LG V40 packs in a bunch of cameras and a big screen

At a New York launch event, LG unveiled the V40. Packed with premium hardware, the V40 has a total of five cameras and a price tag that ranges from $900-$980 depending on the US carrier (we'll update with UK and Australia pricing when we get it, but for now that converts to about £693-£754 and AU$1,254-AU$1,366).

For more, read CNET's LG V40 review.  

While there are many dual-rear camera phones, and future phones are expected to add even more (the recent Huawei P20 Pro, for example, has four total) the V40 is one of the first widely available phones to have five altogether.

The phone has a generous 6.4-inch screen, but it's quite comfortable to hold. It's noticeably lighter and narrower than the iPhone XS Max and Galaxy Note 9, and I had an easier time holding it.

Unlike LG's G7 flagship, the V40 has an OLED screen. Whites don't look as intensely bright as they do on the G7's LCD display, but other colors are still vibrant and the V40's blacks are especially inky and dark.

Below the volume rocker on the left edge is a Google Assistant hotkey button. With Assistant, you can set reminders, check the weather and carry out some more specific actions, like taking a photo with the wide-angle camera or launching the AI camera. (Unfortunately, short of toggling the hotkey off altogether, the button isn't re-programmable.)

A closer look at the phone's thin bezels.

If you don't like the V40's screen cutout, you can blacken the sides that flank the tab to have a traditional-looking alert bar. With certain apps though, like the Chrome browser, the notch reappears for whatever reason and hides again when you return to the homescreen.

With an IP68 rating for water resistance, the V40 can survive in 1 meter (about 3.3 feet) of water for up to 30 minutes. After my dunk tests, when I submerged the phone for 28 minutes in a 5-gallon bucket of water twice, the phone kept on ticking fine.  

A rare find in premium phones these days, the V40 has a port for your wired headphones. No need to carry a dongle or connect via Bluetooth.  

The phone's rear camera setup includes a 12-megapixel standard lens with optical image stabilization, a 16-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with 2X zoom.

With a wide-angle lens, you can take photos with a wide field-of-view to fit more content in each frame. The telephoto lens is useful for zooming in and it helps take dramatic, bokeh-style portraits.    

A closer look at the V40's rear cameras.

On the front are a 5-megapixel and an 8-megapixel camera. Together they take portrait shots as well, and you can adjust the background blur after you take a photo.

The cameras also features Google Lens to look up objects and landmarks, and native AI-features that optimize camera settings and are a part of LG's ThinQ branding for devices.

If you love photography, the V40 is worth considering for its versatile shooting options and high-end specs. But if you're more of a casual user, the phone can be a bit overwhelming to use.   

Also keep in mind that other Android phones, including the Pixel 3 and OnePlus 6T, are expected right around the corner. If you can, wait a bit – then weigh all your options after October.

For more, read CNET's LG V40 review.