LG V20: First smartphone other than Nexus, with Android 7.0 Nougat

LG’s latest Android flagship V20 was unveiled, at an event in San Francisco this Morning. The phone, a successor to last year’s V10, first smartphone to ship with Google’s latest Android 7.0 Nougat. The V20 contains a dual-camera system and a second display located at the top of the phone, as it was in it’s predecessor. With upgrade in this year’s model; the cameras are more capable and the second display is now brighter with bigger font. V20 packs in some audiophile-grade features for music lovers who like lossless file formats and expensive headphone, unlike some phone makers are trying to phase out headphone jack.

LG’s V20 is an Android phone built for audiophiles and power users

The device comes with a 32-bit hi-fi quad DAC, the first for smartphones says LG. That means it contains four ESS digital-to-analog converters. Audiophiles may rejoice at the rattling off of these technical components. Everyday listeners, on the other hand, can expect a bump in audio quality from sound pumped through the V20. Plus, the device supports a number of lossless audio formats like FLAC, DSD, AIFF, and ALAC. So high-quality music will take advantage of those converters, while three of the four converters will automatically shut off with lower-quality tunes to conserve battery.

THE V20 IS A FLAGSHIP ANDROID HANDSET THAT CATERS TO AUDIOPHILES

The V20 will also shine a spotlight on Google’s new In Apps search. The feature, announced last week, will let you search for contacts, photos, and videos across both Google apps like YouTube and self-installed third-party apps like Spotify. LG’s new phone will be the first Android handset to ship with a shortcut to the feature on its home screen. (It’s also widely available to anyone with the latest version of the Google app for Android.) LG says it will use the second screen on the V20 to put another shortcut button to the In Apps feature.

As far as specs go, the V20 has all the modern-day essentials: a 5.7-inch display, 4GB of RAM, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. It also has a removable 3200mAh battery. The device will be available from retailers like Best Buy and B&H in the third quarter, as well as from AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint. LG is leaving pricing up to the major carriers, so we won’t know the full details for a couple of weeks.