Ideal smartphone for photo, video buffs

SINGAPORE — LG phones deserve more fanfare. The G4 was arguably one of the best phones of 2015, and the newly released V10 is shaping up as a fantastic addition to the company’s line-up.

I got my first look at the V10 during CES 2016. What struck me immediately was how different it looked compared with other smartphones. To me, the market today appears oversaturated with iPhone and Galaxy clones, so it is great to see a company striking its own design path.

A week or so with the V10 has also raised my expectations for all future phones. The camera functions, in particular, stood out.

It is one of the few smartphones on the market that allows you to shoot RAW photos in manual mode (ie, you can adjust the ISO, shutter speed, aperture), and is the first to offer manual mode for video recording as well.

The V10’s photography and video-taking capabilities are simply incredible. The standout feature for me, however, is the phone’s ability to monitor and control audio input while recording video. It has three microphones, which capture omni-directional sound, and you can adjust which direction your video should pick sound up from. This particularly comes in handy for outdoor videos, when you can reduce background noise to pick up more of yourself or your subject talking.

Another outstanding quality of the V10’s camera is that it offers both optical and electronic image stabilisation. Panning with the V10 is delightfully smooth and I dare say it offers some of the sharpest video recording I have seen while shooting on the move.

There are three cameras on the phone. Selfie or wefie lovers will really appreciate the dual front-facing cameras. You have the ability to opt between a close-up selfie, or a wide-angle shot that can fit in more people or show more of the backdrop, thus negating the need for a selfie stick.

The V10’s range of in-built video-editing tools is also impressive, albeit not targeted at regular consumers. From adding filters and soundtracks to speeding up or slowing down clips, the editing tools are easy to use, with most requiring just the click of a button. I was particularly fascinated with the Auto-Edit tool, which can pick out the best parts of a long video clip and generate an easily shareable 15-sec short. I have no clue what algorithm went into this feature, but every video I tested delivered surprisingly good results — again, with just the click of a button.

Specs-wise, the V10 is also near the top of its range. The phone comes with 64GB of memory, which is expandable through a microSD card slot, and there is also dual-SIM capability.

Music lovers will appreciate this: The phone can play lossless audio files, plus it can detect the quality of the headphones you are using to deliver better audio performance.

Battery life is not particularly fantastic, lasting about seven hours on video playback. But the good thing is that the battery is removeable and supports fast charging (zero to 50 per cent in about 28 minutes).

Credit must be given to LG for daring to deliver something unique. Sure, some features may be a bit gimmicky (eg, the small “Second Screen” at the top of the display that shows notifications and apps), but on the whole, the V10 is a worthy competitor to the iPhone or Galaxy S.

It can be bought for S$1,088 (without contract) at all major telcos and authorised retailers.