Cameras are often a hot topic for new smartphones. Manufacturers almost always focus on some kind of new sensor, more megapixels, bigger pixels, sharper lenses that take in more light or some advanced new software that enables users to do things they’ve never done before. Last year LG changed up the game with the V10, a phone that was mostly marketed toward creative professionals and bloggers alike, sporting sensors that could take incredible pictures, lenses that could grab angles most phones could only dream of, and software that was miles ahead of the competition on a pure feature set level.
This year LG is turning up the heat with the LG V20, a phone that walks in the footsteps of its predecessor and stretches the boundaries set by the V10 in almost every way. Sporting a brand new metal body and a total of four cameras, the V20 is rugged enough to be lugged around in the harshest of environments, yet sports lenses and camera sensors powerful enough to get the job done in almost any condition. On the back you’ll find a 16-megapixel sensor with a 78-degree angle f/1.8 lens, and right next to it an 8-megapixel 135-degree wide-angle lens with f/2.4 aperture. The front of the phone sports dual 5-megapixel cameras, one with an 83-degree angle lens for regular selfies, and one with a wide-angle 120-degree lens for catching the whole group at once, both with f/1.9 aperture lenses.
These cameras are paired with software that’s essentially a tweaked version of the LG V10’s software, not a completely redesigned one. The LG V20’s camera software not only enables users to quickly launch it and take a picture or record a video in 2 seconds flat, but it also allows for more advanced things like changing between lenses and cameras on the fly. LG is bringing back that directional audio, this time around in high-definition 24-bit quality, as well as introducing some new “film types” for recording video with filters. These filters look more like real film than an Instagram filter though, and help forward the idea that the LG V20 is designed for creative types first. Check out the hands on below for photo and video samples, and don’t forget to check out our hands on overview of the phone as well!