LG Velvet Review

The Velvet marks a change of pace for LG. Despite being the company's flagship device for the year, the Velvet is - for all intents and purposes - a midrange device. This is reflected in the hardware and cost, both of which are a step down from what you'd expect from a top-tier handset. $899 seems like a bargain next to the $1,999 asking price on Samsung's Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G.

A cheaper price-tag also means LG is no longer going toe-to-toe with the likes of Apple and Samsung in terms of hardware, but maybe that's not a bad thing. Despite its best efforts, LG consistently failed to make a dent against the Apple-Samsung duopoly and also found itself losing grounds to up-and-coming brands such as OPPO. A change in strategy was clearly needed.

It's not perfect, but the LG Velvet certainly represents a step in the right direction.

Asymmetry

From the get go, the Velvet looks a little dated. The teardrop notch design is straight out of 2018. That might not sound like that long about, but it's the equivalent of 87 months in smartphone years. (Yes, I know iPhones have a larger notch, but that's actually housing components other than a selfie camera.) A teardrop notch isn't inherently bad, but most other Android smartphones from this year have moved to a camera cut-out display.

It doesn't help that the design is uncomfortably asymmetrical. For one, the curvature of the notch is different to that of the bezel. And not only does the Velvet have noticeably more bezel surrounding the screen than other phones, the top and bottom bezel are noticeably thicker than the sides. This leads to visually jarring corners where the inner curve and outer curve are different shapes. These are then topped off with an aluminium frame that juts out, rather than sits flush to the body of the phone, creating another visual distraction. It's a disjointed mess.

The display itself is quite sizeable, measuring in at 6.8-inches. It also feels it. The phone is roughly the same width as an iPhone 11 Pro Max, but taller. This can make one-handed usage a struggle.

The LG Velvet is kitted out with three rear-facing cameras: a 48MP primary lens, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP depth lens. While it's certainly a serviceable setup, it's nothing to rave about. With enough light, the Velvet can take a great shot - as you'd hope from a $899 phone - but you start to run into issues in even slightly dim environments.

I took a few food snaps while out for dinner with mates, and out of six photos, only one was sharp. Every other image was subtly blurred or out of focus. The restaurant wasn't even that dark. Getting a crisp photo of a stationary object shouldn't be this hard. I'm sure I could have got a better snap if I noticed my photos weren't sharp, but at the same time, I wasn't exactly shooting a challenging scene. A dinner isn't the kind of environment you should need to check you got the shot you wanted.

Here's one of my failed attempts at food porn: 

The darker the environment, the worst your photos get. Images are prone to noticeable camera noise, and motion blur can also be an issue. In the shot below, the apartment to the right has a large amount of visible grain. 

And while the Velvet has a night mode, it doesn't do much. If a scene already has a light source - even if it's street lights or apartment windows - the effect will be negligible. In some cases a photo may be a little brighter or exhibit more dynamic range, the results are nothing to get excited about. 

The Velvet's ultra-wide lens is markedly worse than its primary, with images exhibiting less detail and a smaller dynamic range. Here's a shot from the primary camera:

And here's the corresponding shot from the ultra-wide lens:

It wouldn't be fair to call the Velvet camera awful, but it pales in comparison to the competition. The $599 Pixel 4a and $999 OPPO Find X2 Neo both do a better job at photography. If you care about cameras - and when you're spending this kind of money it should be a consideration - either is a better buy.

The Velvet is fine when it comes to day-to-day performance. It's certainly snappy enough, and it should comfortably last the day with a bit of a buffer.

Trimmings

While the LG Velvet doesn't have the same grade of hardware as top-tier phones and faces fierce competition in the same price bracket, it does have a couple of standout features. Specifically, IP68 water-resistance and wireless charging.

Both water-resistance and wireless charging tend to be the domain of pricier phones, and are incredibly rare at under $1,000. The new iPhone SE (and older discounted models) tend to be the only exception to this rule.

If we're looking at the current crop of higher-end sub-$1,000 Android phones, no other device has either water-resistance and wireless charging. The $999 OPPO Find X2 Neo, the $999 Motorola Edge, and the $749 TCL 10 Pro are all missing both features. If either is important to you, the LG Velvet could do the trick.

The Velvet also has a honest-to-god 3.5mm headphone jack, which is something you almost certainly won't find on a smartphone priced over $1,000 these days. Both the TCL 10 Pro and Motorola Edge both also have a traditional headphone jack, however.

LG Velvet - Final Thoughts

For the most part, I like the LG Velvet more for what it represents, rather for the phone it is. It's a promising foundation, but it's hard to shake the feeling that LG is playing catch-up. While it marks a new direction for the company, the Velvet feels dated in design and lags behind in camera performance.

The Velvet certainly isn't a bad phone, there's just very little that makes it standout. It's only defining features are water-resistance and wireless charging. Both are welcome at under $1,000 - they just might not be enough to base a decision on. Personally, I'd forgo both for a more reliable camera.

If anything, "more" is what the LG Velvet needs. A more modern design. A more resilient battery. There's nothing genuinely bad about the LG Velvet, but there's nothing exceptional either.

LG Velvet Camera Samples

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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