LG V30; IT'S FInally!!! HERE

LG V30
IT'S FInally!!! HERE

Successor to the LG V20, which was the first non-Google phone to run Android Nougat, the LG V30 was announced this morning in Berlin at the IFA tradeshow. Highlights include a 6in 18:9 FullVision OLED screen, a large-aperture dual-camera, Hi-Fi Quad DAC and the powerful Snapdragon 835 processor.

The LG V30 is a bezel-free device with numerous clever additions. The focus is on audio and videography, but LG isn’t forgetting about smartphone basics. This is a gorgeous, powerful phone that could well be one of the year’s best.

LG V30 Design

Instead of straying from the pack, the LG V30 blends in with this year’s fleet of flagships. It even takes design cues from the LG G6, but it manages to steer itself in a few new directions, too.

Starting on the front, LG’s FullVision tech is on display here, complete with a gorgeous 6-inch OLED (finally!) display tuned at 2,880 x 1,440. While there are still bezels at the ends and the sides of the V30, the presentation renders them to be quite understated.

LG’s latest measures in at 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm and weighs 158 grams, all of which puts it on par in sizing with the Google Pixel XL. That said, it’s remarkable that LG has fit a screen that’s a half an inch larger inside of a chassis that’s nearly the same size. Interestingly, it’s just a bit wider than the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, though the rest of its dimensions pale in comparison.

Around its glossy steel siding, you’ll find a tactile volume rocker to the left, and a SIM and microSD tray on the right. Down below, there’s a bottom-firing speaker grill next to the V30’s USB-C charging port. Up top, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is your one-stop shop for experiencing the phone’s Hi-Fi audio capabilities.

Flipped over on its slightly curved glass back, the phone’s fingerprint sensor, which doubly works as its power button, sits right in the middle – a more ergonomic location than Samsung’s choice with the Galaxy S8 and Note 8.

Glancing upward has us stumbling upon the V30’s dual-camera system. This isn’t LG’s first foray into the technology – the LG V10 was released in 2015. But this phone’s duo of lenses puts them to the best use yet. We’ll dive into that more below.

Lastly, LG has done the V30 a solid by implementing wireless charging as well as making it both water and dustproof with IP68 resistance. It also meets military spec standards, meaning it’s very durable. For such a pretty phone, that’s a very good thing.

LG V30 Display

Even though the company builds some of the finest OLED televisions on the market, LG has stuck to LCD panels for its flagships phones recently. That all changes with the V30, which features an OLED display instead.

OLED panels offer more vivid colours, deep blacks and in general display more punch than the LCD counterparts. The 6-inch 2880 x 1440 ‘Full Vision’ HDR 10 panel here looks immediately better than the one on the G6. It boasts the same 18:9 aspect ratio and QHD+ resolution, but visually it appears much more colourful.  LG has added a new ‘Enhanced Colour Mode’ that gives non-HDR content a faux-HDR look. Samsung offers such a feature as well.

Previous entries in the ‘V’ series paired a smaller display with the main one, which acted almost like a shortcuts bar. I’m sure it had its fans, but I’m glad it’s gone here. It always felt like wasted space; besides, it really wouldn’t have worked with the new design.

LG V30 Camera

The camera on the LG V30 is absolutely stacked with features, making it an exciting prospect. Like the LG G6, there are two cameras on the rear. The ‘main’ camera is 16 megapixels with OIS and a wide f/1.6 aperture that should help low-light photography. Next to that sits a wide-angle camera that captures pictures with a 120-degree field of view. This secondary camera lacks optical image stabilisation, but it still has a wide f/1.9 lens.

Personally, this is our favourite combination of cameras. You might not get the ability to losslessly zoom or enter a bokeh enhancing ‘Portrait Mode’ – a feature LG simple calls gimmicky and would be reserved for cheaper devices – but the variation of shots achievable with that wide camera is far more useful in my opinion.

LG’s second big push is in the area of video, with the V30 boasting a number of recording options that I haven’t seen before. The biggest of these is a new file format called LG Cine Log, which essentially allows you to colour grade your footage with a number of pre-made filters. These range from ‘Blockbuster’ to ‘Noir’; and in my short time with the phone, they look good. LG will ship 15 filters with the V30, and I’m sure there will be scope to add more.

Another new feature is ‘Point Zoom’, which lets you lock onto a target when you’re filming and softly zoom directly on the subject.

The only part of the camera that hasn’t been updated is the front-facing sensor. It remains a 5-megapixel unit, with LG basically admitting that it’s sacrificed the selfie-taking skills of this phone to rid the bezel.

LG V30 Performance

Inside of the V30, LG has opted to check just about every box required to stand up against the latest and greate competition. You’ll find the Snapdragon 835, which is making its LG debut here, paired with 4GB of RAM. Our time so far with the V30 has seen nary a stutter while switching between apps – even when loading up intensive games or the camera app’s unique and new abilities.

Combining the latest tech with a pixel-dense OLED display was the right move here for LG. Not only does it put the V30 in line with the competition – even the iPhone 8 is rumored to have one when it launches – it’s finally primed for Google Daydream virtual reality. We’ll definitely be trying that out as soon as possible.

This phone comes with Android Nougat out of the box, but LG told us that it fully intends to upgrade the device to Android Oreo as soon as possible. So for now, you’ll be able to enjoy split-window multitasking, but not the picture-in-picture mode that comes with the latest software update.

Music fans will be happy to see that LG has hung onto the 3.5mm jack and that the company will be tossing in a set of Bang & Olufsen earbuds with purchase. Not just that, it has a quad DAC inside that promises to boost sound quality for your average files. This is a sought-after feature that we’re happy to see the company give another go on a wider scale.

LG V30 Battery 

There’s a 3300mAh battery to keep the LG V30 going, which is the same size unit included in the smaller LG G6. It’s far too early to judge the battery capabilities of this phone, but hopefully the more efficient CPU will help it perform better than its sibling. It charges via USB-C and supports fast as well as wireless charging.

Conclusion

Based on first impressions, it appears that LG has taken full advantage of its opportunity to make good on the learnings from the LG V20 and LG G6. From the feature set (stuffed full) to the availability (no longer just a US-only affair), it’s easy to see that, yes, LG is actually listening to feedback.

The camera, with its f/1.6 aperture, sounds great too. I’m slightly more interested in its photographic capabilities than video, but the new Cine Log recording and colour-grading feature that go along with it do sound interesting.

Regardless, the V30 seems to be a top-rate flagship smartphone. Its 18:9 display continues to impress, it’s packed with Qualcomm’s latest processor, and its camera is above and beyond.