LG employs strict quality test on V20

An LG Electronics employee conducts a drop test on the V20 smartphone at the company’s manufacturing facility in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. / Courtesy of LG Electronics

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province ― LG Electronics’ V20 smartphone is getting off to a good start, attracting growing attention for its unrivaled audio and camera functions. But the company expects its hardware stability to become another unique marketing point when it goes on sale in major overseas markets ― including the United States and Hong Kong ― later this month.

In an organized press tour of LG Digital Park here, the Korean technology company showed how smartphones are made ― from assembly to inspection. The facility is home to LG’s research and development (R&D) and electronic devices production.

LG particularly highlighted the quality tests the 5.7-inch Android handset and any other smartphones undergo before mass production. Above all, the company said the V20 met 60,000 validation tests ― strict enough for the device to pass the military-standard transit drop test of the United States Department of Defense.

The firm’s hardware validation section is on the third floor of the G2 production line, where all tablets, smartphones and wearable devices are tested to ensure top quality, the company said.

“We conduct various kinds of tests on all parts of the device, including the touch screen, before its mass production,” Kim Kyun-heung, who is in charge of quality tests at the facility, said.

The company uses a steel bar for V20 drop tests. “We drop the device onto the steel bar, as the material is considered the hardest when conducting drop tests,” Kim said.

The company constantly undertakes the one-meter drop test on the V20’s edges and checks its consequences. The procedures are aimed at improving hardware stability and finding out any possible structural defects, according to the LG official.