Introduction
If you’re in the market for a new flagship, chances you are considering at least one of these two smartphones, if not both of them. The LG V40 ThinQ and OnePlus 6T are both quite compelling offerings, and current flagship devices of its respective companies. The LG V40 ThinQ is still more expensive than the OnePlus 6T, but the difference is not huge, so you may want to pay some extra if you’re into the V40 ThinQ more. That being said, we’re here to compare these two smartphones, and as per usual, we’ll go over several categories in this comparison, as we do in our other comparisons, as we cannot possibly compare every aspect of the two devices, but the main pillars should be compared. Having said that, we’ll start by simply listing their specifications, and move on from there.
Specifications
Design
In terms of the design, these two phones are actually quite similar, at least when it comes to the general shape and their look from the front. Both phones are made out of metal and glass, and both are curved quite a bit on the sides of their back to fit in the hand better. Speaking of which, both of them are actually quite slippery, as these are glass phones after all. On the front they also look quite similar, both have tiny “chins” below the display, really thin bezels in general, and notches at the top, though truth be said, the OnePlus 6T’s notch is a lot smaller than the LG V40 ThinQ’s, as OnePlus opted to utilize a waterdrop notch instead of a regular one on this phone. The company did sacrifice an LED notification light in order to do it, however, the LG V40 ThinQ still features it. The back side is also different on the two devices, at least as far as the looks are concerned. The V40 ThinQ comes with horizontally-aligned cameras, and a rear-facing fingerprint scanner, while the OnePlus 6T sports vertically-aligned cameras, and no fingerprint scanner on the back, its fingerprint scanner is included under the display. All in all, the OnePlus 6T does look better, its notch is a lot smaller, while the back side on the OnePlus 6T looks much cleaner than what the V40 ThinQ has to offer, so we’ll give this one to the OnePlus 6T, even though the two devices have similar in-hand feel, and a similar footprint.
Winner: OnePlus 6T
Display
The LG V40 ThinQ and OnePlus 6T have displays of a similar size, the V40 ThinQ’s panel measures 6.4 inches in diagonal, while the OnePlus 6T comes with a 6.41-inch display. On top of that, both of these panels use OLED technology, the V40 ThinQ sports a P-OLED display, while the OnePlus 6T comes with an Optic AMOLED panel. These two displays also offer the same display aspect ratio, 19.5:9, but the V40 ThinQ’s display offers a considerably higher resolution at 3120 x 1440 (537 ppi), while the OnePlus 6T has a resolution of 2340 x 1080 (402 ppi). The V40 ThinQ’s panel is also HDR10 and Dolby Vision compatible, which is not the case with the OnePlus 6T’s panel. The OnePlus 6T’s display does come protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 6, though, while the V40 ThinQ offers Gorilla Glass 5. Both displays offer punchy, contrasty colors, and are generally really good, with really solid viewing angles. There’s not much to complain about here, as the OnePlus 6T holds up brilliantly next to the V40 ThinQ despite its lower resolution, but due to HDR 10 compatibility and higher resolution, we’ll give this one to the V40 ThinQ, even though both displays are compelling and closely-matched.
Winner: LG V40 ThinQ
Performance
Performance is often one of the main aspects of a smartphone, which is completely normal, because if a phone does not perform as it should, its specifications don’t mean much. Well, you’ll be glad to know that neither of these phones has issues in that department, but the OnePlus 6T pulls ahead in this regard, that’s for sure. The LG V40 ThinQ comes with LG’s UX Android overlay which is heavier than OnePlus’ OxygenOS, and it also seems slightly less optimized in day-to-day use. The OnePlus 6T is currently considered to be one of the fastest Android smartphones in the market, if not the fastest one, its software is highly-optimized, while the phone also has way less pixels to push than the V40 ThinQ, due to its lower display resolution. Both of these phones will perform admirably in day-to-day usage, but if you’re getting a phone due to its performance speed and notice such differences, the OnePlus 6T is the phone for you.
Winner: OnePlus 6T
Battery Life
Heavy smartphone users will definitely want to know what’s the battery life situation on both phones, well, if battery life is what you’re after, the OnePlus 6T is a better bet here. The two phones include the same display size, while the OnePlus 6T’s display comes with a noticeably lower resolution… and a much larger battery. Add software optimizations on top of that, and you’ll get a much better performance in terms of battery, and thus you’ll be able to get much more battery life during the day than on the V40 ThinQ. The LG V40 ThinQ comes with a rather small 3,300mAh battery, which is not small per se, but considering its display size and resolution, plus LG’s UX software, it just doesn’t cut it, at least not for heavy users. The V40 ThinQ’s battery life is not exactly an improvement over the G7 ThinQ’s battery life, and the G7 ThinQ had a smaller battery pack on the inside, so… all in all, if you’re in it for the battery, get the OnePlus 6T, despite the fact it does not offer wireless charging, it will provide you with more stamina in terms of battery, and much faster wired charging on top of that.
Winner: OnePlus 6T
Cameras
When it comes to cameras, you can’t go wrong with either one of these two, to be quite honest, though the V40 ThinQ will offer you a bit more versatility due to its sensors. Having said that, they both shoot great images in daylight, not much difference there, but things get interesting in low light, of course. In some shots, the V40 ThinQ will own the OnePlus 6T and offer better colors, while in others, the 6T will balance an image a lot better, and correct V40 ThinQ’s yellowness which occurs due to street lights and similar objects. In the video department, the OnePlus 6T offers a more stable video, while the V40 ThinQ’s packs more options when it comes to video, and can look better in low light, though it all depends on the situation. LG’s camera app is still quite bloated, and OnePlus’ solution is better, in our opinion, if you care about that sort of thing. So, as you can see, both phones offer great cameras, and it would take us a lot of time to go deep into specifics, but it’s a toss-up between the two from one scenario to the other, and thus we cannot really pick a clear winner here.
Winner: Tie
Conclusion
As is usually the case, we cannot fit everything into these comparisons, and some things get left out, of course. We did not cover audio in the categories above, so it’s worth noting that the V40 ThinQ comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack, while that is not the case with the OnePlus 6T. The V40 ThinQ also offers stereo recording, and is IP68 certified for water and dust resistance, while the OnePlus 6T does not offer official certification, but the company said it will be fine during rain or something of the sort, so it has some water protection. Now, the OnePlus 6T does not offer wireless charging compared to the V40 ThinQ, but it does support faster wired charging than the V40 ThinQ’s Quick Charge 3.0. Both phones pack in Bluetooth 5.0 support, and both include two SIM card slots, though the V40 ThinQ is available in a single SIM setup as well. All in all, the OnePlus 6T is a winner in our book, based on everything, but the V40 ThinQ does have its advantages, of course, so it may be a better option for you, it all depends on what you need in a smartphone.
Winner: OnePlus 6T