LG V30 Review - The V-Series is back with a stunning design. Review of LG V30 - a premium smartphone and its comparison with competitors Lg v30 which headphones are included

Smartphone designs, which have remained virtually unchanged for the past two to three years, have finally started to change this year. Moreover, this affected not form factors, but displays. In the race for an increased diagonal, engineers and designers are trying to keep the dimensions of the devices themselves within reasonable limits. Hence the trend towards more elongated display shapes. This year alone, Andy Rubin's Essential Phone and several more smartphones that can be called frameless were presented. The flagship, of course, could hardly be classified as a truly frameless smartphone, but it was from it that the fashion for using elongated screens with an aspect ratio of 18:9 began. And LG is once again becoming a pioneer that has not received the attention it deserves.

The new LG V30+ is designed in the same style. Formally, this smartphone replaces , which was never officially launched in Russia, but in reality it is much closer to the LG G6.

The original LG V30 was presented at IFA 2017 in Berlin, and the V30+ is its improved version for the Russian market, which has just gone on sale. This improvement, however, is excluded in the increased amount of built-in memory (it was 64 GB, now it is 128). LG is also pushing wireless charging and a new audio chip, but there are no differences here from the regular V30. I can’t say that this can seriously affect the overall impression of the device, so let’s take it as a small bonus for the wait, because the LG V30 has been on sale all over the world for a long time.

The entire surface of the case, front and back, is occupied by glass, but the frame around the perimeter is solid, aluminum. Firstly, it makes the smartphone more durable - it can be dropped on the floor just like the G6. And secondly, it pleasantly cools the hand and largely contributes to the feeling of an expensive and high-quality item.

The right side, as already mentioned, does not contain any elements except the SIM card tray and memory card, and on the left side of the LG V30+ there are volume buttons. There is a 3.5 mm jack at the top, and USB Type-C (3.1) at the bottom center. Yes, the LG V30+ can hardly be called a compact device, but for a 6-inch smartphone it is quite compact. And if the width of the case turns out to be greater than that of the same Galaxy Note8, then due to its smaller thickness it is more convenient to operate, and it causes much less inconvenience in a jeans pocket.

Oddly enough, at the time of release, V30+ runs Android 7.1.2 instead of the current Android 8.0. However, the company should release an update in the near future. In the meantime, it is worth noting the laconic and unobtrusive shell of LG UX 6.0 and a small set of useful applications.

In the V30+, you can use system tools to clean the RAM and set up energy saving modes - in principle, the smartphone does this well without your active participation, but if necessary, you can perform the procedures manually.

In addition, there is a convenient quick access panel that can be placed at any screen height on the right or left. When clicked, the panel expands, and in the context menu you can quickly create a note or list, make a GIF animation from a video on the screen, go to the general settings menu and perform a number of other functions. Of course, the set of functions for quick access can be edited at your discretion.

Display and sound

The six-inch P-OLED display occupies almost the entire front panel. There are still frames on the sides, but they are very small - the display occupies 81.2% of the front surface area. This is slightly less than the Samsung Galaxy Note8 (83.2%) and slightly more than the Huawei Mate 10 Pro (80.9%).

The resolution is 1440 × 2880 pixels, so the pixel density is very high - 537 ppi. There is support for Dolby Vision and HDR10 technologies, but in this case we rely not on marketing terms, but on laboratory testing. In the case of OLED (equally P-OLED and AMOLED), we do not provide a contrast diagram - from the point of view of a colorimeter, it turns out to be infinite, since the black color of a pixel is achieved by the complete absence of glow.

The maximum brightness naturally turns out to be slightly lower than that of IPS matrices, but by OLED standards this is in perfect order. The color gamut turned out to be wider than the sRGB space, but the quality of the screen settings was almost not affected.

Yes, you can find fault a little with the “high” color temperature, which averages 7,700 K with the reference 6,500 K, but this is a very common practice. Manufacturers often deliberately “shift” the screen towards cooler shades, since users find such a picture more pleasing to the eye. The average DeltaE deviation for the extended ColorChecker palette is 6.08 - this is also a slight overkill, but nothing serious.

The 18:9 aspect ratio allows you to easily operate your smartphone with one hand. The majority of applications have already been adapted, so V30+ owners will not experience any inconvenience in this regard. Well, since the display is made using OLED technology, it didn’t cost LG anything to implement the AlwaysOn Display function, and with some customization options. For example, you can choose from several analog or digital watch faces. The price for this convenience will be increased battery consumption. I checked: if you turn off all wireless modules and don’t touch the smartphone at all for a day, the service information on the display “eats up” about 14-16% of the charge. That is, it will take less than 10% per day. Whether you need it or not - decide for yourself.

LG V30+ is equipped with an upgraded DAC - ES9218 Saber. If you have music in an uncompressed format, the smartphone sounds excellent; in this case, complaining about the sound in headphones is a sin. The maximum volume level is enough for any situation, in general, complete order. But the sound from the external speaker could have been louder. But don’t think, I’m not complaining about the impossibility of listening to rap on the street - in my world, only the maximum volume (and therefore efficiency) of the alarm clock is important.

By the way, the LG V30+ comes with a Bang & Olufsen headset. The company is well-deserved, but you shouldn’t expect miracles from these headphones - they are not bad, but nothing more.

Specifications LG V30

• Platform: Android 7.1 with LG UX 6.0+
• Network: GSM, WCDMA, FDD-LTE (band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30)
• Display: 6 inches, resolution 2880x1440 pixels, 538 ppi, HDR 10, OLED FullVision matrix, Always On Display function
• Camera: dual 16 MP with aperture f=1.6 + 13 MP (f=1.9, viewing angle 120 degrees), optical stabilization, dual LED flash
• Front camera: 5 MP, f=2.2, viewing angle 90 degrees
• Processor: 8 cores, 10 nm, 64 bit, up to 2.45 GHz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
• Graphics chip: Adreno 540
• RAM: 4GB LPDDR4X
• Internal memory: 64 GB UFS2.0 (128 GB for V30+)
• Memory card: up to 2 TB
• Satellite systems: GPS and GLONASS
• Communications: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), dual band, 2x2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, USB Type-C 2.0 (3.1 compatible), 3.5 mm audio jack
• Additionally: NFC, protection according to IP68 and MIL-STD-810G standards, fingerprint scanner
• Sound: ESS SABER ES9218P, Quad Hi-Fi Audio, B&O Play
• Battery: 3300 mAh, Quick Charge 3.0, wireless charging
• Dimensions: 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3 mm
• Weight: 158 g

Introduction

At the IFA 2017 exhibition, LG Electronics presented a new V-series smartphone – V30. The welcoming speech was taken by Juno Cho, President and Chief Executive Officer of LG. He thanked everyone present at the event, spoke about his vision of “smartphone construction”, all the advantages of the device, and called the main presenter Andrew Coughlin, the company’s business leader, to the stage.

Coughlin emphasized that more and more people in the world began to shoot videos, and not just “raw” videos, but rather well-processed ones in special programs to improve the visual effect. He also reminded that it is the V30 that is capable of unlocking the full potential of video shooting. And in order to convince the audience in the hall, the business leader called David Franco, director of photography of the popular series “Game of Thrones,” onto the stage. David explained that the visual component lies not only in the right shots, but also in color correction, which is why the V30 smartphone is equipped with a large number of filters that can be applied to recorded videos. Another feature that Franco drew attention to is spot zoom: you click on the desired object on the screen and use a special slider to smoothly zoom in or out of the picture. At the presentation this function looked interesting.

It must be said that almost the entire program was in one way or another dedicated to creating a video on the LG V30: each of those present on stage highlighted this particular moment.

Next we talked about recording sound on smartphones. Like, most people don’t know how to write clear sound without distortion at concerts. In order to implement such technology, LG designers used a speech speaker as a microphone: a denser membrane can withstand greater sound loads.

Andrew Coughlin also talked about the cameras: for the first time in the world, optics with an f=1.6 aperture were used in a mobile device. The distortion has been corrected in the new software version.

Adrienne McCallister, director of VR business development at Google, was invited to the event. She explained that it is the V30 with an OLED matrix that is capable of unlocking the potential of VR due to its picture quality.

Naturally, when it came to the processor, the vice president of Qualcomm, Don Maguire, appeared on the stage. He explained that without the Qualcomm chip it would hardly have been possible to create a device with a screen that supports HDR, to use the full potential of photo and video cameras, high-speed data transfer, and more.

In conclusion, the LG business leader said that the smartphone uses a dedicated music chip and will come with Bang & Olufsen headphones. By the way, their logo is on the back of the device.

Appearance

LG paid almost no attention to this topic, apparently because it is now difficult to surprise with the design of smartphones: almost everything looks the same, and the materials are either metal or glass. In this case, fifth generation Corning Gorilla Glass is used on both sides. Metal frame.

That is, in general, there is nothing that could be highlighted from a design point of view. However, it is worth noting that the thickness of the device is only 7.3 mm, and the gadget weighs 158 grams.

There are four color options: Aurora Black, Cloud Silver, Moroccan Blue and Lavender Violet. As far as I understand, all options are made in a glossy case, however, according to representatives of the LG team, fingerprints should be invisible.

The new product received IP68 protection and a military certificate MIL-STD-810. That is, the V30 is difficult to drown, bury in sand and break. In theory, a smartphone should feel comfortable in all possible weather conditions.

Display

The screen diagonal is 6 inches – quite an impressive size. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus has a diagonal of 6.2 inches and dimensions of 159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm (LG V30 - 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3 mm). The display matrix of the V30 is P-OLED, which is also why it was possible to reduce the weight of the device. Resolution – 2880x1440 pixels, density 536 pixels per inch, aspect ratio 18:9 – FullVision. Supports display of HDR content.

“OLED display expertise has long been one of LG's core competencies, and the technology itself has always been considered potentially important for smartphones,” said Juno Cho, president of LG Electronics Mobile Communications. “Today, the global smartphone industry is more competitive than ever before, and we decided it was time to bring OLED displays back to our mobile devices.”

“Using optimal image rendering algorithms carefully selected through years of OLED research and development, the company has achieved 148% sRGB1 color space coverage for digital on-screen images and 109% DCI-P32 color space coverage for digital cinema. Another important advantage of OLED technology is the response speed, which is tens of times higher than that of LCD. This helps eliminate afterimages, which is important when viewing dynamic scenes and working with virtual reality applications.”

“Since the new smartphone's display will be based on Plastic OLED technology - also known as P-OLED - its edges can be curved to improve the ergonomic design and ease of use. P-OLED technology involves placing pixels on a plastic base, which is much more durable than glass. In addition, the smartphone display will be protected from damage by the new Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 with increased durability. More importantly, the use of advanced encapsulation and pixel scanning technologies in the new device from LG will virtually eliminate pixel burn-in from OLED displays. Encapsulation significantly reduces the harmful effects of oxygen and moisture on display elements, and LG's pixel scanning technology allows you to use less power per pixel, preserving the device's battery power."

I am sure that the screen will be gorgeous, definitely no worse than that of the Samsung Galaxy S8. However, the latter has fine profile settings, that is, the S8’s color display can easily be made almost black and white or close to an IPS matrix. Whether such features will be available in the V30 is still unknown.

This time, the LG V30 displays information on the locked screen thanks to OLED and AlwaysOn feature. At the presentation, various lock screen substrates were demonstrated. Again, we saw this in Samsung devices, but now it is also in LG devices.

Battery

The LG V30 gadget is equipped with a built-in 3300 mAh battery. I think this capacity should be enough for a full day of active work: there is excellent software optimization, an energy-efficient processor, and, most importantly, an OLED matrix.

The device supports fast charging QC 3.0, so in 30 minutes the battery will be charged to 50%. The device has built-in wireless charging; it allows you to charge the battery up to 50% within an hour. In addition, the software has a Power Saving Mode function. You can put your phone into extreme power saving mode. Moreover, the function allows you to adjust brightness, resolution, disable AlwaysOn and even reduce the number of frames.

"Iron"

As you might have guessed, the LG V30 runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip. There is 4 GB of RAM, and the built-in memory can be 64 or 128 GB (later a model with more memory will appear, it is called LG V30+).

This model supports USB-C 3.1 (USB-PD), Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac DualBand, Bluetooth version 5.0. There is GLONASS and GPS.

One of the original things is the built-in ESS9218P music chip. The LG V30 also features partner company MQA Ltd.'s technology to help improve high-resolution audio streaming, which, together with a digital-to-analog converter, allows the LG V30 to deliver audio that "touches the heart as well as the ear."

“Audiophiles and music lovers can enjoy high-definition streaming without the need to download heavy files or consume large amounts of mobile data to listen to Hi-Fi quality music on their smartphone.

While working on the new product, LG continued to work closely with B&O PLAY, which improved the acoustic capabilities of the LG V30, fine-tuning all aspects of the sound, adding its own exclusive touch. The smartphone will come with stylish, high-quality B&O PLAY headphones, designed to please your ears for hours on end.”

“For most people, their favorite music is an integral part of their life. They expect to experience the same audio experience and quality with headphones as when listening directly from a mobile device,” says John Mollanger, CEO of B&O PLAY. “We are therefore extremely excited about our long-term partnership with LG and the opportunity to serve the needs of music lovers around the world.”

Cameras

The main focus of the presentation was on the LG V30 cameras. In the introduction, we briefly talked about the fact that users are increasingly posting not only photos, but also videos on the Internet, so it must be of high quality. To do this, the developers installed Cine Effects software, which applies special effects and color corrects the video sequence. This whole thing is easy to set up.

One of the advantages of the main camera is its optics. LG calls it Crystal Clear. The lenses are made of glass, so they convey a more detailed image than cameras with plastic lenses. The company says that making glass optics is more difficult, but the result is worth it.

Lens aperture f=1.6 is the first in the world among mobile devices. This means that more light will fall on the matrix, that is, in the dark the photos will turn out even better.

“High qualifications in creating smartphone cameras have already become the hallmark of LG mobile devices. The dual camera module in the upcoming LG V30 will feature the largest aperture and maximum light transmittance lens ever used in a company smartphone. An f/1.6 lens transmits 25% more light to the camera sensor than an f/1.8 lens. The glass Crystal Clear Lens also provides superior light output and color rendering compared to plastic lenses. All of this makes the LG V30 particularly well suited for photography and video.”

The only not very clear nuance: if you look at the original frames from the device and request EXIF ​​information, it turns out that the aperture is not f=1.6, but f=1.69. Rounding up, we get the typical aperture value in many smartphones.

The resolution of the main camera is 16 MP, optical stabilization is used. The second wide-angle camera is equipped with a 13 MP sensor and f1.9 optics. At the presentation they said that the wide angle will be corrected, that is, distortion will be minimized.

“The HD audio recorder can use your smartphone's audio receiver as a microphone, allowing you to record loud sounds more clearly and clearly. Thus, the LG V30 can capture a wider dynamic range of sounds, from whispers to thunder, without distortion.”

The engineers achieved this result using the speech speaker as a microphone.

Examples of photographs (

When you test smartphones in batches, you try to find something unique and special in each one, highlighting original ideas from the general gray mass. For example, from a recent one: I liked the Google Pixel for its amazing camera and clean Android. I didn’t have time to write about the Galaxy Note 8, but I was so impressed by its hefty screen and elongated body, reminiscent of a school pencil case! I had just set it up when they took it away from me and crushed it during the video. Fortunately, fate was not so harsh with the LG V30; after the review was published on the channel, I took it for a test and now I will outline my impressions.

LG does not give up and releases a flagship every year. Moreover, they all appear different, the Koreans are trying to find the key to the buyer’s heart: sometimes playing with design, sometimes with modular construction. In my opinion, the V30 is the best that LG has released since its existence in the mobile market. A smartphone with perfect sound is just a musical bomb.

Metal, glass, beautiful!

The V-series of LG smartphones has always been special, the very top. The highlight of the line was an additional screen located above the main one. There, according to the designers, notifications appeared, reducing the load on the main display. The idea, frankly, is strange - apparently, LG also realized that they were too clever, so the V30 simply has a very large 6-inch screen with thin frames.

The case is beautiful, glass, with a metal frame, and at certain angles you can see how the surface “plays” - a small, small pattern is barely noticeable under the glass. The glass is beautiful, but easily soiled, although this is already the talk of the town, we are used to this, just like slippery cases. Why not go back to the past and go back to eye-catching leather finishes like the LG G4? Oh, how I loved its orange surface. Fashion is a changeable thing, as is mood, so a new “glass” trend came, and everything began to be made of glass.

It happened that LG was criticized for the logo located on the front. In the fight for a frameless design, it was sacrificed, so when you look at the phone from the front, you can’t immediately recognize the manufacturer. In my opinion, this is a plus: I already know what kind of phone I use, I don’t want the logo to loom before my eyes.

I haven’t used the LG G6, but I spent a few weeks with the G5 when I was preparing a review 1.5 years ago. And I didn’t like it - I was surprised by the peeling body, and the fragile modular design also disappointed me. The LG V30, on the contrary, is in complete order. Now there are no modules, the body is monolithic, and the beautiful dark purple glossy body simply sparkles in the light. I'm not a fan of purple and would prefer dark blue, but the color is rare and beautiful, which means the LG V30 has a chance to stand out from the crowd. For lovers of the classics, there are black and silver, and universal blue.

On the Wylsacom channel you can see how the LG Q6 holds up in a drop test. Yes, the phone is fragile at first glance, but it is not afraid of falls. LG V30 is from the same guard, it also meets the rather strict MIL-STD-810G standard. Of course, this is not an impact-resistant block protected from all sides, which can even destroy walls. But, in their right mind, no one would break equipment, but a banal fall from one’s hand onto the asphalt is every gadget owner’s nightmare.

LG V30 is also not afraid of water, as befits a modern phone; it is protected by IP68. But, I remind you that you don’t need to bathe it in the sea - salt water kills electronics, so only fresh liquid from lakes and rivers.

If you approach the problem from an everyday point of view, when you drink wine with your girlfriend, and then, having reached the point of drinking, you accidentally knock over the glass and spill on the table, plates and phone, then protection from water is an extremely useful thing. It can lie in water for half an hour and not die, the main thing is to rinse it under the tap and let it dry.

Musical joys

At the beginning of the text, I said that the LG V30 amazed me with its sound quality, so let's go into more detail on this part. Bang&Olufsen was responsible for the sound; LG has been cooperating with the manufacturer of excellent acoustics for a long time. This time, the union of two giants gave birth to a wonderful device. Not all phones produce such clear sound with included headphones, but here are a couple of excellent “plugs” with the B&O logo. As a standard headset it's a good option, but the V30 is capable of more.

I connected my favorite Logitech U900 to the phone, downloaded several Spotify albums at maximum quality and started listening. Then I thought that this wasn’t cool enough either, so I loaded several tracks into FLAC for testing, and spent a couple of hours listening to one thing or another. Then, inspired, I drove to our studio, listening to music along the way, sat all day with headphones, listening to how clearly, deeply and powerfully the phone played. It’s been so long since I listened to music over wires, having immersed myself in the world of wireless music, but the LG V30 reminded me why I still need to buy high-quality headphones. Because you won't get that kind of sound via Bluetooth. Audio fans, pay attention to the V30, there is simply no other smartphone on sale with such sound.

Large and frameless

The screen is beautiful, the P-OLED display with a high resolution of 1440x2880 pixels and a 6-inch diagonal fits into narrow frames, the phone does not look frighteningly healthy. This is very cool, LG called the concept “Full Vision”: an edge-to-edge screen and nothing more.

In the settings you can see several ready-made color profiles: cinema, photo, internet, regular. Which to choose? Oddly enough, I liked the “Internet” the most; it produces the most natural picture. For comparison, I took the Galaxy Note 8 and iPhone X, the default colors there are normal, although not so bright, cartoonish. If you wish, you can manually adjust the shades by moving the sliders, but this is already an activity for amateurs.

The 18:9 aspect ratio imposes its limitations: for example, you launch YouTube, and there are black padding on the sides of the screen; the content is not adapted. Beauty requires sacrifice, losses are small, so one hope is that the software will be adapted in the future. Pay attention to the neat contours in the corners, it looks beautiful, although some of the useful space is lost.

In reviews you can read that the screen in the LG V30 becomes bluish if you just look at it at an angle. Here's an example of what it looks like. But I don’t see any particular problem with this, many (if not all) displays with OLED matrices have the same behavior, and in real life you still don’t have to twist your arms that much to look at the screen. The scale of the problem is exaggerated, in my opinion, so let’s pass by.

Dual camera

LG was one of the first to offer smartphones with a pair of modules. One is “regular” and the other is a very wide angle. But what about the fashionable “portrait” mode with simulated bokeh? But it’s not here - LG decided that the smartphone is good even without it.

I’m not a fan of fisheye lenses, which is what professional photographers call such wide-angle optics. Yes, more fits into the frame, but what distortions! In addition, quality will have to be sacrificed, after all, there is an additional module of 13 megapixels. Therefore, the creative mode is for amateurs: for clarity, here are a few examples, I still prefer to shoot with the main camera, it does its job better. The 16-megapixel camera takes very good photographs during the day, but in the evening it’s worse.

LG V30 has a fast camera - f/1.6! That is, in poor lighting, the phone should take a photo, eliminating noise. In practice, it turns out that night shots look worse than on the iPhone 8 or Note 8, not to mention the Pixel. Where does all the soap and noise come from, where are the details? I thought maybe it was a defective phone, but it turned out to be simpler.

High-aperture optics and a small Sony IMX351 sensor, that's all. By the way, LG was criticized in the fall for the fact that, supposedly, the optics are not really that fast; the company simply “rounded” the characteristics for the better: instead of 1.6, it’s 1.69. In my test sample, EXIF ​​showed exactly f/1.6, but, as you can see, the shooting results are more eloquent than the stated figures.

I would also like to talk about the video. The phone records excellent videos with clear sound and sharp pictures, 4K after all! In addition, you can also apply filters, it turns out quite original: beautiful effects without unnecessary movements in the editor, it turns out conveniently.

The front camera surprised you with its aggressive shooting mode - the smartphone tries to make you beautiful, but in its own way, erasing all skin imperfections. Thank you, of course, but I’m not afraid of wrinkles, and there’s no way to turn off this tricky face corrector. Indoors in dim light, the quality is generally at the level of budget models, LG saved something on the selfie camera, but in vain, this is a flagship.

Software

LG V30 currently runs on Android 7.0, but they promise to update it to 8.0 Oreo by the end of the year. But what difference does it make if the entire Android is hidden under a proprietary shell? It is bright, cartoonishly colorful and, in its own way, attractive, it has many additional functions. Here are some examples.

Floating bar - a line with useful quick access icons. You add whatever you want there, then the menu will always be at hand. On the locked screen you can see application icons, there are missed calls and unread messages. And also Twitter and other joys. You can control a standard player, the buttons also work with Spotify. But for some reason, the buttons for controlling music were placed at the very top of the screen, you can’t reach there, it’s inconvenient.

Powerful and fast

In terms of hardware, the LG V30+ is an absolute beauty, simply top: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of internal memory and a microSD slot. Fast, does not heat up in games or under load, battery life is normal, everything is perfect with the filling. There is also “just” V30, which already has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory. I had the top option - V30+.

I was surprised when I didn’t notice the Power button on the LG V30 body, or whatever it’s called. It turned out that the key is built into the fingerprint scanner. Cool idea, why duplicate unnecessary entities. I have no questions about the scanner; it sets up quickly, works accurately and helps you make purchases when you pay for coffee in the morning via Android Pay. The connection quality is good, LTE is fast, 2 SIM cards, Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX, USB-C - the full set. Only there is perhaps no infrared port, but this is for connoisseurs.

I’ll also say a few words about the battery. The 3,300 mAh battery supports fast charging; a full charge takes 1.5 hours. You can also charge via wireless charging, this is a useful property of the glass back.

With active use, a top-end smartphone wears out within a day, or even half a day if you take a lot of pictures and text. In my opinion, the LG V30 is comparable in battery life to the Galaxy S8 Plus or Pixel XL.

Competitors

The LG V30+ has covered everything possible, LG tried its best to outshine its main competitor - Samsung. Therefore, first of all, I’ll list the Galaxy Note 8 as an alternative. Why not the Galaxy S8 Plus? The Note 8 is comparable in price to the V30+, while the S8 Plus is cheaper. Samsung has games with the stylus, a better camera, I like its design better, but this is a subjective thing.

Google Pixel XL 2 is also an option. You can’t buy it cheap in Russia, but you can bring it from America. Pixel XL 2 suffers from problems with the screen, something LG screwed up with the quality, and the design of the “ideal Google phone” is simpler. But on its side is pure Android without impurities and an awesome camera.

You can also buy OnePlus 5 and Xiaomi Mi 6 at once, perhaps there will be some change left over. Both Chinese flagships cost as much as one LG V30, think about it!

Results

LG V30+ costs 59,990 rubles, the price tag is considerable. For this money you can buy any smartphone, except that it’s not enough for the iPhone X.

LG seems to be tired of playing by its own rules. The company saw that pampering with design (replaceable LG G4 panels) was received coldly. Then there were experiments with replaceable modules, but the example of the LG G5 also turned out to be so-so. Having looked around, LG decided that it was not worth reinventing the wheel, it was easier to do the same as the others, just pump up the characteristics as much as possible.

We got the best processor, an excellent screen, bells and whistles like water protection and wireless charging, a glass body and a frameless design. Hey, people, what else do you need to be happy? And this is a question for buyers. In my opinion, the LG V30 has everything to call it a good flagship smartphone. To be completely happy, a more advanced camera is not enough, but otherwise everything is in order.

The LG V30 is priced at $750 outside the South Korean market. The model turned out to be much more affordable than its main competitor Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which costs $930.

Specifications:

• display: 6”, P-OLED FullVision QHD 1440 x 2880 px (537 ppi);
• processor: Snapdragon 835 (2.45 GHz) + Adreno 540 video accelerator;
• RAM: 4 GB;
• internal memory: 64 GB;
• camera: main – dual module 16+13 MP, front – 5 MP;
• communications: 4G LTE, Wi-Fi (802.11 ac), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC;
• battery: 3300 mAh;
• dimensions: 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.4 mm;
• weight:158 g.

The V30 received a classic set of characteristics, similar to what can be seen in many 2017 flagships. A distinctive feature of the smartphone is its large 6-inch screen, which occupies 82% of the front panel area.

Equipment and appearance

The device is packaged in a pleasant-to-touch gray box with the model logo on the top cover. Immediately underneath there is a small napkin for cleaning the glass surfaces of the smartphone from dirt. A little lower in the box there is the V30 itself, a charging unit, a USB Type-C cable, an adapter for Type-C, a box with a proprietary headset, a clip for the SIM card tray and documentation.

Despite the large 6-inch display, the V30 feels very compact and light. The design of the smartphone is very similar to the latest flagship from Samsung with some details from the LG G6. The edges of the device smoothly merge into the back glass surface, making it very comfortable to hold the device in your hands. At the moment, the V30 remains the thinnest smartphone from LG. The front panel is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

The materials of the flagship case are perfectly matched to each other; in this price category there are no problems with assembling the devices. The convenience of the smartphone also comes with an excellent appearance; at first glance, the V30 can easily be described as a premium smartphone. The gadget comes in four color options: black, silver, blue and pink.

Subjectively, this concept of an almost frameless smartphone is the most attractive on the market at the moment. The V30 has thin bezels above and below the 6-inch display, but they don't draw attention to themselves at all. At the top of the front panel there is a speaker, a 7-megapixel camera and a set of sensors.

The location of the remaining functional elements is slightly different from the classic configuration. On the right is a combined tray for SIM cards. Traditionally, instead of one of them, you can use a memory card with a capacity of up to 256 GB.

Two separate buttons for volume control are located on the left side. The keys work flawlessly and fit perfectly under the index and middle fingers of the right hand.

The USB Type-C connector is located at the bottom of the V30. Next to it is the multimedia speaker grille and a barely noticeable main microphone.

On top is a 3.5 mm headphone input, two antenna inserts and an additional microphone.

The main dual camera module is located on a small protrusion at the back. A little to the right is an LED flash and a laser autofocus eye. The fingerprint scanner is symmetrically built into the middle of the lid. Its location is more convenient than that of the Samsung Galaxy S8. The scanner also functions as a screen activation button. To confirm the presence of premium sound in the smartphone, the Bang & Olufsen brand logo is placed above the manufacturer’s logo.

Overall, the LG V30 feels like a flagship device with a huge range of features hidden behind a large 6-inch display. At the same time, the gadget is not at all bulky and very convenient. However, for not very thrifty users, we still recommend purchasing a silicone bumper. It will protect the glass surfaces of the device from unwanted scratches.

Screen

Finally, the main highlight of the review hero is the stunning 6-inch FullVision display with a resolution of 1440 x 2880 pixels. The manufacturer managed to achieve a very high ppi value, here the pixel density is 537 units per inch. At the same time, the P-OLED technology used in the V30 can significantly reduce energy consumption due to the new matrix. The HRD10 standard is supported, which provides video content of a qualitatively new level.

In automatic mode, the device's screen brightness reaches 600 nits, about the same as the Galaxy S8 can achieve. The smartphone is very convenient for watching videos or reading in any lighting conditions. However, in some videos the user will still have to put up with small black frames due to the 18:9 aspect ratio. Regular applications are already adapted to this format.

Performance

LG V30 was equipped with the top-end Snapdragon 835 processor from Qualcomm. The chipset is complemented by an Adreno 540 video accelerator and 4 GB of RAM. This is the only modification; in the LG V30+ version with a 128 GB storage drive you still get 4 GB of RAM. However, at the moment this is quite enough for a flagship device.

It is almost impossible to notice the difference between the same flagships in normal use. V30 does not experience any problems in normal operation, the interface does not sag and is perfectly animated. The difference in smartphone performance is better seen in benchmarks, where the V30 is slightly behind the Samsung Galaxy S8+. The device can be called a gaming device; it can handle any games at high graphics settings. However, we did not notice any signs of throttling during the test.

Camera

At the V30 presentation, most of the time was spent on the flagship cameras. It received two main lenses and, accordingly, two photosensors of 16 + 13 megapixels. The main lens with a viewing angle of 71 degrees has an f/1.6 aperture and is equipped with optical and electronic stabilization. This is the first mobile camera with this configuration; the f/1.6 aperture allows even more light to penetrate the sensor, which greatly improves the quality of night shots. The second 13-megapixel camera has an f/1.9 aperture and works without stabilization.

The V30 performed excellently in terms of high-quality photography. Photos come out very clear and detailed in almost any lighting conditions. Unlike the LG G6, there is accurate color reproduction with rich shades. There is an HDR mode that copes well with shooting at dusk.

Example video:

It is also worth mentioning the special Cine Effects software, which can correct videos after shooting. The application contains options for setting up special effects and color correction.

Speaker, sound quality

Another nice feature of the V30 is the multimedia speaker from Bang & Olufsen. Among all the flagships, the hero of the review shows the best results in the multimedia test. The device is ideal for listening to Hi-Fi audio tracks both in headphones and through a speaker.

The latter has a very high volume level, making it almost impossible to miss an incoming call. The volume threshold can be expanded even further; to do this, just enable the Quad DAC option.

Battery

The device received a built-in battery with a capacity of 3300 mAh. In normal mode, watching an hour and a half FullHD movie at medium brightness took only 13% from the phone, which is a very good indicator.

In total, the V30 will last about 1.5 days without recharging.

Communication and Internet

The smartphone supports Wi-Fi at 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies. The latest fifth generation of Bluetooth and Gigabit LTE with the highest throughput are present. An NFC chip is provided to work with Android Pay.

The device also works well with Russian cellular networks; no connection failures were noticed during the test. Quick search for GPS and GLONASS satellites is supported.

Video review of LG V30

Competitors, conclusion

• Frameless display;
• Many interesting features;
• Great camera;
• Bang & Olufsen speaker.

• Relatively high price.

LG V30 can be called an exemplary “homework” done. LG brought all the best from the previous V20 and G6, slightly adjusted to the Samsung flagships and added a couple of proprietary features. The result is a high-quality premium device with everything you need and even more. If you want to get the best device in almost all matters, feel free to place an order for this wonderful smartphone!

Alternatively, you can choose . The flagship from the South Korean company has a slightly larger display, but is inferior to the hero of the review in terms of sound and autonomy.

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Brings back a dual rear camera that delivers great low-light photos and even better wide-angle shots. The headphone jack remains in place, and an excellent 4-channel digital-to-analog converter is also used. There is a fingerprint scanner that is easy to reach. The OLED screen is also impressive.

Pros of LG V30

1. Sleek design and lightweight body;
2. Fast and smooth performance with responsive haptic feedback;
3. Excellent rear camera, including one of the best wide-angle ones;
4. 4-channel digital-to-analog converter provides excellent wired audio quality.

Cons of LG V30

1. The glass back surface is relatively easy to scratch;
2. At low brightness, the screen experiences contrast problems;
3. The front camera is ok at best.

Introduction

The developers hope that the LG V30 will correct the situation. As the name suggests, this is a successor to last year's smartphone. This line of devices differs from the LG G series, offering removable batteries and a heavy metal body. Light and compact, the LG V30 is more of a successor to the LG G6, while bringing the upgrades that buyers have come to expect from LG V devices: high-quality audio, a great camera and unique video features. Will this help us get out of Samsung's shadow?

This review looked at the European version of the LG V30 with 64 GB of flash memory. The device came out on Android 7.1.2 with the September security update.

LG V30 Hardware Components

If you look closer, you begin to see the differences. The screen diagonal of the LG V30 is 6 inches, smaller in all directions compared to the S8+. This one uses a slightly shorter but still impressive aspect ratio. The smartphone is flatter, thinner and lighter, which can be felt in the hand. It is a little easier to hold than Samsung devices. It's clearly not that long.

As you'd expect from a flagship bezel-less smartphone, there's almost nothing on the front other than the screen. It uses LG Display's P-OLED panel - the first in an LG smartphone since . Back then, LG's OLED technology was poorly developed. Since then, great progress has been made and the screen is almost as good as Super AMOLED in Samsung smartphones. For this alone, LG can be praised.

Samsung continues to be the leading smartphone display maker, but LG's Quad HD+ screen looks fantastically rich and provides plenty of visibility in direct sunlight.

The main weakness of this screen is working in poor lighting. Shadow detail is lost at low brightness levels, resulting in dark areas being indistinguishable, which is bad for some photos and movies. This is a holdover from the early days of OLED technology and can easily be fixed with a software update to raise the minimum brightness level.

You can give preference to the LG V30 panel over the Samsung due to the bend or lack thereof. You have to look closely to see the very slight curve of the panel around the edges. Most of the screen is completely flat. This means that there will be no color shifting around the edges, as happens on Samsung smartphones. The flat screen also makes the LG V30's bezels more visible, which is not desirable. On the other hand, there will be fewer accidental taps on the screen.

It remains to be seen how well the LG V30's hardware components will stand the test of time. After a couple of weeks of use, there was a large scratch on the back of the smartphone. Using Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back seemed to solve this problem. The device feels solid and well-built, although it weighs less than the LG G6, just 158g. Some would say that the light weight makes the smartphone less impressive, but it is easier to hold with one hand.

Despite the screen diagonal of 6 inches, the LG V30 does not feel gigantic. The body size is closer to devices with a diagonal of 5.5 inches and an aspect ratio of 16:9. Again, the same cannot be said about Samsung's latest smartphones.

Like many flagships of 2017, the device runs on a Snapdragon 835 processor, 4 GB memory, 64 GB permanent memory, and a microSD slot. The battery capacity is 3300 mAh.

More and more flagship devices are starting to get 6GB of RAM, but the LG V30 doesn't feel any slower due to the smaller capacity. Apps load instantly, no frames are lost, and programs don't reload when you have a lot of them open. The processor capabilities are more than enough for modern games and heavy applications.

Naturally, I received the device, so you don’t have to worry about getting caught in the rain.

Another benefit is the fact that there are no more weird regional differences like in the LG G6. All models have wireless charging, and all have a 4-channel digital-to-analog converter. We can only highlight the strange decision to call the model with a memory capacity of 128 GB LG V30 Plus.

Many manufacturers have this amount of flash memory, but only LG can boast of such a digital-to-analog converter. While many manufacturers are making the questionable decision to get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack, LG amplifies wired audio and gets great results. If you have a good pair of studio headphones, you will be able to appreciate the sound on this smartphone. LG collaborated with B&O Play, as indicated by the brand on the back of the smartphone, thanks to which in-ear headphones were included in the package.

As for the sound from the speaker, it is nothing special. There is only one speaker and is located at the bottom of the case. It produces loud sound that has a slight tinny tone and lacks the punchy bass we're used to in smartphones.

Cameras LG V30

LG smartphones are known for their quality cameras and this model does not disappoint. It uses a 16 MP main camera with optical image stabilization and f/1.6 lenses, a first for smartphone cameras. The secondary wide-angle camera features a 13MP sensor, similar to the LG G6, behind brighter f/1.9 lenses. This is a great combination that builds on the achievements of the LG G6 and LG V20 cameras.

Despite the small pixel size of 1 micron, the main camera takes phenomenal photos. High resolution and bright lenses, along with optical stabilization, produce sharp, clear images even in low light that rival . One of the features of early versions of the device was the tendency to underexpose low-light shots in some situations, so sometimes you had to increase the exposure manually. Despite this, minor adjustments to the settings allow you to take pictures at the level of the best devices.

LG has fixed the oversharpening issue in the LG G6 and earlier cameras, which means improved detail with fewer artifacts.

There are plenty of shooting modes, although most of the time you'll be stuck with the automatic mode. If you want to go for something a little more creative, Manual mode has been added to the Graphy app, with the ability to download ISO, shutter speed and white balance settings for different types of photography.

Despite the improvements to the LG V30's main camera, the main innovation is in the wide-angle secondary camera. It still has a 120-degree field of view, but now there's reduced edge distortion and improved low-light performance thanks to brighter lenses. Additionally, the faster Snapdragon 835 chip improves photo post-processing.

Of course, the main camera still takes better night shots, but the wide-angle camera doesn't disappoint in low light either. This is a significant improvement, as wide-angle shots are LG's strong suit. Not everyone is crazy about portrait photography and the effect of depth in the image, but wide shots are needed for practical purposes so that more people can fit into the photo.

As for the front camera, it has a resolution of 5 megapixels and does not show anything special.

The camera app has two options - a wide-angle mode or a closer view option where digital zoom is performed. As a result, there is no room for increased display accuracy in bright situations, which is a weakness compared to smartphones like or, where the front cameras have a resolution of 16 megapixels.

It has always been believed that the letter V stands for “video”, so additional video functions in the new smartphone are not surprising. The new LG Cine Log shooting mode is based on the methods of professional cinematographers. This captures an image that may look faded compared to shooting in Auto mode, but when processed later, you can create more shadows or highlights. There is also a set of predefined settings that allow you to give the video a certain look. For example, warm tones may be used in action scenes, colder shades in romantic scenes, etc. There's more to it than Instagram-style filters because it changes the way colors are processed, which can radically change the look of a video.

The idea is interesting, but it faces big challenges when shooting high-quality video on smartphones, such as recording in RAW format. It takes a great camera to support these manual adjustment capabilities. Great cameras are often so good in automatic mode that there's no point in exploring other options.

The new cinematic shooting mode can be put to good use thanks to the Point Zoom function, which allows you to smoothly zoom in on specific areas of the frame without the jerky movements that usually accompany digital zoom in video. It's still a digital zoom, so you'll eventually hit a resolution limit, but the 16MP camera keeps that limit high, especially in daylight.

LG V30 Software

The camera is the place that the developers focused on when creating the software. There are other features that make the LG V30 feel more sophisticated than the LG G6. Touch response time has been reduced, resulting in faster operation of the device. The tactile response of the smartphone has been improved, vibration is felt more clearly. These are minor improvements, but they contribute to the positive perception of the device.

Instead of the LG V20's secondary screen, the new device received a Floating Bar panel, which is reminiscent of the side panels of the Samsung Edge. Click on the small tab in the corner of the screen and you will see application shortcuts, screenshot functions, audio controls.

Some other features of the secondary screen that left us have moved to the Always On Display, where you have access to settings, sound controls and notification icons when the screen is off.

For some users, this is one of those borderline useful features that are never used regularly. The Floating Bar requires too many taps and gestures, and the animations are too slow to save time. Luckily, LG makes it easy to disable this panel with a simple swipe up.

The same borderline-useful features include facial unlocking. LG has offered a second unlocking method; Face scanning starts as soon as you pick up the smartphone, so it's faster than on Samsung smartphones. From a technical point of view, this is an impressive feature, although the security is not as high as a pattern, pin code or fingerprint. Since the fingerprint scanner on the LG V30 is located in an easily accessible place, there is no reason not to use it. When you pick up the device, the fingerprint scanner is within reach of your finger.

Other software changes are fairly minor. There are new widgets, including a larger weather widget. There is an alternative bootloader with its own list of applications, now you don’t have to be content with . Android 7.1.2 installed, no version yet. contains interesting and useful additions, such as menus in application shortcuts.

The look and feel of LG's user interface hasn't changed much. Native applications remain flat and have light shades. Their downside is their tendency to hide important functions behind a large layer of menus.

Thus, LG's software remains a matter of taste. The company continues to use square app icons with rounded corners, although this appearance can be disabled in Settings. Gradually, the interface is moving in the right direction; this is already one of the most developed versions of Android from this manufacturer.

The interface may not yet be comparable to the version from Samsung, but we can look to the future with optimism.

Battery life LG V30

Apart from this, the camera makes the main contribution to energy consumption. In particular, 4K video recording and the Cine Log function significantly reduce the operating time of the device. If you frequently access these options, you may need to look for an outlet as early as 5 p.m.

If you don't necessarily need to find a smartphone with several days of battery life, then the LG V30 is suitable, especially if you want its unique video capabilities. As for recharging, the USB Power Delivery standard is also supported. They can't match the speed of Dash Charge or SuperCharge, but they will charge your battery in less than an hour. There is also wireless charging.

A relatively weak point is the duration of operation in standby mode when the Always On Display is on. Overnight, the smartphone loses about 10%, which is significantly more than other flagships spend. It's unclear whether this is a software bug or a feature of the LG OLED screen. In any case, it is better to charge your smartphone at night.

Conclusion

LG smartphones will be judged by the standards of their main competitor, this confrontation is especially interesting this year. LG has retained all the unique features of its devices, such as high-quality video recording, wide-angle camera, digital-to-analog converter, while there are fewer annoying shortcomings than Samsung, although this is a subjective opinion. For example, the fingerprint scanner is easy to reach. There is no unnecessary disturbing animation, no unnecessary Bixby button and no virtual assistant itself.

Besides the design and camera, there are other advantages. Many developers remove the headphone jack, but that didn't happen here. At the same time, the price of the smartphone is lower than that of its main competitors.

The LG V30 smartphone will have a difficult time in confrontation with the Galaxy Note 8, and so far it seems that this is one of the best Android devices, at least this year.