LG is gone. Well, the phones are, anyway. It’s been years since the South Korean giant officially pulled the plug on its mobile division in April 2021, yet walk into any enthusiast forum or high-end audio group and you’ll still hear people talking about LG mobile phones like they’re the "one that got away." It’s strange. Usually, when a brand dies, it fades into the background noise of eBay listings and e-waste bins. Not LG.
They were the chaotic neutral of the smartphone world. While Samsung was busy trying to beat Apple at being polished, LG was in the corner trying to build a phone with a curved screen you could flex, or a modular chin that let you swap out batteries. They didn't always get it right. Honestly, they got it wrong a lot. But in a world where every glass slab looks exactly like the next one, the legacy of LG mobile phones feels more relevant now than it did when you could actually buy them at a carrier store.
The Audiophile Obsession: The Quad DAC Legacy
If you ask a fan why they’re still clutching a V60 ThinQ in 2026, they won’t tell you about the camera or the UI. They’ll talk about the music. LG made a very specific, very expensive bet on high-fidelity audio that no one else dared to touch. Starting with the V20 and carrying through to the final V60 and G8 models, they included an ESS Sabre Quad DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter).
Most phones treat audio like an afterthought. They use a cheap, integrated chip that drives $20 earbuds just fine but falls flat when you plug in high-impedance headphones like a pair of Sennheiser HD600s. LG was different. Their phones could actually power professional-grade gear. It made them the darling of the "Head-Fi" crowd. Even today, used LG mobile phones are bought specifically to be used as portable high-res music players because they’re cheaper and often better than dedicated $500 DAPs (Digital Audio Players).
It wasn't just the hardware, though. It was the software control. You had gain settings, digital filters, and a level of granular control that made you feel like you were holding a piece of studio equipment. They even kept the headphone jack long after everyone else followed Apple off the cliff. It was a weird, stubborn hill to die on, but for a specific niche of people, it made LG the only brand that mattered.
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Innovation or Just Chaos?
LG’s product strategy was, frankly, a mess. They would invent a revolutionary feature, market it poorly, and then abandon it by the next generation. Remember the LG G5? It was the first major modular phone. You could pop the bottom off and slide in a camera grip or a Hi-Fi Plus module. It was a cool idea that was executed with the grace of a sledgehammer. The build quality was suspect, and the modules were hard to find.
Then there was the LG Wing. This thing was wild. It had a swiveling front screen that rotated 90 degrees to reveal a smaller secondary screen underneath. Why? For gimbal-mode video and multitasking. It was heavy. It was expensive. It was arguably unnecessary for 90% of the population. But it was different.
The "Firsts" Nobody Credits LG For
People forget how much LG actually pioneered.
- Ultra-wide cameras: Before every iPhone and Galaxy had an ultra-wide lens, the LG G5 introduced it in 2016.
- Manual Video Mode: Long before "Cinematic Mode" was a marketing buzzword, LG’s V-series gave users manual control over ISO, shutter speed, and even directional microphone sensitivity.
- Knock-On: Tapping the screen to wake it up? That started with the LG G2.
- The 18:9 Aspect Ratio: The G6 was the first major phone to move away from the old, boxy 16:9 screens, paving the way for the tall, slim phones we use today.
The tragedy of LG mobile phones is that they were often two years ahead of a trend but lacked the marketing stamina to own it. By the time Samsung or Apple "invented" the feature, LG had already moved on to the next weird experiment.
The Bootloop Shadow and Quality Control
We have to be honest here. You can’t talk about LG mobile phones without talking about the "Bootloop" era. It’s the dark cloud that eventually rained out the whole parade. The LG G4 and the V10 were notorious for a hardware flaw where the solder on the motherboard would fail, causing the phone to restart infinitely until it became a brick.
It resulted in a massive class-action lawsuit. For a couple of years, buying an LG phone felt like playing Russian Roulette with your data. Even though they fixed the issue in later models like the G6 and G7, the brand's reputation never truly recovered in the eyes of the average consumer. Tech enthusiasts might forgive a brilliant but flawed device, but a parent who just wants their phone to work for two years won't.
Why You Might Still Want an LG Phone Today
Believe it or not, there is still a market for these things. If you look at the secondary market, LG mobile phones like the V60 or the Velvet are surprisingly affordable.
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The V60 is the "white whale." It supports 5G, has a massive 5,000mAh battery, the legendary Quad DAC, and it even supports Wacom pen input. For about $200 on the used market, you're getting hardware that still holds its own against mid-range phones from 2025 and 2026. It's the ultimate "budget flagship" for people who know what they're looking for.
Then there’s the LG Wing. It has become a bit of a collector's item. It’s one of those rare pieces of tech history that represents the "final boss" of a company’s experimental phase. It’s not a practical daily driver for most, but as a secondary device for media consumption or just to have a piece of mobile history, it’s fascinating.
The Reality of Software Support
Here is the catch. If you buy one now, you are on your own. LG promised three years of Android updates after they shut down, and they've largely fulfilled that, but we are at the end of the road. Security patches are drying up.
Using an LG phone in 2026 means you need to be careful. You’re running older versions of Android. Certain banking apps might eventually stop working. You’re essentially driving a vintage sports car; it’s beautiful and does things modern cars can’t, but you’re going to have a hard time finding a mechanic if something breaks.
Actionable Steps for the LG Curious
If you're looking to pick up an LG device today, don't just buy the first one you see on a discount site. You need a strategy.
Check the Model Numbers
LG was notorious for making different versions of the same phone for different carriers. Some have locked bootloaders, others don't. If you want to keep the phone alive with custom ROMs (like LineageOS), look for the "unlocked" North American or European variants.
Prioritize the V60 or Velvet
These were the last "real" flagships. The V60 is the better choice for power users because of the battery and DAC. The Velvet is thinner and looks more modern, but it lacks the audio punch of the V-series.
Inspect the Battery
Since these phones haven't been manufactured in years, any "New in Box" unit has been sitting in a warehouse with a lithium battery depleting for a long time. Expect to potentially have to replace the battery if you want it to last a full day.
Use it as a Secondary Device
The smartest way to enjoy LG mobile phones today isn't as your primary phone. Use it as a dedicated high-end music player or a dedicated video camera. Turn off the cellular radio, load it up with FLAC files or a 1TB microSD card (yes, they supported those!), and enjoy the hardware for what it was: a quirky, over-engineered masterpiece that didn't care about the status quo.
LG's exit left a hole in the market that hasn't been filled. We have plenty of "good" phones now, but we have very few "weird" ones. Every time you see a new phone launch with a slightly faster processor and a slightly better camera, it’s hard not to miss the brand that was brave enough to put a second screen on a hinge just to see if anyone liked it.