LG V30 Smartphone Preview – LG has seen the light
LG’s V phones have been the most luxurious phones the manufacturer has made since 2015, but something was missing last year: With the V30, the South Korean manufacturer does not skip the low countries. We can expect this smartphone in the shops before the end of the year.
The V30 resembles a refined version of the G6 released earlier this year. The G6 was the smartphone that this year pushed aside the seemingly untouchable 16:9 screen ratio with a 2:1 display. That device, however, has a SOC from last year and the screen was not your thing either. The V30 has a more recent soc and an OLED screen, the first LG phone in more than two years.
In terms of beauty, the OLED screen is a considerable step forward. The screen looks rich in contrast, and we therefore suspect that it is just as beautiful as the OLED screens from Samsung, for example, although we must of course study that further. The screen has HDR10 support and a resolution of 2880×1440 pixels.
The V series featured a second screen from the start. The V10 and V20 have a much smaller secondary screen above the primary screen for shortcuts and notifications. The idea was that users could already see and do things without having to turn on the big screen. As far as we are concerned, the second screen has rightly been omitted from the V30. With the new 18:9 screen ratio, the screen is already quite long and it would make the phone even longer.
LG has built in a function to simulate the second screen of the previous V phones with its shortcuts. There is a floating bar that you can turn on in the software. You can place this anywhere, including where the second screen would normally be. Yet this is not the same as a real second screen, because the button to open it is often awkwardly placed over something. This makes it a kind of edge window, as we see it with Samsung, but then the button is a bit larger and therefore more disturbing.
The screen is curved on the sides, just like this year’s high-end Samsung devices. That curvature is a lot less than with the Galaxy smartphones and that gives the V30 its own style, although LG has unmistakably looked over the hedge at the South Korean neighbors. The device fits comfortably in the hand, due to the round corners on all sides. The fingerprint scanner on the back is also easily accessible, unlike the Galaxy S8+ and Note 8, for example. The best thing compared to the V10 and V20 is that it is a lot more compact, despite the fact that the screen is no less than six inches in size .
| Smartphone | Samsung S8+ | LG G6 | LG V30 | LG V20 | LG V10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thickness (mm) | 8.1 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 7.6 | 8.6 |
| Width (mm) | 73.4 | 71.9 | 75.4 | 78.1 | 79.3 |
| Length (mm) | 159.5 | 148.9 | 151.7 | 159.7 | 159.6 |
| Weight (grams) | 173 | 163 | 158 | 174 | 192 |
| Screen size (inch) | 6.2 | 5.7 | 6 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| Screen area ( cm2 ) | 97.6 | 83.8 | 92.9 | 93.9 | 93.9 |
The table above gives an idea of the limited size of the V30. The relative screen size of the V30 is around 81 percent. That is a lot, although the Note 8 goes over it at 83 percent. The difference is mainly on the sides: LG leaves 3.62 mm per side and that is quite a bit. Phones from OnePlus and HTC, for example, have about the same number of bezels on the sides, Samsung leaves a lot less due to the stronger bending.
The V30 is also quite thin and that ensures that we did not have the idea of having a large phone in our hands, where that is the case with the S8 +, for example. It fits a bit easier in the pocket than an S8 +.
As you can also see in the table, the V30 is not that heavy, which LG has achieved through lighter components and a thinner screen. You feel that immediately when you hold it in your hands. A light phone raises questions about sturdiness, so we tried to bend it. LG claims to have incorporated an h-beam construction into the device to make it more sturdy. The V30 feels very sturdy and does not give much. Another positive point is that the V30 has an ip68 rating for water and dust resistance.
The back of the new LG smartphone, just like the front, is made of Gorilla Glass 5. Glass has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, it is a bit slippery and you quickly see finger smudges on it. LG has anticipated the latter by applying a kind of structure under the glass layer. It’s quite subtle and certainly doesn’t cover up all the finger swipes, but it does help make them less noticeable. If you compare it to a very finger-swiping phone like the U11, the difference is obvious.
Another positive thing, which was strangely not mentioned during the press conference, is that the vibrator motor has become considerably more powerful since the V20 and G6. It feels about the same as the Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8. When you take a photo, for example, you get feedback in the form of a very short powerful vibration and that feels like quality.
Photosensitive camera with focus on video
The camera is a spearhead of the V30 and that is reflected, among other things, in a special specification. It is the first smartphone with a camera with an aperture of f/1.6. That is quite bright, although it is not a world of difference in light output compared to an aperture of f/1.7. Also striking is the aperture of the second camera lens. That is namely f/1.9 and that is brighter than we saw with the secondary cameras of other smartphones that we have tested so far. For example, the second camera of the G6, which also has the function of a wide-angle camera, is f/2.4. The number of megapixels has also increased somewhat with the primary camera compared to the G6, from thirteen to sixteen megapixels.
We were able to shoot some photos during our first moments with the device and it is always very difficult to say how good a camera is exactly. However, the first photos we took in the darkest corner looked quite reasonable. The answer to the question of exactly how good the cameras are, however, remains to be answered until the review.
What we can reasonably assess is how the new video mode works. LG has introduced the so-called Cine Video mode with the V30. In it you can apply real -time filters, from horror-like filters to vintage and other common changes in the style of the image. You can also determine whether and how much vignetting you want and you can determine how intense the filter should be. That all worked fine, but we find the second addition in this mode secretly more interesting.
It has Point Zoom and with that you can tap a point in the image, after which you can easily determine with a slider how fast you zoom to or from it. Of course this zoom is digital, but the effect can look nice. When you normally zoom in on an object, it happens fairly quickly that the camera moves back and forth, so you don’t get a tight zoom. If you keep the V30 stable, for example in a tripod or if you rest it on something, you can create a tight zoom with the Point Zoom. Something that was noticeable in a negative sense with this mode is that when zoomed in fully, the camera seems to have trouble capturing enough light. The image became very dark.
Sound quality
Sound quality is the area in which the V-series distinguishes itself. Just like in the V20, there is a quad dac in the V30. In this case it concerns the Saber ES 9218P. The software contains various sound modifications, including sound presets such as Enhanced, Detailed, Live and Bass. Perhaps more interesting is that you can adjust the characteristics of the sound with digital filters. You then have three options, where the sound sounds more natural, clearer or more spacious. That works well at first hearing.
As with previous LG phones, the V30 comes packed with Bang & Olufsen earbuds. We’ve had them in for a while and they sound good, but on a noisy show floor with no comparison material, there’s no telling if the sound quality is any better than the V20. Which is positive in any case: this new phone also has a 3.5mm jack .
A striking statement from LG was that the audio receiver would serve as an extra microphone, because it is very sensitive. The data from that would be combined with the regular microphone(s) to capture both the quietest and loudest sounds; therefore a larger dynamic range. According to LG, the V30 could record up to a volume of no less than 142db without overdriving. As far as we understand, this is only possible with LG’s HD Audio Recorder app and not, for example, via the camera.
Minuses and other things
Have we not been able to discover any downsides to the LG V30? Yes, it certainly is and it can be summed up in one word: bloatware. There were a lot of apps pre-installed on the V30, but we have to say that it could have been set up for the demo. There are still a number of LG apps that are certainly included and, for example, the Guitar Hero lookalike Beat Fever, for which you also receive a hundred dollars in in-app content when you purchase the V30. LG’s software is fine, but if you like a clean Android experience, you’re in for a rude awakening. In addition, it is a pity that the smartphone does not immediately come out with Android Oreo, which the Xperia devices announced at IFA do have from the box. The V20 last year was even the first smartphone with Android Nougat.
LG has also equipped the V30 with a glued glass housing. The V10 and V20 have interchangeable batteries and were also made of less fragile materials. The 2015 V10 is made of a rubbery plastic on the back.
The V30 has a battery capacity of 3300mAh, which is reasonable for a device with a 6″ screen size, but not very much. For comparison, the Galaxy S8+ has a battery capacity of 3,500mAh and the S8 3,000mAh. It has support for Quick Charge 3.0 and you can also charge it wirelessly. The smartphone will have 64GB of ufs 2.0 storage and 4GB of lpddr4x memory. That is not very much in both cases, if you consider that the price will probably fall in the highest category. a V30+ will also be released in some countries, with the only difference being that it has 128GB of storage.