[LG V60 ThinQ Real Life Review] Snakecharmed:
I got the V60 to replace my V20 as a daily. The Snapdragon 820 easily got bogged down by normal usage. In 2022, when a lot of apps including some of Google's own don't work nicely with Android 7, I had to move on. I don't really plan to sell either of my V20s at the moment though and I will definitely keep at least one of them.

I was really hoping Sony would get their act together with an Xperia 1 or 5 that checked all the boxes, but they keep tripping over themselves and charging too much money for the privilege. Now the issue that keeps the 1 Mk IV from being "it" is the overheating Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Maybe a used 1 Mk V will be the ticket in the future or they'll just introduce another dealbreaking hindrance.

Until then, I got an unlocked T-Mobile V60 in new open box condition. After spending a lot of time trying to sort out issues with either rooting it to stay on Android 11 or simply letting Android 12 install OTA, I'm finally warming up to it and liking it despite wanting to return it or fire it out of a potato cannon several times. It was a great phone for the money in 2020 and still is in 2022. I just don't know that I like it more than I liked my V20 when I first got that, but those earlier LG phones all had more wow factor. This isn't a Velvet or Wing. The V60 is more straightforward and efficient, and less quirky and unique.

Software - I'm on rooted T-Mobile 20n Android 11 with a fair amount of manual debloating. This was a pretty annoying root process compared to both V20 root methods I used, as well as what I remember of the G4 root. To top it off, there's not much reward for it here other than being able to disable the nag screens telling you that your software is out of date and to update the OS. There's hardly any developer community support for this phone. Beyond that, there isn't anything new to say about how much more capable and versatile Android 11 is over 7 in terms of general usability.

Call quality - Good audio quality, speaker call volume is maybe not quite as loud as my modified V20, but I'm also unfairly comparing stock vs. modified sound level tables.

Speakers - Amazing for the form factor and size. They're louder and more detailed than those on my "tuned by AKG" quad-speaker Samsung Galaxy S4 Tab. These are easily the best phone/tablet speakers I've heard, and unlike the speaker call volume, the media volume is significantly louder than even my boosted V20 settings.

Performance - Much snappier and cooler than my V20. The storage and memory systems are unsurprisingly much faster. Not pushing 1440p certainly works in the V60's favor too.

Fingerprint reader - Definitely more temperamental than the V20's rear panel reader, but it's fine now after jumping through all the hoops of getting it enabled again with the right sensitivity after rooting and installing a tempered glass screen protector. The biggest issue for me with an under-the-glass reader is precise finger placement.

Screen - Can't say that I miss the V20's 1440p on a small device. The V60 OLED's colors and brightness are great. The teardrop camera notch was my biggest annoyance going in with the New Second Screen settings not handling non-LG apps, but I'm using the Round Screen Corners and Hide Notch app instead and it works pretty well.

Coping with no second screen - Not as bad as I feared. I just moved the five app shortcuts to be the only app shortcuts that occupy the primary home screen and I placed them down by the bottom where they're more accessible one-handed. I've always kept my primary home screen to be pretty free of clutter to let the wallpaper show through, so I didn't have a problem with creating space for a row of icons that are basically quick launch after screen unlock.

Battery - This was a pleasant surprise, but also not really. I'm easily getting two days out of an 80-20% discharge with higher-than-normal screen usage for me. That's all due to the combination of the 5000 mAh battery, Snapdragon 865, and the OLED screen.

Charging - I only charge this phone wirelessly with my Anker wireless chargers to limit USB port connections for obvious reasons. The charging is slow, but I work from home and don't care that much about charging speed. If I wasn't already conscientious about preserving battery integrity before with my V20s, I'm being extra about it now with a "non-removable" battery that's more difficult to remove.

Form factor - It's a big phone and yet it's not. It's thicker, taller, and heavier than the V20, but it's also noticeably narrower, which makes one-handed use so much easier for me.

Misc - I don't have a dual screen accessory, but I also wouldn't have wanted the extra bulk.

I have yet to test out Android Auto, but the latest versions of the app in car mode no longer work at all with Android 7, so I had been without it completely on my V20 for most of this year. The app just kept getting worse over time because at one point even wireless AA was supported on my V20 through the app's developer options, but later updates took that away. I know Android 11 has wireless AA support out of the box, but this time, I might not update the AA app on the V60 unless I have to.

I also haven't truly tested out the camera yet, but that's probably been covered far more by others and probably doesn't need my specific input, especially when I'm coming from a much older phone.