theoretically be infinite contrast. In other words, the pixels showing black are never really completely turned off and emit some light. While it's safe to say you won't be noticing it, it does raise a couple of questions along the lines of 'if Samsung can do it, why can't LG?' and also 'are those slightly lit up black pixels consuming any meaningful amounts of energy?'.

Display test	100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
LG V30	0.002	414	207000
LG V30 (Max Auto)	0.032	616	19250
LG V40 ThinQ	0.002	323	161500
LG V40 ThinQ (Max Auto)	0.008	638	79750
LG G7 ThinQ	0.225	460	2044
LG G7 ThinQ (outdoor)	0.499	920	1844
Apple iPhone XS Max	0	653	∞
Apple iPhone XR	0.425	700	1647
Samsung Galaxy S9+	0	376	∞
Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Max Auto)	0	631	∞
Samsung Galaxy Note9	0	367	∞
Samsung Galaxy Note9 (Max Auto)	0	658	∞
Google Pixel 3	0	426	∞
HTC U12+	0.2	366	1830
HTC U12+ (Max Auto)	0.214	389	1818
Sony Xperia XZ3	0	442	∞
Sony Xperia XZ3 (Max Auto)	0	620	∞
Huawei Mate 20 Pro	0.002	508	254000
Huawei Mate 20 Pro (Max Auto)	0.003	657	219000
Xiaomi Mi 8	0	458	∞
Xiaomi Mi 8 (Max Auto)	0.002	624	312000

Once we got past those musings, we took the V40 out in the sun (or rather, inside the lab, under our test lighting). It achieves very good contrast levels, though it's still that little bit behind the industry leaders. It is a step up from the V30 though, so that is nice.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Apple iPhone XS
5.171
Apple iPhone X
5.013
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
4.965
OnePlus 5T
4.789
Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768
Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658
Samsung Galaxy S9
4.63
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615
Samsung Galaxy S9+
4.537
Samsung Galaxy Note9
4.531
Apple iPhone XS Max
4.516
Sony Xperia XZ3
4.502
Motorola Moto Z2 Play
4.459
Oppo R11
4.454
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439
OnePlus 3
4.424
Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376
Google Pixel 3
4.35
OnePlus 6
4.321
HTC One A9
4.274
LG V40 ThinQ
4.256
Oppo R15 Pro
4.251
Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247
Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241
Nokia 8
4.239
Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
4.234
OnePlus 3T
4.232
Google Pixel XL
4.164
ZTE Axon 7
4.154
Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148
Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147
OnePlus 6T
4.138
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124
vivo V11
4.113
Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096
Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09
Huawei P20 Pro
4.087
Xiaomi Mi 8
4.086
Meizu 15
4.082
Nokia 6 (2018)
4.052
Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023
LG V30
4.022
Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019
vivo NEX S
4.012
Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998
OnePlus X
3.983
Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983
LG G7 ThinQ (outdoor)
3.978
Oppo R7s
3.964
Apple iPhone 7
3.964
Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957
Huawei P9 Plus
3.956
Oppo Find X
3.954
Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935
Lenovo Moto Z
3.931
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918
OnePlus 5
3.914
Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911
Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
3.901
Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896
Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895
Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879
Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873
Motorola Moto G6 Plus
3.865
Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
3.842
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Microsoft Lumia 950XL
3.837
Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
3.834
Sony Xperia XZs
3.818
Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817
Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802
Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798
LG V20 Max auto
3.798
Sony Xperia XZ
3.795
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789
Apple iPhone 6s
3.783
Meizu Pro 5
3.781
Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772
Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767
Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756
Nokia 8 Sirocco
3.745
Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729
Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725
Oppo F1 Plus
3.709
Vivo X5Pro
3.706
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688
Huawei P20
3.683
Apple iPhone SE
3.681
Huawei Mate 9
3.68
Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679
Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
3.675
Meizu PRO 6
3.659
BlackBerry Priv
3.645
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588
Sony Xperia XZ2
3.58
LG G6
3.556
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53
Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523
Acer Jade Primo
3.521
Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512
Oppo R7 Plus
3.499
Nokia 7 plus
3.479
nubia Z11
3.466
Huawei P10 Plus
3.456
HTC U Ultra
3.453
Motorola Moto G6
3.448
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
3.445
Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
3.445
Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422
Motorola Moto G6 Play
3.419
Meizu MX5
3.416
LG V20
3.402
Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
3.397
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
3.393
LG G7 ThinQ
3.39
Huawei P10
3.379
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378
Oppo R9s
3.352
Honor Play
3.349
Honor 8 Pro
3.341
Oppo F7
3.333
Oppo R7
3.32
Lenovo P2
3.316
Archos Diamond Omega
3.305
Honor 9
3.289
Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276
Nokia 5
3.261
Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244
Xiaomi Mi 5
3.24
Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238
Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235
Oppo Realme 2 Pro
3.235
Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228
Motorola Moto X Play
3.222
Oppo F3 Plus
3.218
BlackBerry KEY2
3.212
Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206
Huawei P9
3.195
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19
ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159
Oppo R11s
3.153
Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113
Honor 8X
3.113
HTC U11 Life
3.108
Motorola Moto X Force
3.105
LG Nexus 5X
3.092
HTC U11
3.089
Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
3.087
HTC U12+
3.085
Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
3.077
Huawei Mate S
3.073
Oppo F9
3.069
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065
Xiaomi Mi Max 3
3.061
Xiaomi Pocophone F1
3.059
Huawei Mate 20
3.052
Huawei Mate 20 Lite
3.051
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Asus Zenfone 4 ZE554KL
3.019
Sony Xperia XA1
3.012
Motorola Moto X4
3.012
Oppo Realme 2
3.006
Sony Xperia L1
2.994
Sony Xperia X
2.989
LG Q6
2.987
Huawei P10 Lite
2.974
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
2.966
Huawei P20 Lite
2.952
Xiaomi Redmi 5
2.951
Huawei Mate 8
2.949
Sony Xperia XA2
2.938
Oppo Realme 1
2.932
Razer Phone 2
2.932
Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92
Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913
Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
2.913
Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906
LG G5
2.905
Huawei Honor View 10
2.896
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884
Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877
Sony Xperia Z5
2.876
Nokia 3
2.871
Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
2.867
Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851
Nokia 3.1
2.837
Lenovo Moto M
2.813
Nokia 7.1
2.804
Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803
Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784
Honor 10 (Vivid)
2.757
Nokia 2
2.752
Meizu MX6
2.751
LG V10
2.744
Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742
Motorola Moto G5S Plus
2.737
Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735
Sony Xperia XA
2.609
Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582
Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582
Meizu M5s
2.58
Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574
LeEco Le Max 2
2.567
Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563
Huawei P Smart
2.563
Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561
HTC U11+
2.556
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
2.556
Lenovo Moto G4
2.544
Lenovo K6 Note
2.544
Oppo F1
2.528
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525
Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503
BlackBerry Motion
2.494
Oppo F1s
2.481
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473
Huawei G8
2.471
Huawei nova
2.467
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459
Meizu m3 max
2.447
Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424
Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
2.417
HTC 10 evo
2.407
Huawei Honor 7
2.406
Vivo V7
2.404
Sony Xperia E5
2.386
ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382
HTC 10
2.378
Oppo F3
2.376
vivo V5 Plus
2.371
Meizu m1 note
2.362
Huawei nova plus
2.329
Razer Phone
2.328
LG Nexus 5
2.228

The V40 has lot of customization options when it comes to color reproduction - so many, in fact, that they are too many. There's an Automatic mode, and then there are presets named Game, Sports, Cinema, Photo, and Web, and then there's an Expert setting where you can fool around with hue, saturation and sharpness. Meanwhile, in both the Automatic and Expert modes, you can additionally adjust the color temperature and then separately the amount of red, green and blue with sliders.

We couldn't get a particularly accurate rendition of any color space no matter which preset we picked, though things aren't that bad. The Web preset got us an average DeltaE of 3.7 against an sRGB target, where Automatic couldn't go below 4.8. We expected Photo to be tuned for AdobeRGB, but we measured a 5.6 average DeltaE, whereas we got 4.4 in the same mode against a DCI-P3 target. Which we figured would be best rendered in the Cinema mode, only we got an average DeltaE of 5.0 there.

Perhaps, if you have your hands on a colorimeter and you're so inclined, you could play around with the sliders and get better results. In our book, however, the display presets should be factory tuned for color accuracy and the sliders are only there for you to mess with the settings if you wish - not the other way around.

LG V40 ThinQ battery life

The V40 ThinQ is equipped with a 3,300mAh battery, which is on the small side for the class and screen size. The Galaxy S9+ has a 3,500mAh cell, while the Mate 20 Pro packs in a whopping 4,200mAh. Then again, the V30 had the same 3,300mAh and the G7's battery is only rated at 3,000mAh, so it's just that LG doesn't like big batteries, and that's that.

Well it doesn't like excessively long battery life either, as it turns out. The V40 managed an unimpressive 8 hours on our Wi-Fi browsing test and a decent 10+ hours of looping videos, but the S9+'s respective numbers were 11:15h and 16:45, while the Mate 20 Pro clocked in at 13:57 and 15:22, so... The V40 did also last us a little short of 22 hours on a 3G call, where the other two could still do a few extra hours.

In the end, the V40 ThinQ posted an overall Endurance rating of 64 hours - far from stellar.

Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the LG V40 ThinQ for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Going the other way around, the V40 takes 1:53h for a full charge from flat with the bundled charger, while a 30-minute stint will leave you with 40%. Pretty standard QuickCharge numbers then. It is also compatible with the Power Delivery standard where you can expect practically the same speed. Fast wireless charging is also supported, including the 15W extended protocol, but we didn't have a compatible pad to test it with.

Loudspeaker

The V40 ThinQ has a weird loudspeaker setup. There's a primary loudspeaker on the bottom, but the earpiece also gives off some sound although it's not strictly another channel. In any case its contribution is minor, at best.

The bottom one on the other hand uses the empty space inside the phone as a chamber to achieve a deeper and supposedly louder sound. The first we can confirm, the second was sort of proven by our sound meter, which placed the V40 in the 'Very Good' bracket - similar to the V30, but quieter than the G7.

Speakerphone test	Voice, dB	Pink noise/ Music, dB	Ringing phone, dB	Overall score
OnePlus 6	70.2	74.7	70.0	Good
Honor Play	68.3	73.8	75.8	Good
BlackBerry KEY2	66.5	72.0	79.8	Good
LG V40 ThinQ	68.2	74.1	77.4	Very Good
Samsung Galaxy S9+	68.4	74.0	80.1	Very Good
Xiaomi Mi 8	68.1	72.3	82.2	Very Good
LG V30	66.9	72.3	84.5	Very Good
OnePlus 6T	67.2	72.5	84.5	Very Good
Huawei Mate 20 Pro	70.3	73.4	83.8	Very Good
Apple iPhone XS Max	70.5	74.0	84.7	Excellent
Sony Xperia XZ3	71.0	75.4	82.9	Excellent
Google Pixel 3	77.5	71.7	81.1	Excellent
Apple iPhone XR	76.9	74.8	79.3	Excellent
LG G7 ThinQ	78.3	76.4	82.3	Excellent
HTC U12+ (Music)	76.0	73.6	88.5	Excellent
HTC U12+ (Theatre)	77.0	73.8	91.1	Excellent

Audio quality

The LG V40 ThinQ really impressed us with its audio output. We've only seen a handful of phones through all those years that can deliver volume levels so high and the accuracy is top notch too. The scores were perfect with an active external amplifier and there was hardly any degradation caused by the headphones.

Enabling the Quad DAC option makes the output even louder, while retaining the flawless output. Great job, LG, the V40 ThinQ is certainly among the best musicians of the year..

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
LG V40 ThinQ	+0.01, -0.05	-93.3	92.7	0.0019	0.0072	-94.1
LG V40 ThinQ (headphones)	+0.04, -0.04	-93.1	92.4	0.0066	0.073	-68.4
LG V40 ThinQ (headphones, Quad DAC)	+0.03, -0.03	-92.3	91.4	0.0061	0.056	-69.8
Huawei Mate 20	+0.02, -0.16	-92.1	92.0	0.0017	0.013	-85.6
Huawei Mate 20 (headphones)	+0.07, -0.07	-92.1	92.4	0.0021	0.106	-66.5
OnePlus 6T	+0.03, -0.05	-93.4	93.3	0.0010	0.0070	-93.8
OnePlus 6T (headphones)	+0.17, -0.15	-93.2	93.1	0.0056	0.245	-61.1
Sony Xperia XZ3	+0.01, -0.02	-91.2	93.2	0.0024	0.0080	-88.7
Sony Xperia XZ3 (headphones)	+0.38, -0.21	-93.1	92.5	0.0049	0.233	-61.7
Samsung Galaxy Note9	+0.01, -0.03	-93.7	93.7	0.0017	0.0074	-94.1
Samsung Galaxy Note9 (headphones)	+0.03, -0.02	-93.6	93.5	0.0033	0.046	-93.2
HTC U12+	+0.02, -0.15	-94.3	94.3	0.0021	0.0069	-94.3
HTC U12+ (headphones)	+0.18, -0.13	-93.7	93.6	0.0024	0.104	-52.7

LG V40 ThinQ frequency response

You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.

Next Page » 4. User interface, performance

3. Lab tests - display, battery life, loudspeaker, audio quality

Reviews LG V40 ThinQ reviewPage 3