LG recently introduced its new flagship device the LG V30. This is way better than any other phone LG has ever made and it is so very 2017. The smartphone is a big feature packed richly enhanced Android flagship from the Korean phone maker. These are the top five things that should know about the new LG V30 in reverse chronological order.
The attention to detail
All this comes from the fact that LG has had a lot to learn from last year’s V20, the G5 and this year’s G6. But, some of it is just about knowing what people want and this new phone checks pretty much all the boxes imaginable. It has expandable storage via micro-SD for those who like it, it has wireless charging, fast charging, USB-type C and IP certified water proofing. It also has a headphone jack that is backed up with a 32-bit Quad DAC that audiophiles will really like.
The removable battery might be gone but 3300 mAH battery that is on board is pretty promising if not standard for its size, as usual fast charging and wireless charging should back that up. It gets the fingerprint positioning right and puts it in the middle of the back where its reachable (SAMSUNG DO YOU COPY?) and it also doubles as a power button still which is kind of LG’s thing. So the V30 checks all the boxes in a way that no other smartphone has done expect for may be the $1,000 Note 8.
The Software
We’ve never been fans of LG’s skin on top of Android. But LG has updated its skin to be more modern and the skin on the LG V30 is more tolerable — a big part is how many features LG has added on top of Android 7.1.2. It looks less “cartoonish” or less weird. Of course expect some bloatware but most of it can be removed or hidden if you want and performance is not only smooth as you would expect, but really fluid based on the demo videos we’ve seen.
They have also done away with the useless second screen that was on the V10 and V20 in favor of an optional floating bar that you can bring in by swiping the edge and put your favorite shortcut apps. Its basically kind of like apps edge on the new Samsung phones. You can also rearrange the virtual buttons on the bottom in any order you want. It also comes with smart settings a feature that comes with various scenarios, so may be when you are home it turns on Wifi and Bluetooth then turn down the screen brightness, etc but when you get to work it does something different.
It has a couple of themes built in too and also of course a themes store to download which ever theme that suits your fancy to make this phone really look different.
The Design
LG has stepped up, it’s game to 100 percent with this phone. The design is pretty dope that now looks very 2017. Its a huge display up-front with 82 percent screen to body ratio that kind of curves over to the edges and makes this sort of a glass sandwich design. To be clear, its not anything we haven’t seen before in fact it looks more like the latest Samsung Galaxy phones. They xeroxed how the sides round off pretty smoothly, the antenna bands matching pretty well to give the feeling of a really thin and light-weight device in the hand.
It has a complete and suitable deign for 2017, something we would expect when you put a dream phone together. It has minimum bezels, the camera bump on the back is bearable and the logos aren’t too much of an eye-sore either. The only complaint about the design is the placement of the headphone jack at the top of the phone instead of the bottom, but at least it has a headphone jack (APPLE DO YOU COPY?).
The Display
The new screen is incredibly good, its a 6 inch, 2880 by 1440 pixels P-OLED display and it gets crazy bright (no nits rating to share at the moment) but is totally visible outdoors, much more visible than most and honestly could rival some of the best Samsung displays we’ve seen in the past year or two in colors and brightness also in clarity and saturation. Obviously, 2880 by 1440 will give a 18:9 aspect ratio which makes it a bit narrower than your typical 16:9 phones, so when you are watching videos or using certain apps sometimes gaming you get black bars on either side of the display. The viewing angles are pretty good and the curved corners are really great. LG has made an all round great display and we think it will be a top feature that will put it on the map for.
The Camera (s)
This phone spots dual cameras. On the back its a one 16 megapixel f1.6 main camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and another secondary super wide-angle 13 megapixel f1.9 camera. They have done these dual cameras before, but this time just everything a round them being improved. Shots of this thing look top notch, but the disclaimer here its all pre-production software is not yet final. The photes have great detail and dynamic range. Also having a fixed 1.6 aperture means you can get pretty close to a subject and also able to fade away the background which is cool. The super wide-angle camera has less distortion than before.
So what makes the camera the number one feature? Its the camera app, the little great changes they made, from the ability to drag the shutter button to move between the two cameras to zoom in and out, which is smart as that’s is also what Samsung is doing with the Note 8. It also has your usual massive amount of settings from Auto HDR, self timers, massive modes (manual, cine video, Food, Snap movie, MatchShot, time-lapse, panaroma, 360 panaroma, etc)
In conclusion, the v30 is a great device and looks really promising and we have not even covered everything. It is pretty clear that it will be loved by mainly the audiophiles, mobile photography and videography enthusiasts. So with the Note 8, iPhone 8, all expected to be on sale later this year, will you get a V30?
