14 DAY TRIAL // LG has just unveiled the V30, the company’s latest Android flagship smartphone that competes against Samsung’s S lineup, not only in terms of technical specifications, but also when it comes to the design.
The front of the LG V30 is all screen, similar to the Galaxy S8, and while it also comes with curved edges, they’re a bit subtler than on the South Korean rival. LG calls this approach FullVision, while Samsung markets the screen of the S8 as Infinity Display, but in both cases the focus is on a bezel-less panel that increases the screen-to-body ratio and the available screen space in a substantial manner.
No second screen
The 6-inch Quad HD OLED display has a resolution of 2880x1440 pixels and features a 18:9 aspect ratio, with rounded corners and a shiny metal frame that looks similar to the one on Samsung’s flagships.
As compared to predecessor V20, the V30 gives up on the second screen, but instead LG hopes to make the new phone a lot more comfortable in hand, despite its rather big dimensions.
The back of the phone is covered in Gorilla Glass 5, while the dual-camera system uses Gorilla Glass 4. The fingerprint sensor is placed in the center of the back, unlike on Samsung models where it’s positioned right next to the camera in an impossible to reach place.
The V30 uses a dual-lens camera configuration with a primary 16-megapixel f/1.6 unit and a wide-angle 13-megapixel lens with 120-degree angle of view. There’s also a front-facing selfie camera with 5 megapixels and 90-degree angle of view.
IP68 rating
As compared to the V20, the new V30 no longer features a removable back, and it’s mostly because the device is waterproof with an IP68 rating. The device has already passed military-standard durability tests and is rated MIL-STD-810G.
This time, the LG used a 3,300 mAh battery which the company says is enough to get you through the day. And it should be, given that Samsung uses the same unit on the otherwise larger Galaxy Note 8.
The V30 gets its power from a Snapdragon 835 chip paired with 4GB RAM, with 2 storage options, namely 64GB and 128GB. A microSD card is also available.
The more surprising thing is that the V30 comes out of the box with Android 7.1.2 and not Android 8.0, but there’s no doubt the device will be upgradeable to Oreo.
But it appears that in terms of software, LG wanted to focus all of its efforts elsewhere, so the device come s with face and voice unlock, so you can configure the phone to unlock when you respond to Google assistant using your phone word or phrase.
The device will be available in several colors, namely Aurora Black, Cloud Silver, Moroccan Blue, and Lavender Violet. There’s no word on pricing and availability just yet, but we’ll update the article when such info is released.
UPDATE: September 21 appears to be the launch date for several large markets, including South Korea, Europe, and North America, but no pricing info just yet.
