The LG V30 was announced during IFA in Berlin on August 31, and the device quickly gained mass attention from both consumers and critics alike. The device, which launches within the first two weeks of October in the US, is considered to be the most industrialized looking phone that LG ever has constructed. Unlike the previous "V" devices, LG chose to borrow design elements from the LG G6 which was released in early 2017.
Here are some of the best features:
The dual rear cameras
Unlike other devices with dual-camera setups that have a primary and telephoto lens, LG’s dual-camera setup instead has a normal and wide-angle lens.
The primary camera is 16MP with an aperture of f/1.6. The aperture is claimed to be the largest in any smartphone by LG. Meanwhile, the secondary camera is 13MP with an aperture of f/1.9.
LG also focused a lot more on manual settings for the V30's camera. The device can now shoot in uncompressed "log" format. Videos shot in log format are often used by professional filmmakers, as "log" videos provide the highest versatility for doing after-effects and post editing. There are also several other features especially focused on videography, such as preset filters for taking videos, manual focus, and other options.
The display
LG has moved away from IPS LCD Technology. Instead, the V30 has a highly efficient 6-inch P-OLED Display with a resolution of 1440 x 2880.
The display is good enough to be compared with its main competitor the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and similarly to the Note 8. The V30 also has an 81.2% screen-to-body ratio, meaning the aspect ratio is 18:9, unlike conventional 16:9 aspect ratio.
The Display is also one of the few devices that support HDR content.
Powerful specifications
LG commonly release their devices a bit earlier than usual compared to other OEM's. Due to this, most LG top-flight devices do not come with the latest version of SnapDragon processors. But the V30 does come with the latest most powerful SnapDragon 835 chipset with 4 GB of ram and Adreno 340 GPU.
Design
The V30 could possibly be among the most good looking phones of 2017. The construction is primarily of glass and metal, with design influence from its younger brother the LG G6.
Here are some of the worst features.
Software
With Android 8.0 Oreo released a month back, the device is still shipping with Android 7.1.2 Nougat. LG is usually fast on their first updates, but the next OS update could slow down for carrier-based or regionally locked models. LG UX, although much better now, it is still criticized for slower animation times and cartoonish looks.
Material choice
On paper, the V30 is perfect with an all metal and glass body. But LG used two different version of Gorilla Glass for the V30 - Gorilla Glass 5 for the display and 4 for the rear.
This implementation of various gorilla glass needs to be tested out for durability.
The front camera
With spectacular rear cameras, it was a huge let down for LG to use a 5 MP front camera with an aperture of f/2.2. Initial reviews of The Front camera are being reported as disappointing, as photos come out very soft and blurry. The front camera especially struggles at night time, with noise levels at the extremes.
