I got rid of my shitty Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.
My daughter and I had been having boot loop issues. I don't think it's an app or battery issue. I think it's an OS/firmware issue. Why? Because there was nothing in common with my daughter's installed software and mine. She's a teen and I'm almost 50 years old...we used totally different software across the board. It wasn't a battery issue because I actually had my daughter's phone replaced (at $200, that was NOT a cheap "fix")...2 months later, the exact same issue started occurring again on her new phone. The battery and phone were new.
So, I got tired of running the battery down to 30% where the phone would automatically shut down and reboot, go to the red Verizon screen, then reboot again, then again, then again, and again, and again. The only way to stop it is to remove the battery. Many times when removing it, the phone shows no battery power left to restart the phone...you usually have to plug the phone in to let it fast charge for awhile to get it to where it'll have enough power to restart. Bottom line is that I now think that Samsung has quality control issues. Everyone I know that has or has had a Samsung phone has had some type of issue that had hindered their phones in major ways. I won't be buying another Samsung anytime soon.
Nor would I be going back to Apple.
I was eligible for an upgrade but it took me a long time to decide between the LG V20, the LG G5, the Google Pixels (Pixel and Pixel XL), and the HTC 10.
I wanted a removable battery, expandable storage, and a large screen (at least as large as my Note Edge).
I almost settled on the Pixel XL, but wanted something more than just stock Android. I'd had also had to give up both a removable battery and expandable external storage in getting that phone. Yes, I know that with the Pixel, you get unlimited cloud storage via Google, but if you are not near a wireless AP and you don't have unlimited data, unlimited cloud storage is not going to be a good solution.
I've had the HTC One M8 as a work phone...my daughter had one as well. It was a solid phone. It had expandable storage but a built-in battery. It had forward-facing speakers that sounded awesome. The phone never gave me or my daughter issues.
I've never owned an LG phone and was eyeballing the G5 because I'd considered it awhile back, before I got the Note Edge. I decided against the G5 because it isn't a recent phone and always seem to get phones that are not top-tier. Two years ago, the G5 may've been top-tier, but not now. I'd never heard of the V10 (for some reason). I'd not even heard of the V20 until I began to search for Pixel competitors. When I looked at the V20's specs, it compared to the Pixel very well, but was also cheaper, while also having expandable storage and a removable battery. It is very much a top-tier phone.
I bought the LG V20.
There's a ton to like about the V20. Basically, if you like the Pixel, you'll like the V20. Like I said, they're very much comparable to each other.
The things I don't like about the V20:
The USB-C cable. I can't stand it. The cable that it comes with is way too short. I had to go to Best Buy and get a Belkin car charger kit (5' cable) and what I did was swap the OEM cable for that one so that I can use the 5' cable to charge the phone and still use it while in bed. The OEM is just long enough for me to use to charge the phone while it is mounted on my dash. As well, with all my other Android phones, I always had spare micro-USB cables around the house that I could use to charge my phones (I also had a bunch of power adapter bricks). I bought this phone and only had ONE USB-C cable. I could not use any other of my cables. I went to my sister's house and the phone needed to be charged...she had a ton of spare cables but no USB-Cs. So now I have to ensure I have spare USB-C cables (one for my bedroom, one for my car, one for my Jeep, one in my wife's car)...they're not exactly cheap, either.
The V20 also has a feature that's called Smart Settings. You can automate some things on the phone, like configure the phone to enable wifi when you get home, or turn off wifi when you leave home...things that you might do manually to save battery power, for example. Well, Verizon removed that feature from Verizon V20s for some reason. That was one of the features that drew my attention to the phone. Yes, I can use 3rd party software to automate processes on this phone. For example, I can use Tasker to do the same things. Tasker isn't exactly easy to use...it's powerful but it's not intuitive. Plus, I had created some tasks when I had my Note Edge. The app maintainer upgraded the app, and all of a sudden my apps disappeared, never to be found again. I wouldn't have to deal with that if Verizon hadn't removed the Smart Settings. :/
Oh, and my damned Samsung Gear S won't work with this phone. That's not an LG problem...it's another Samsung issue. Samsung appears to be unwilling to enable this phone to work with non-Samsung phones. When smart watches cost as much as they do nowadays, they should NOT be made to refuse communication with phones that are not the same make. So, I won't be buying any more smart watches for awhile. I'll await a neutral wearable maker before I spend my hard-earned cash on another watch. I suppose I could use my Pebble but after taking calls from my Gear S, I refuse to step down to a Pebble...sorry.
The speaker could stand to be louder (it would be nice to have a forward-facing speaker on this phone, too).
The screen is very vivid and bright.
The phone doesn't feel bogged down and the interface isn't laggy.
The OS out-of-the-box is v7.0 (Nougat)...the only other phones that are using Nougat are the Pixel (naturally) and the HTC 10 (only just last week did that make the news).
As with my other phones, I'll keep you all updated on any glaring issues and will share any praises.
UPDATE - I replaced the LG V20 with the LG V30 (three years after I created this post). Two years sfter that, I replaced that phone with the LG V60. The V60 also came with a separate offer for a (free) dual screen case, which makes it very versatile - I ordered the dual screen case. My wife also bought me a Wacom Bamboo Plus stylus for use with the V60 and dual screen. All three were great phones. I still have the V30 and V60, and actively use the V60 - the V60 is my backup phone.
