LG V10 unboxing

Shortly after the LG G4 launched, word got out that LG is working on a "super premium" smartphone for the second half of 2015. A few months later, the brand new LG V10 arrived at the door! Catching us by surprise, especially with the uncanny lack of leaks that's such a rarity for high profile smartphones these days, the LG V10 is a promising and technologically ambitious smartphone that caught our interest. Come on, let's have some fun unboxing it!

The LG V10 comes in a rectangular white box that's mostly made of paper and features some familiar logos. That's about it — the packaging is as clean as it possibly could be, venturing on the side of boring, really. Then again, it's not like many shoppers buy smartphones based on how their packaging looks!

Moving on to the magic inside, the first thing we get is a welcome pamphlet from SK Telecom. Indeed, our LG V10 unit is the one they sell in LG's homeland of South Korea. We suspect there will be some minor differences in the packaging and software functionality for LG V10 units around the globe. Anyway, the welcome pamphlet is all written in Korean, and seems to contain download links for an antivirus app, some customizations, ringtones, wallpapers, third-party apps, and all that good stuff.

Under the phamphlet is the smartphone itself — come to daddy! The LG V10 certainly looks big and impressive, owing to its 5.7-inch display and solid plastic build that's held together by two strips made of SAE grade 316L stainless steel — the same tough, hypoallergenic material used to make surgical tools and high-end watches. Add the volume and power key (with embedded fingerprint sensor) placed on the back, the secondary display the pair of front cameras, and the LG V10 certainly doesn't look like any recent smartphone! The plastic itself looks and feels pretty regular, but it's actually treated with Dura Skin, a material that's soft to the touch, yet highly resistant to nicks and scratches. Yes, LG loves to tinker with materials in its chemical laboratories, coming up with surprises like that!

Popping its back panel open, we find out that the LG V10 didn't have a battery inside, which prompts us to search for one among the rest of the package's contents. Working our way to the 3000mAh unit, we uncover a charger and microUSB cable. We love that the charger is Quick Charge-compatible straight out of the box, meaning we don't have to buy additional accessories to enjoy fast charging!

Next, we reach a tiny paper box containing the bundled earphones. "Tuned by AKG", says the label, giving out the promise of good sound quality. The earphones are made of plastic with a brushed aluminum finish. There's a handsfree with mic built in, and the cable is covered in fabric to prevent tangling.

Under the earphones resides the battery that we've been looking for all this time. We quickly place it inside the LG V10, put the back panel on (it mounts quite securely), and power up the dual-screen monster! The boot finishes quickly, and after setting up our Google account, we are greeted by the LG UX interface that we know from LG's recent handsets, such as the LG G4. Like the latter, the V10 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SoC, and the interface seems to move pretty smooth and fast. Then again, this is a brand new smartphone and we're yet to break it in!

Of course, one of the LG V10's main attractions is the secondary screen. Positioned above the main 5.7-inch IPS LCD display, which has a 1440 x 2560 resolution, the secondary screen is 2.1 inches by diagonal and has a 160 x 1040 resolution, which gives it the same pixel density of 513ppi as its bigger partner. More importantly, the secondary screen serves notifications, contains useful app shortcuts, offers music controls, displays calendar events, and lets you write a personal message for it to show. There's nothing crazy about it, really, just straight up usability and convenience in a compact package.

And that's about it, folks! While the LG V10 is undergoing our draconian review process, read our LG V10 specs review to get yourself acquainted with all the interesting technology LG stuffed in this behemoth! The Korean company is trying hard to compete with the big dogs while exploring opportunities to innovate, and we always look forward to its new developments!