LG Velvet: LG shakes things up with new 5G phone

LG his newest 5G phone doesn't belong to any of the company's established lines. It looks different than all its other phones. And when it finally launches in the US, it's expected to be a lot more affordable than the LG G8 and the V16. Let's take a look at the new LG Velvet. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] The Velvet is LG signal that it's trying something new. It's not part of the company's G or V series or any of the other mid-range. Right now the phone is available in South Korea and LG is looking to launch the phone soon in the US for 600 to $700. Now because there's no official us pricing yet we don't have a final full rating. I was also only able to handle the Korean model of the phone so I could have checked out the 5g capabilities. Once LG releases us pricing though, check back with CNET and update my written review That being said, so far I will have to say that LG is heading towards a good direction. With it's tapered edges, sharper corners, and a vertical camera array, the Velvet doesn't look like other premium LG phones in years past. It's more sheek and it's narrower, slimmer, lighter and more comfortable to hold then the V60. And fear not wired headphone lovers, the Velvet still has a headphone jack. The phone has a sharp and vibrant 6.8 inch OED display. Its 60 hertz screen is common on most phones. But that's a lower refresh rate than competitors like the one plus eight, which has a 90 hertz display. Like other LG phones, the velvet works with a dual screen accessory that adds a second screen You can multitask and display two apps at the same time, or expand certain apps across both screens so they work together like a tablet. You can also set up one screen as a digital controller for some mobile games. Though LG didn't create a stylus specifically for the velvet, I was able to use one with the phone. I use way comms bamboo ink smart stylist and even though it's created for Windows 10 devices, I was able to use it just fine with a velvet. By clicking its built in button I could quickly call it LGs q memo plus app to jot down notes, doodle and even color in some pre loaded drawings. [MUSIC] The velvets triple camera setup take sharp and colorful photos. The eight megapixel wide angle camera lets you fit in more content within each frame. Pictures taken with a wide angle camera aren't as finely detailed as images captured on the standard camera. The camera has a digital zoom up to 10 X. At this level pictures were a lot blurrier and muddled. Some of the zoomed in photos I took were reminiscent of watercolors or Impressionist paintings and weren't very great to look at. Recording video was solid though it doesn't have optical image stabilization. The footage recorded while standing in one place turned out fine and the camera was able to readjust its focus and exposure quickly and it picked up audio clearly [MUSIC] The Velvet is powered by a variant of the Snapdragon 765 chipset that enables 5g connectivity. It's not as robust as Qualcomm's latest 865 processor, but it's what keeps the phone's price relatively lower than other flagships. Benchmark scores reflect this sort of middle of the pack position to. The level that didn't score as high as the lgv 60 and the one plus eight. It'd be out the Moto G stylus, and the G power which have a 665 chipset. Preliminary test for continuous video playback on airplane mode show that the velvets 4.3 ampere hour battery lasted 22 hours, and 38 minutes. This is a great battery life For comparison, the one plus eight which also has a 4.3 ampere hour battery clocked in 18 hours and 47 minutes. We're going to run more battery tests for streaming video and we'll update the review when those numbers are in As I said before LG is heading in a good direction and it's about time to because Samsung has overshadowed it for a long time. But there's room for improvement. With its relatively lower price the velvet faces competitors like the one plus eight. The recently announced Galaxy A 71. 5g and the Motorola edge All of which deliver great specs and 5G. Again, I can't make a full value judgment without a price. But from what I've seen so far, I still prefer something like the $700 one plus eight. It doesn't have a headphone jack or work with a dual screen accessory or even have as long as a battery life that I've seen with a velvet. But it does have a more powerful processor, a great camera, and a silky smooth screen with a higher refresh rate. Nonetheless, I still hope LG continues with the velvet or something similar while paying attention to other phones within this price bracket, just because this device isn't going against the Galaxy S20 doesn't mean that there are still plenty of other options. Out there. That's it for me. Let me know what you think in the comments below. And for more tech videos, check out the rest of cNet's channel. Be well stay healthy and I'll see you next time.