LG Electronics said Sunday that it has begun selling its latest premium smartphone V20 in the US and Canada, with the aim of appealing to audiophiles, camera enthusiasts and content creators.

LG is hoping to win over customers who are looking to purchase a large-size premium smartphone, including those seeking alternatives to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 which was recently pulled from the market due to battery safety issues. 

Sales of the LG V20 officially began in the US last Friday via the country’s top wireless carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, according to the South Korean electronics maker.

The same day, the new device became available in Canada via Videotron and Wind Mobile. This is the first time LG launched a “V Series” model in the country.

The 5.7-inch LG V20 is a large-size smartphone boasting high-end audio capabilities and wide-angle cameras. It comes with a removable battery and is available in two colors -- titan and silver.

The V20 -- categorized as a “phablet,” a combination of a phone and tablet -- is the follow-up model to the V10, a part of LG’s flagship “V Series” which stands alongside its other premium “G Series.”

“The V20 offers high performance and quality unmatched by any other mobile device in the market,” LG Electronics’ Senior Vice President of US Marketing Ma Chang-min said in a statement.

“Its specialized video capturing functions are particularly geared to appeal to young US consumers who like to share videos via social media,” Ma said.

Co-engineered by Bang & Olufsen, Denmark’s luxury brand for stereo devices, LG’s new smartphone boasts high-quality acoustics and audio functions. It integrates the 32-bit Hi-fi Quad digital to analog converter technology into its hardware, minimizing ambient noise by up to 50 percent to deliver clearer acoustics.

The V20 comes with advanced cameras with manual control features -- the 5-megapixel frontal camera with a 120-degree angle and two rear cameras, each at 16-megapixels and 8-megapixels and able to cover a 135-degree angle.

LG’s new handset, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, also leverages Qualcomm Technologies’ electronic image stabilization, or EIS, technology to record sharper-resolution videos with minimized shaking.

The LG V20 is priced at $672 to $830 in the US and Canada before taxes. The V20’s tax-inclusive price in the two countries is slightly higher than its final price in Korea of 899,800 won ($786).

Looking ahead, the LG V20 is geared to compete against other advanced smartphones in the market including Apple’s 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus as well as Google’s 5-inch Pixel and 5.5-inch Pixel XL.

Beyond Korea and North America, LG also announced plans to introduce the V20 into additional markets, such as Hong Kong and countries in Central and South America in the near future.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)