LG V40 ThinQ vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Comparison Of Specs, Features

LG Electronics has finally introduced its latest flagship offering, called the LG V40 ThinQ. So it’s high time for consumers to know which one is better between the newly announced handset and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 phablet.

Display

The LG V40 ThinQ features a 6.4-inch FullVision OLED display that has a screen resolution of 3120 x 1440 and 538ppi pixel density. In a press release, LG said that the plastic OLED display of its newest flagship device delivers more accurate colors and better luminance consistency. The company is also proud to say that the 4.5 million pixels in the V40 ThinQ’s display is the most of any QHD+ smartphone out on the market today. Thus, the V40 ThinQ offers a very immersive, vivid and vibrant viewing experience. The phone has a 77.1 percent screen-to-body ratio and an 18:9 aspect ratio. Its display supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 and it also has Always-on mode.

On the other hand, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 is equipped with the largest edge-to-edge display on a Note-branded device. Its screen is also 6.4 inches, but it is a Super AMOLED Infinity Display instead of P-OLED. The Note 9’s display has a screen resolution of 2960 x 1440 and 516ppi aspect ratio. The default resolution of the Note 9’s display is Full HD+, but it can be switched to Quad HD+ in the Settings. It has an 83.4 percent screen-to-body ratio and an 18:5:9 aspect ratio. Lastly, it is HDR10 compliant and it also has Always-on mode.

Design

The LG V40 ThinQ maintains the design philosophy of LG’s V series of phones. However, it is very noticeable that the latest installment now has slimmer bezels than its predecessor. LG opted for a minimalist look with clean lines and sophisticated colors. The phone’s tempered glass back is etched with microscopic pits to create a very smooth matte finish that’s comfortable in the hand. Both the front and the back of the phone is covered in Gorilla Glass 5, while the body is sealed with an aluminum frame. The back of the phone is very consistent with the previous V installments. However, it’s hard to not notice the camera module above the circular fingerprint scanner because it houses three lenses instead of two. The LED flash is separate from the camera module and it is not accompanied by other sensors like it used to in previous iterations of the V series.

Similarly, the Galaxy Note 9 borrows design cues from its predecessor, so it still has that tall chocolate bar look. The Note 9’s screen eats up almost all of the front panel of the phone, leaving only minimal bezels at the top and at the bottom. The edge-to-edge Infinity Display gives the Note 9 a striking appearance that makes it seem as though content shown on its screen freely flows from side to side. The handset also has an aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass 5 panels on its front and back. Speaking of the phone’s back, it is adorned with a rectangular fingerprint scanner on top of its Samsung branding. Then just above the fingerprint reader is the camera module that houses two lenses, an LED flash and other sensors, like the heart rate sensor.

Performance

The V40 ThinQ is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chipset that is coupled with 6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB internal storage options. The handset, which has an Adreno 630 GPU, runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box with the LG UX 7.0+ user interface running on top. Such specifications do not come as a surprise since the V40 ThinQ is marketed as a flagship device. Leaked Geekbench 4 results indicate that the V40 ThinQ got 2007 on the single-core test and 8310 on the multi-core test.

Samsung”s Galaxy Note 9 also houses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 SoC, which is composed of four 2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold and four 1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver cores. Samsung came up with two configurations for the phone: 6GB RAM/128GB storage and 8GB RAM/512GB storage. It also has an Adreno 630 GPU. The device runs Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung’s Experience user interface on top. As for the Geekbench 4 results of the Note 9, the device scored 3612 on the single-core test and 8927 on the multi-core test. This means Samsung’s phablet performs better than the LG V40 ThinQ.

Camera

LG’s all-new V40 ThinQ boasts of another smartphone camera innovation. The device apparently comes with five cameras all in all. Its triple-lens rear camera setup is composed of a 12-megapixel primary camera with standard lens, f/1.5 aperture, and 3-axis OIS; a 16-megapixel secondary camera with ultrawide lens and f/1.9 aperture; and a 12-megapixel tertiary camera with telephoto lens, f/2.4 aperture, 2x optical zoom and OIS. Up front, the V40 ThinQ has a dual-lens camera module that is composed of an 8-megapixel standard lens and a 5-megapixel wide lens. Because this handset has the ThinQ branding, it comes with all of the AI ThinQ camera features that enhance how owners use their phones to capture moments. Some of the camera features present in the V40 ThinQ are AI Composition, AI Auto White Balance, Cine Shot, 3D Light Effect, Makeup Pro, and many more.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9, on the contrary, only has two rear cameras. One of which is a 12-megapixel wide lens with f/1.5-2.4 (dual) aperture, dual pixel PDAF and OIS. The other is a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture, OIS, autofocus, and 2x optical zoom. The Note 9 also has a lone front-facing snapper that features a wide 8-megapixel lens and f/1.7 aperture. As a flagship phablet, the Note 9 was built to be intelligent so it also has its own AI features. The list includes Scene Optimizer, Flaw Detection and Premium Camera, among others.

Miscellaneous

The LG V40 ThinQ houses a 3,300 mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology and wireless charging. It features Google Assistant, Google Lens and AI Haptic. It has a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC and comes with DTS:X 3D Surround Sound as well as Super Far Field Voice Recognition. Aside from its fingerprint sensor, the phone has facial recognition technology as a biometrics tool.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has a bigger 4,000 mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 2.0 and wireless charging. The phablet features Samsung’s very own smart assistant called Bixby and it also has support for the Samsung DeX desktop experience. On top of its fingerprint sensor, the Note 9 has an iris scanner and facial recognition technology as additional biometric tools. It’s also important to note that the Samsung flagship device has stereo speakers tuned by AKG and the signature S Pen stylus, which now has Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) functionalities.

On the whole, the LG V40 ThinQ and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 are very powerful and well-equipped flagship devices. Each has its own strengths, but it’s undeniable that the Note 9 has more functionalities than the V40 ThinQ. Nevertheless, choosing one over the other still boils down to preference. If you are looking for a smartphone that comes with the next trend in smartphone cameras, the V40 ThinQ is a better pick. But if you are looking for a powerhouse that has note-taking and writing capabilities, then the Galaxy Note 9 is the better choice.