The phablet competition is pretty tight this season with most of the big players in the smartphone industry releasing very impressive handsets. Just recently, Google joined the competition with its Pixel XL handset. After going head to head with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, it’s about time for the Android device to be pitted against another formidable Android phablet, LG’s V20. LG’s V10 successor debuted to good reviews with its stellar specs and features. Let’s find out if the Pixel XL is worthy of being called a V20 rival.

Performance

As flagship devices, performance is expected to be top-notch for these two. The LG V20 is equipped with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor (two Kryo cores clocked at 2.15 GHZ and the other two Kryo cores clocked at 1.6 GHz), 4GB of RAM and an Adreno 530 GPU. By today’s standards, these specs are guaranteed to deliver high quality performance. However, Google may have the upper hand at this point, since its Pixel XL is powered by Qualcomm’s latest quad-core Snapdragon 821 chip (two Kryo cores clocked at 2.15 GHz and two more clocked at 1.6 GHz), 4GB of RAM and an Adreno 530 GPU. Despite having very similar specifications, Qualcomm indicated on its website that the 821 chip is 10 percent better than the 820. This may not translate to a significant difference between the real time performance of the two devices, but Google’s phablet is known to provide a more seamless user experience than LG’s dual-screen phablet on paper.

Display

When it comes to display, both handsets are rocking large touchscreen screens with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 for protection. The V10 successor has a 5.7-inch IPS LCD display with 1440 x 2560 screen resolution and 513 ppi pixel density. On the other hand, Google’s Pixel XL comes with a smaller 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with 1440 x 2560 screen resolution and 534 ppi pixel density. Although the screen sizes and pixel densities of the two are dissimilar, both handsets render colors very well. Thus, there isn’t much difference in the display quality they project to the naked eye. The thing that makes the V20 stand out, however, is the inclusion of a secondary screen atop its primary display. Keeping the distinguishing feature found on its predecessor, the V20 also has a small 2.1-inch horizontal display that is dedicated solely for notifications, shortcuts and other app-specific features. This then ensures that the main screen’s real estate is optimally utilized for the primary user experience.

Camera Technology

In this day and age, smartphone users are opting to buy devices that can match their instant photography needs. For this very reason, it’s clear that the V20 takes the cake when it comes to camera technology. LG’s handset is boasting a dual rear camera setup comprising a standard lens with a 16-megapixel lens and a wide angle lens with an 8-megapixel lens. The two lenses make up for a photography device that is comparable to Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus dual-lens camera. Enhancing the user experience of the V20’s primary camera setup are the laser and phase detection autofocus, 2x optical zoom, optical image stabilization and dual-LED flash. On the other hand, the Pixel XL’s camera is a single lens with a 12-megapixel sensor, laser and phase detection autofocus and dual-LED (dual tone) flash. If it’s any consolation, the Pixel XL is armed with an 8-megapixel front-facing selfie camera, while the V20 only comes with a 5-megapixel front snapper.

Miscellaneous

Other determining factors that could help consumers decide include the batteries, OS versions, onboard memory variants and other features. Google’s all-new phablet is powered by a non-removable Li-ion 3,450 mAh battery, while LG’s device houses a removable Li-ion 3,200 mAh battery. Android OS-wise, the LG V20 is considered the device that was the first to come with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Contrariwise, the Pixel XL is running the latest version of the Nougat OS, v7.1, and certain software features that are only Pixel-exclusive. Both handsets have fingerprint scanners.

The Pixel XL comes in two internal memory options, 32 GB and 128 GB, without the advantage of having expandable memory via a microSD card slot. On the other hand, the V20 comes in 32 GB and 64 GB variants and it has a dedicated microSD card slot that can accommodate up to 256 GB of additional storage. The Pixel XL has Very Black, Really Blue and Quite Silver color options, whereas the V20 has Titan, Silver and Pink color variants to choose from. Finally, what sets the V20 apart from the Pixel XL and other phablets in the industry is its B&O Play certified 3.5mm headphone jack and its 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC technology and built-in HD Audio Recorder for unparalleled audio capabilities.

Which do you think is the better phablet between Google’s Pixel XL and LG’s V20? Sound off in the comments below.

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