When LG introduced the V series of phones in 2015 with the V10, it was aimed at a certain small group of people that wanted every possible spec and feature without much of a consideration of size, usability or style. Now the V20 is here, and it has much broader appeal with a sleeker body — but it hasn't given up the pile of features that made the V10 so appealing to power users. On the other end of the spectrum is Google's first phone, the Pixel XL, that's all about simplicity, not specs — though it has plenty going under the hood, it misses out on a few features in exchange for a more cohesive experience. It's two ways to attack the high-end smartphone market, arguably with different potential markets for each. But when you put them head-to-head, which one comes out on top? We're here to answer that question. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines

Hardware, specs and features

The Pixel XL and LG V20 are both made out of metal and glass, and both include some high-end specs inside — but when you see them on a table together or you wrap your hands around each one you can immediately note that they are very different phones. The Pixel XL is slightly more compact, and more importantly feels better. Google's Pixel XL feels a bit smaller than its dimensions, with a nicely-sculpted body that has a subtle yet noticeable "wedge" shape that's thinner at the bottom where you hold it most often. It's solid and sleek, though a bit boring to some people's eyes. The V20 takes a less-inspired design approach: it's huge, and feels huge. The slab has no interesting design aspects or features that help you grip it, and while LG deserves praise for making a phone with a removable battery door feel solid, the plastic top and bottom of the phone are depressingly cheap-feeling plastic. Up on the business end of the phones you're greeted by two great displays, though they get it done in different ways. The Pixel XL's AMOLED panel is a bit warmer and more saturated (as is often the case for AMOLEDs), while the "Quantum Display" LCD on the V20 is cooler and more natural. Both are really fantastic in terms of brightness, clarity and viewing angles — unless I set them side-by-side I wouldn't be able to pick out any issues with either one. The V20's larger 5.7-inch display also incorporates the extra bit of real estate for the Second Screen — it can perform a few functions, but chances are you'll fall back to just using the main display to get things done.

Both phones round out in terms of hardware features just fine as far as having a USB-C port, headphone jack and better-than-average down firing speaker — but the LG V20 has the distinct advantage of a much nicer DAC for headphone listening and better mics for recording loud environments. The two big hardware features many will focus on are the removable battery and microSD card slot of the V20, to which I'll say that if you know you need them, you can get the V20 — most people, however, will be served just fine by the 3450 mAh sealed battery and 32 or 128GB storage of the Pixel XL. Now, how about the full spec breakdown? Things are pretty much a dead heat, aside from the few feature-focused specs noted above. Category Google Pixel XL LG V20 Operating System Android 7.1 with Google UI Android 7.0 Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 RAM 4GB 4GB Display 5.5-inch 2560x1440

AMOLED

Gorilla Glass 4 5.7-inch 2560x1440

LCD Quantum Display

Second Screen

Gorilla Glass 4 Rear Camera 12MP f/2.0

1.55-micron pixels

PDAF, LDAF

4K video, 240fps slow-mo Main: 16MP f/1.8, OIS

Secondary: 8MP f/2.4 wide-angle

PDAF, LDAF

4K video, 120fps slow-mo Front camera 8MP, f/2.4 5MP f/1.9 wide-angle Battery 3450 mAh

Non-removable 3200 mAh

Removable Charging USB-C Rapid Charging Quick Charge 3.0 Connectivity USB-C

Bluetooth 4.2, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, NFC USB-C

Bluetooth 4.2, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, NFC Fingerprint sensor Yes Yes Storage 32/128GB

Non-expandable 64GB

microSD card up to 2TB Dimensions 154.7 x 75.74 x 8.6 mm 159.7 x 78.1 x 7.7 mm Weight 168 g 173 g Software, performance and battery life