LG K20 Plus: At First Glance
If there is one thing to love about LG smartphones, it’s their ability to provide a wide range of products. Whether you are a customer on a budget or one willing to spend a lot more – LG has devices for every consumer category.
In 2016, LG officially released three of its budget smartphones. These smartphones include the K20, K20 V, and the K20 Plus which is what we’ll be reviewing.
Even though we’re aware that this is a budget smartphone, we definitely don’t want it to look or perform like scrap. Having said that, does the LG K20 Plus offer mediocrity or premium for the price?
Well, you won’t find answers if you don’t read on!
LG K20 Plus: Design, Dimension & Weight
The build material of the LG K20 Plus comprises both plastic and metal materials. More specifically, the LG K20’s back is plastic, while the rest of the phone is metal.
Furthermore, there’s a bronze-like ascent on the lower edges which gives this smartphone a very premium look anyone would love. This bronze-like ascent area is where you’ll see the Micro USB port and headphone jack.
On a negative note, you can only get the LG K20 Plus in one color variant which is black. Not sure why LG would leave her consumers with only one choice and that’s definitely a disadvantage.
The edges of the LG K20 Plus are surrounded by thick bezels at the top and bottom of the screen. Occupying the lower bezel is just the ‘LG’ logo – no fingerprint sensor or navigation bar on here.
As for the upper bezel, the front-facing camera is the only feature occupying this area and on the side are slim bezels. Following that, there is the volume bar on the left side of the phone.
While talking about the side, we can’t ignore the LG K20 Plus’s dimensions of 148.6 x 75.2 x 7mm. Furthermore, this smartphone weighs 140g.
Other competitors with the same price tag like the Honor 7X weigh more at 165g. This smartphone also has a dimension of 156.5 x 75.3 x 7.6 mm.
A more expensive competitor – the Moto G5 Plus also weighs more at 155g. This smartphone also has a dimension of 150.2 x 74.0 x 7.7 mm.
When compared with its competitors, it’s ideal to say that the LG K20 Plus is a lightweight smartphone.
On turning over this phone’s back, there’s the rear-facing camera and a LED flash directly beneath it. Closely following the LED flash is the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.
Following that is another ‘LG’ logo slightly below the fingerprint sensor. Another component on this phone’s back is the speaker which is at the lower end of the phone’s back casing.
Having a back-facing speaker on this smartphone is disappointing for two reasons. First, it goes against the premium design of the phone, and secondly, it won’t produce good sound quality.
To get audible sound from this speaker – you’ll have to turn over this phone with the screen on a surface and the speaker at the top.
Still on the back of the LG K20 Plus is where you’ll find the SIM card and microSD card slots. Unlike most smartphones whose SIM tray is by the side like the volume bar, this SIM tray shares the same position with the battery.
To be precise, you will access the SIM card and microSD card when you remove the back cover of the LG K20 Plus. Removing this cover will reveal a single slot which will keep you wondering where to insert the microSD card and the SIM card.
Actually, what looks like a single slot are actually two overlapping slots – one for the SIM card below and the top is the SD card slot. Also, for some funny reason, the LG K20 Plus is a single SIM smartphone.
This is a big downside especially in the Android smartphone market where most phones actually come with dual SIM support.
In summary, the LG K20 Plus has a premium look for an affordable smartphone and is lightweight. It however doesn’t impress for having a single SIM card slot.
Having said that, I will be rating this design section an eight out of ten in this LG K20 Plus review.
LG K20 Plus: Display Features
One thing you can’t afford to compromise on a smartphone is good display features. That said, the display technology featured in the LG K20 Plus is the IPS LCD.
This technology is common in most phones including even high-end smartphones. A major reason smartphone manufacturers rely on IPS LCD displays is for the rich colors it gives to a phone’s display.
With this IPS LCD, LG K20 Plus promises rich display output. However, IPS LCD display is expected to consume more battery than its counterpart – the AMOLED displays.
Furthermore, this IPS LCD is also responsible for good viewing angles which are responsible for maintaining a clear display even in different angles. Having good viewing angles is important in a smartphone especially because you’ll have this phone’s screen in different angles.
Another important aspect of the display is its resolution. The resolution of a display is responsible for detailed visual information and clarity to whatever you’re viewing on the phone’s screen.
Having said that, the HD (1280 x 720) resolution that comes with the LG K20 Plus doesn’t meet up to expectations. This is because HD resolution is the least of display resolutions out there.
It falls short of the Full HD and Full HD+ which are commonly more appropriate for smartphones. Not to talk of the higher 2K and 4K resolution which comes with pricier smartphones.
In the real sense, having at least the FHD resolution on the LG K20 Plus wouldn’t have been too much to ask for.
Anyway, the implication of the HD resolution on this device is that visual information wouldn’t be as crispy clear as you’ll expect. Furthermore, having this resolution is not a death sentence, you’ll just have to make do with what you can get.
On the aspect of display size, the 5.3” screen display isn’t too small nor too big – just the right size. This size does right for playing games, watching videos, and reading ebooks.
Moving on, nits of brightness is another aspect of the display to be considered. For the LG K20 Plus, the 294 nits this phone comes with is far below the 430 nits average.
This means that the LG K20 Plus won’t be as bright as the Redmi Note 4 with its 484 nits – or the Honor 7X which has 458 nits.
Another implication of this is how low this phone’s displays will be outdoors or when using it in direct sunlight. Well, have it in mind that the 294 nits don’t impress in outdoor use.
Overall, the LG K20 Plus does not offer the best display quality but it does the job well. For that reason, I will be rating the display of LG K20 Plus an eight in this section.
LG K20 Plus: Camera Features
The LG K20 Plus features both a 5 MP front-facing and a 13 MP rear-facing camera. Furthermore, the rear-facing camera has an aperture of ƒ/2.2 while the front-facing camera has an aperture of ƒ/2.4.
If you’re hearing aperture for the first time, it would be good to explain what that means. Aperture refers to how wide the camera lens goes which in turn determines how light passes through the camera.
Aperture is very important in understanding how much picture quality to expect from a camera. Here’s the tricky part, the lower the figure, the better the aperture – which in turn means better quality pictures.
For example, a 13 MP camera with an ƒ/2.2 aperture will not be as impressive as a 13 MP camera with ƒ/1.7 aperture.
That said, the back camera tends to underexpose or overexpose an image. Also, this camera can be sluggish when using the shutter and image capture.
Asides from that, the camera performs decently in capturing images even in low-light situations. There are no special features or even manual controls for this back camera but for capturing basic shots, the LG K20 Plus is perfectly fine.
As for the front-facing camera, it won’t impress you on its own unless you’ll make use of the “beautifying” effect. This effect works great in smoothing out your skin and taking out all the imperfections.
Let’s just say it’s more like Photoshop and even though it’s cool, it tends to give off an unnatural look. However, the front camera performs well in low-light situations and captures well than you would expect.
All in all, both cameras are capable of clear and bright images. This makes the camera section worthy of an eight in this LG K20 Plus review.
LG K20 Plus Battery Life and Talk Time Review
In the battery department, LG packed a 2,700 mAh removable battery into this smartphone. At a time when removable batteries are becoming increasingly rare in the Android world, LG decided to make it happen!
For clarity, having a removable battery means you can change it yourself without having to visit the manufacturer. This makes it incredibly useful when you just need an extra battery with you in case the one in the phone gets low.
As for its battery life, the LG K20 Plus has a talk time of up to 14 hours. On continuous web browsing, this smartphone lasts 9 hours and 48 minutes.
On average, this 2700mAH removable battery will last a whole day on mild use. Although, you may want to hold on to a charger if you intend to watch videos, do heavy web browsing, and play games.
Notably, the LG K20 Plus doesn’t have a fast charging feature which means it might take a while to fully charge this device.
In summation, having a removable battery is super impressive especially when even more expensive phones don’t have such a feature. That single feature makes this battery section worth a nine in this LG K20 Plus review.
LG K20 Plus: Storage Options & Performance
The LG K20 Plus comes with the regular 32GB of storage. I referred to it as regular because it seems to be the standard of recent android smartphones.
Notably, 22GB of that storage is what you’ll actually be getting on purchasing this phone and that’s because the operating system takes the other 10GB. That said, 22GB should be enough for you if you won’t be downloading large apps or a lot of media files.
On a good note, you may not have to worry about running out of storage. This is because the LG K20 Plus has an expandable storage size of 2TB which can be done with a microSD card.
What this means is that you can have as much as a 2TB size microSD card slotted into this phone. Undoubtedly, this is an impressive move by LG, especially because most smartphones have a maximum storage capacity of 256GB.
In a nutshell, the storage option of this smartphone is an impressive feature. For that, this storage section deserves a nine in this LG K20 Plus review.
LG K20 Plus Security Features & Sensors Review
In every smartphone, there are certain sensors that make phone use more desirable. These sensors include the accelerometer, ambient light, gyroscope, compass, fingerprint, and proximity.
Of all these sensors, the accelerometer, compass, fingerprint, and proximity sensors come with the LG K20 Plus. These terms may seem fuzzy so I’ll explain them one at a time.
The accelerometer is the sensor responsible for how the phone rotates on the screen. It provides a comfortable viewing experience to the users by switching the position of the device from portrait to landscape and vice versa.
Secondly, there’s the compass and as the name implies, it helps give direction when you download a compass-related application. The proximity sensor functions by turning off the display when the phone screen comes in contact with your face or ear.
This mostly happens when you’re on a phone call. A big advantage of this is the fact that it increases battery life by reducing the brightness of the display.
Lastly, there’s the fingerprint sensor which acts as a security feature by unlocking your device using your fingerprint. The fingerprint sensor on the LG K20 Plus is a very responsive one.
An interesting feature about this particular fingerprint is the primary function of powering on the phone. This means you won’t be needing a power button on here (which it doesn’t have by the way) – because the fingerprint sensor doubles as the phone’s power button.
In a nutshell, even though this smartphone has basic and common sensors, the fingerprint does more than unlocking the phone. That said, rating this section a nine in this LG K20 Plus review is not far-fetched.
Frequently Asked Questions
LG officially released this phone in December 2016.
This is a dual-camera smartphone with both front and rear-facing cameras.
The LG K20 Plus has a 5.3″ display screen. In addition to the display size, we also access how big a phone is with its dimensions.
LG K20 Plus has a dimension of 148.6 x 75.2 x 7mm and weighs 140g. In comparison to some of its close competitors like Honor 7X and Moto G5 Plus, LG K20 Plus is a lighter phone.
No. This phone supports 4G network connection.
No. This smartphone does not have a fast charging feature.
Conclusion
On a final note, LG features great specifications we rarely see in recent smartphones. Having a smartphone with a removable battery and being able to expand the storage up to 2TB are features that will keep you smiling.
The affordable price tag of this smartphone is another reason to consider it. This phone is right for mid-level phone users who don’t want to spend a lot on a smartphone.
However, if you really need to use two SIM cards on your phone, it’s better you consider something else. Moto G5 Plus and Honor 7X are reasonable alternatives to the LG K20 Plus.
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