The quick take

LG's new flagship is as much a successor to the G6 as any other handset, nailing the smartphone fundamentals and delivering speedy performance in an attractive chassis. Once again, LG's unique dual-camera setup provides excellent low-light performance and its best wide-angle shooter yet. And best of all, there's no additional BS — the headphone jack is alive and well, and better than ever with a Quad DAC. The fingerprint scanner is present, and easy to reach. And despite some low-light weirdness, LG's OLED panel is genuinely impressive.

The Good

Slick design and lightweight chassis.
Smooth, responsive performance and great haptics.
Excellent rear cameras, including best-in-class wide-angle shooter.
Quad DAC delivers phenomenal wired audio quality.

The Bad

Glass back prone to scratching.
Display has contrast issues at darker brightness levels.
Front-facing camera is just OK.

LG V30 Initial Review Video

First take

LG V30 Review

Competing directly with Samsung can be a thankless task. Just ask LG, which has toiled in the shadow of its local rival for just about as long as it's been making phones. Even the legitimately good LG G6 struggled to move the needle when pitted against the Samsung Galaxy S8. The G6 was a good phone at a good price, but it couldn't match the space-age design and technological prowess that the S8 brought to the table, and as such didn't do much for LG's bottom line.

But now there's the LG V30. As the name suggests, it's a direct successor to last year's V20 — the product of a very different LG, which was all about removable batteries and a chunky metal chassis. So the svelte, compact V30 is as much a successor to the G6 as any other LG phone, and it continues the no-nonsense approach of that device, while also bringing the upgrades we expect from a V-series handset: high-quality audio, great cameras, and unique new video features.

Question is, can this phone finally help LG step out of the shadow of its main competitor?

About this review

We're publishing this initial review after two weeks with early samples of the LG V30.

I (Alex Dobie) have been using a pre-production version of the V30 in Berlin, Germany, and Manchester and London, UK. LG seeds these early devices to press ahead of their phones going into full production, and while they're usually representative of the final product, this is not strictly speaking a retail-ready phone just yet — particularly so far as the software is concerned.

My V30 is a European-spec 64GB unit (LG-H930) in Moroccan Blue color. It's running firmware version 09r, based on Android 7.1.2 Nougat, with the September 1, 2017 Android security patch.

We'll follow up with some updated impressions when we get final devices, noting major any changes in this section.

A galaxy far, far away

LG V30 Hardware

First, let's deal with the proverbial elephant in the room: Yep, the V30 kinda looks like a Galaxy S8. From the curved corners, minimal bezel and polished metal trim to the extra-tall aspect ratio, you might well mistake it for a Samsung phone — at least from a distance.

Up close, many differences do come into focus: The V30 has a 6-inch display, and is smaller in all directions than the S8 Plus. In addition, it uses a shorter but still pretty tall 18:9 aspect ratio. But it's also flatter, thinner and lighter, and that gives it a distinct in-hand feel — it's actually a bit easier to hold onto than its contemporaries from the Samsung camp. It's nowhere near as absurdly tall as the Galaxy Note 8.

There's a little Samsung DNA in this LG flagship, and that's just fine.

As you'd expect from a flagship smartphone of the post-bezel era, almost all of the V30's front face is taken up by its display. The screen is a P-OLED panel from LG Display — the first in an LG phone since 2015's G Flex 2. Back then, LG's OLED technology was... well, bad. Really bad. (That's aside from the fact that the G Flex 2 was a hot mess in general — but I digress.) Regardless, I'm happy to report that the company has made a huge amount of progress over the past two years, to the point where V30's screen is almost as good as Samsung's SuperAMOLED. That sounds like faint praise, but I'm actually more than satisfied with what LG has brought to the table here. It's not Galaxy S8 good, but it's surprisingly close, and that's an achievement in itself.

Samsung is still the king of smartphone displays, there's no doubt about that. But LG's latest screen, at Quad HD+ resolution, looks fantastic and punchy, and unlike some of those older P-OLED panels, is clear enough to use outdoors in bright daylight.

If anything, this display's major weakness is in low light. It has an unfortunate tendency to crush shadow details at lower brightness levels, to the point where dark areas become illegible — and that's not great if you're watching Netflix by candlelight, or trying to judge exposure in a low-light photo. This is a disappointing holdover from older OLED efforts, and it's easily fixed in software by simply raising the floor for brightness, but that's not exactly ideal.

One reason why you may prefer the V30's panel to Samsung's is because of its curvature — or lack thereof. You have to look ever so closely to make out the very slight curve of the panel at its edges. Despite its organic appearance, most of the display is completely flat. But that also means you're not dealing with any Samsung-style color shifting around the sides. The flatter display also makes the V30's side bezels more pronounced, which might seem undesirable, but it also makes it less susceptible to accidental screen touches.

It remains to be seen how the V30's physical hardware will stand the test of time. After a couple of weeks, ~~mine has so far avoided any noticeable scratches~~ hey look there's a big scratch on the back. However, the use of Gorilla Glass 5 on both the front and back should make as resilient as possible for a phone whose surface area is made up almost entirely of glass. The phone certainly feels solid and well-put-together, despite weighing even less than the G6, at just 158 grams. You could say that its lack of heft makes it feel a little insubstantial, but at the same time it's easier to one-hand, and lacks the awkward top-heaviness of phones like the Note 8 and GS8+.

Image 1 of 5

Despite its 6-inch diagonal measurement, the V30 really doesn't feel like a gigantic phone. The in-hand (and in-pocket) feel is closer to a 5.5-inch device with a 16:9 screen — in other words, you get a big screen, but it's not so massive as to become unmanageable. (Once again, examples of the opposite include Samsung's latest devices.)

There's nothing at all surprising in the V30's spec sheet — it's a run-of-the-mill hardware loadout for a 2017 flagship, and that's just fine. Running the show is a Snapdragon 835, with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage plus microSD expandability, and a 3,300mAh battery.

More: LG V30 specs

It's true that more flagship phones are starting to push to 6GB of RAM, but I've never really felt like the V30 is weaker for its mere 4GB capacity. Apps still load lightning-fast, I've noticed no dropped frames, nor have app reloads been particularly problematic. It also goes without saying that Qualcomm's latest mobile platform has more than enough power for whatever mobile gaming needs you might have.

And this is basically table stakes at this point, but yes, the V30 is water-resistant, rated IP68, so you needn't worry about using it out in the rain, or dropping it in the sink.

As other manufacturers are finding ever more dubious reasons to kill the headphone jack, LG embraces wired audio.

It's also great to see that there are no longer any weird regional variations in the V30's hardware, like we saw in the G6. All V30s have wireless charging built-in, as well as LG's famed Quad DAC for superior wired audio performance. (The only slight point of confusion: There is an LG V30 "Plus," but this is literally the same phone, only with 128GB of internal flash. No more extra goodies besides more storage space.)

Many phones offer extra storage, but only LG can boast of the Quad DAC, and this could be a real point of differentiation for the V30. As other manufacturers come up with increasingly dubious reasons to get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack, LG is embracing wired audio, and the results are glorious. If you have a nice pair of studio headphones, you'll really appreciate the stronger output of the V30 — to the point where it'll be hard to go back to anything else.

LG's also partnering with B&O Play — hence the branding around the back on my European unit — to include some surprisingly good wired earbuds in the box.

Unfortunately, though, on-device audio is nothing special, and the single bottom-firing speaker is... just OK. The output is loud, but also tinny, and the lack of strong bass is disappointing.

f/1.6, LOG, OIS, 120°

LG V30 Cameras

LG smartphones have a strong pedigree when it comes to camera performance, and the V30 is yet another LG phone that's defined by its photographic chops. The headline spec is a 16-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), behind an f/1.6 lens — a first in a smartphone camera. The secondary wide-angle shooter has a 13-megapixel sensor, like the G6, only now behind a brighter f/1.9 lens. And that makes for a powerful photographic duo, building on the strengths of the G6 and V20.

Despite its small pixels, the V30's main camera is a dependable performer.

Despite having small, 1-micron pixels, the V30's main camera takes phenomenal photos. The high resolution and bright lens, plus OIS, can capture sharp, clear photos even in low light, with fidelity and sharpness to match the Galaxy S8. One quirk I've noticed in this early firmware is that the V30 tends towards underexposing night shots in some situations, so occasionally I've had to manually bump the exposure up a little. Nevertheless, with a little adjustment, the V30 is neck-and-neck with the best phone cameras available.

Mercifully, LG has also pared back the gratuitous oversharpening seen in the G6 and many earlier cameras, which means more fine detail is preserved with fewer artifacts.

There's a mess of shooting modes to explore, as is often the case with the best smartphone cameras, though most of the time you'll just want to stick to full auto. If you want to play around with creative photo modes, the Manual shooting mode has been updated to include Graphy, a new app with downloadable ISO, shutter speed and white balance presets for different kinds of shots.

As good as the V30's main camera is — and it is really good — the biggest improvement might actually be in the wide-angle camera. It still captures a 120-degree field of view, only now with less distortion around the edges, and with significantly improved low-light performance thanks to the brighter lens, on top of the improved post-processing afforded by the Snapdragon 835.

Of course, you'll still get better night shots out of the main camera, but it really surprised me how usable the wide-angle was even in relatively dimly-lit indoor conditions. And that's a meaningful upgrade, because wide-angle photography is by far the most fun thing about using an LG phone. Say what you want about portrait mode and fake depth-of-field — for my money, there's no substitute for being able to simply press a button and instantly capture these wider, more dramatic scenes.

Image 1 of 12

As for the selfie camera, the V30 does a serviceable job, with a 5-megapixel front-facer, but the end results aren't anything special. The camera app presents you with two options — a wide-angle view, or a closer crop, which is literally digitally zoomed section of that 5-megapixel sensor. As such, there's not much room for additional fidelity in brighter situations, which is a point of weakness compared to phones like the OnePlus 5 and HTC U11, which boast 16-megapixel selfie cameras.

LG Cine Log mode takes inspiration from techniques used by professional filmmakers.

It's always been implied that the "V" in LG's V series stands for "video," and so it's no surprise to see a bevy of extra videographic capabilities in the new phone. The new LG Cine Log mode takes inspiration from techniques used by professional filmmakers. It lets you capture footage that, on the surface, might appear more washed-out than regular video shot in Auto mode, but it's captured a way that lets you bring out more shadow or highlight detail when you process it later. There's also an array of presets in Cine Log mode that lets you give your footage a particular kind of look — like warm tones for an action movie, cooler hues for a more romantic look, or sepia tones for an old-timey vibe. These are more than just Instagram-style filters, they actually change the way the color is processed, and that can dramatically change the look of your footage.

I love the idea of this. But I think it runs up against the main problem faced by high-end photo features, like RAW capture, on smartphones. In order to support these high-end manual capabilities, you need a great camera to begin with. But a great camera is often so good in auto mode that there's no real incentive to explore these more exotic shooting modes.

Personally, I've found the new cinematic mode more useful for its point zoom feature, which lets you smoothly zoom into any point in the frame, without the jarring motion you normally get from digital zoom in video. It's still digital zoom, so you'll run into a resolution wall eventually, but on a 16-megapixel shooter there's plenty of fidelity to go around, particularly in daylight scenes.

Tweaked and tuned

LG V30 Software

The camera is clearly where most of the software effort has gone on the V30, but it's also worth mentioning the handful of other software tweaks that lend this phone a bit more polish than the G6. Touch response has been tightened up, making the V30 feel a good deal quicker than its six-month-old forerunner. And the V30's haptics are also much improved — vibration responses now feel much sharper, and nowhere near as rattly as its predecessors. It's a small change, but one that contributes greatly to the presentation of the phone as a whole.

The new 'Floating Bar' only occasionally borders on true utility.

LG's answer to fans missing the old second display from the V20 is the new Floating Bar — which is basically a cross between the old ticker display and Samsung's Edge Screen. Tap the little tab on the corner of the screen to bring up app shortcut, and screen capture functions like the new GIF recorder, and music controls.

Some of the other functions of the second screen have instead been rolled over to the always-on display, which gives you quick access to settings, music controls and notification icons even when the screen is off.

For me, this is one of those borderline useful features that I never really got around to using with any regularity. There are too many taps and swipes needed to use the Floating Bar fluently, and it animates too slowly to really be a time-saver. Thankfully, LG's made it really easy to turn off the Floating Bar once you inevitably decide it's not for you. A simply swipe up to the top will dismiss it forever.

Speaking of borderline useful: Face unlock! LG has built out this secondary unlock method, which begins scanning as soon as you raise the phone, giving it a speed advantage over Samsung's implementation of this feature. It's technically impressive, though also less secure than a pattern, PIN or fingerprint. And really, with the V30's fingerprint scanner being located in a place you can actually reach, it's just not that necessary. Once the phone is in your hand, it's just as easy to touch the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

Subtle improvements throughout the software nudge LG's UI in the right direction.

Other software changes are fairly subtle. Some new widgets, including a larger weather widget have been added to the stock home screen app. The alternative launcher with its own app drawer has been spruced up too — it's no longer just the old launcher from the LG G4. And the software is now based upon Android 7.1.2 — so not Oreo just yet, but at least you have the very latest version of Nougat, which brings helpful additions like app shortcut menus.

Most of the visuals of the LG UI haven't changed a whole lot. The company's own apps remain flat and dominated by lighter hues, with splashes of color throughout. It's mostly clean and inoffensive, though the unfortunate trait of hiding important options behind way too many layers of settings menu has continued.

Overall, LG's software remains a bit of an acquired taste. The company still insists on using "squircles" for its app icons, though these are easily disabled via the menus. But the LG UI slowly creeping in the right direction, and this is by far the most polished Android software the company has released to date.

Is it as pretty as what Samsung's shipping right now? Probably not. But there's definitely a case for saying it's more streamlined and responsive.

All that juice

LG V30 Battery life

We've seen many phones this year with battery capacities around the 3,300mAh mark fuelling relatively large screens. (One notable example is Samsung's Galaxy Note 8, which puts the same battery capacity in a phone with a 6.3-inch display.) Thanks to more efficient CPUs and displays, you can absolutely get a full day out of this kind of battery capacity, even in a phone with a large display. It's no surprise, then, to see the LG V30 comfortably handle a full day of fairly intensive use on a single charge. The V30 has regularly gotten me to the end of a 16-hour day with up to 4.5 hours of screen-on time, with some variance depending on cellular signal strength. (In areas with weaker reception, you can knock that screen-on time down to around three hours.)

The V30's complex video tricks are a battery sink — but otherwise, this phone has dependable longevity.

Besides using the phone in areas with poor reception — always a crapshoot with any device — the camera is predictably the main battery sink here. In particular, 4K video recording and LG's Cine Log features will take a heavy toll on longevity. And on the few days when I was regularly making use of this stuff, I was definitely in need of a 5pm refill.

So you're not looking at multiple days per charge, particularly if you intend to take full advantage of the V30's unique video features. But then you wouldn't necessarily expect that from a phone with such a svelte profile. And in regular day-to-day use, the V30's longevity is typical and dependable, if not exceptional.

When it's time to recharge, Qualcomm Quick Charge 3 and USB Power Delivery are both supported here, giving you plenty of options for quick refills. Neither is as fast as OnePlus's Dash Charge or Huawei's SuperCharge, but both allow you to reclaim a meaningful amount of power in under an hour.

And as mentioned earlier, it's also great to see wireless charging included for opportunistic trickle charging throughout the day.

The only area of relative weakness has been standby time with the always-on display enabled. Overnight, I've found the V30 will lose around 10 percent charge if it's unplugged with the Always-on Display (AOD) burning through the night, which is significantly more than some high-end rivals. It's unclear whether this is a software glitch, or simply a trait of LG's OLED display. In either case, you'll probably want to make sure the V30 is charging overnight, or set an overnight timeout for the AOD.

Initial conclusions

LG V30: The bottom line — for now

The LG V30 may seem like a conservative flagship, but it gets an awful lot right. There's undeniably a whiff of Samsung about the phone's design — nevertheless, the V30 continues the no-nonsense trend of the G6, with better build quality than ever. The display, despite some low-light issues, is a step beyond any previous LG phone in terms of quality and daylight legibility. The size is near perfect for me, providing an expansive display in a more ergonomic handset than Samsung can currently offer. And the camera builds on everything I loved about the G6, with better low-light performance, superior processing and new video tricks that I might not use all that often, but which are nice to have all the same.

The V30 precisely balances core performance and differentiating features, without resorting to gimmicks.

LG's phones will inevitably be judged by the standards set by the company's main competitor, and that comparison is particularly interesting this year. LG has retained all the things that make its phones unique — features like high-end video, the wide-angle camera, and the Quad DAC, while also shipping with fewer annoyances than its Samsung rivals. The fingerprint scanner is in a place you can actually reach. There's no frustrating animation jank. And nothing approaching the obnoxiousness of Samsung's Bixby button.

As much as I could praise the great design and camera features, there is another very compelling argument for the V30. In a world of headphone jacks going away, and weird screen dimples, and $700 phones with inexplicably bad cameras, and dumb fingerprint placements (or the lack of any fingerprint scanner at all), and bad biometrics, the V30 is a phone with absolutely no bullshit. It does everything well, and then goes the extra mile with a phenomenal camera setup that's genuinely fun to use. And it does all that at a price considerably below its main rivals.

The V30's going to have its work cut out going up against the Note 8s and Pixels and iPhones of the world when it launches. But for the moment, it's easily among the best Android phones I've used, and has every chance of being a sleeper hit for late 2017.

Alex was with Android Central for over a decade, producing written and video content for the site, and served as global Executive Editor from 2016 to 2022.

171 Comments

I'd buy this phone in a heartbeat, but thanks to LG deciding to neither allow pressing orders or give any indication when it's being released I'm unable to. Genius marketing strategy, LG!
This is sad but true. I really hope LG releases this ASAP, they are stunting their own growth in getting some sales, I don't know what's wrong with them, this is an awesome Device and they'll ruin it's reputation by having folks wait so long and in the midst of us waiting, constantly throwing out teases is not very smart at all. :(
Much the same as last year; suddenly, it was just there.
The dudes at LG need to take lessons...even if it means just chatting with the interns there...from apple. Talk about transparency: price, order date, delivery date. How hard is that to copy????
Actually, I would argue it's Apple's lack of transparency that works in its favor. They say nothing about a new iPhone until they have everything in order. LG clearly announced everything about the phone itself before they knew the details about distribution and production.
the v10 and v30 were announced around this time and released in the US around Halloween. I'd expect it then, right after everyone has forgotten about it.
I picked up the V20 on the 23rd of September if I remember correctly.
You sure? The v20 was released on September 29th in South Korea. It didn't come out in the states for a good while after that. I remember complaining that LG would have picked up a bunch of market share from Samsung if the device was ready when the Note 7 started exploding. I'm almost certain it was released 10/30 in the US. I wanted to buy it, but chipped the screen on my v10 on Halloween,so I waited until I got $ for the deductible. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_V20
I was saying goodbye to my second Note7 when the V20 came out. I received mine on or about October 21st, 2016.
Just looked it up. I'm getting my dates from the T-Mobile release date of 10/28. Maybe other carriers were earlier. http://www.tmonews.com/2016/10/t-mobile-lg-v20-arrives-early-least-one-p...
Sales start 8/21 in Korea, rest of the world "soon". Price there is $839 equivalent in Won. Best guess is $799 here.
That's another thing that pisses me off with LG! their early device access in their home country, IT IS BEYOND STUPID! I give Samsung props for not only giving Consumers a chance to Pre-order the Note 8 and get access to it before Retail Availability, but for making this device be available almost Globally!! I don't know what the hell LG has going on in their Frontal Lobe where they can't see that this Move they continue to make is STUPID! LG, I understand South Korea is your Home Country and you want your people to get VIP access first, but South Korea isn't the only Country that buys and sells! WHEN their Q4 earnings are low, they'll have nobody to blame but themselves! This move is stupid as hell and if LG don't change it up soon, I see them going down the same path as HTC concerning their Mobile Division!
Until LG confirms it it's a rumor. I can't make any excuses for these guys.
They did announce the Korea release date and price, it's $839 worth of WON. The $799 is the only guesswork.
I know this is easy for me to say.... but wait till March or April and you'll get it for about $450. Wait till May and it will be under $400. I LOVE my V20, but it's not worth $850. No way, no how. I got mine for $390 on ebay back in May 2017. It's awesome!....But Patience peeps....buy GSM locked to ATT and get Cricket, ATT Go Phone, or Straight talk and you'll get a great phone...with 6 or 8 gigs for $40 a month...You'll be happy you saved so much $$$$ If you go with GO Phone(AT&T Prepaid) then you will get updates ...rare as they are from LG/ATT.
This is great advice. Time will save you money with LG devices. They depreciate like a laptop.
Really the same for all phones. They are a monumental waste of money if you buy at the "flagship" prices. Thanks for the tip on the V20, I am wanting to get one now that it's affordable.
Know the feeling. LG and HTC stopped selling there phones in Thailand, I had to order my new phone from Hong Kong.
Actually, LG just released the G6 in Thailand 2 weeks ago.... so only 6 months behind the rest of the world. If they release the V30 in a timely fashion I'll be all over it. Otherwise I'll pick up the Pixel XL 2 when I'm abroad at Christmas.
It looks like LG did a good job with the V30, I'll probably buy one after the typical LG price plummet. I will miss the removable battery from my V20
So instead of a 2nd battery, I bought a 6700mah battery that comes with a case for my V20. So for a V30, If you can handle a lot thicker phone, there will be battery built into cases, that you can get. You'll get 2 to 3 days of moderate use out of it. I had heavy use today and I'm at 44% at 8:30pm, I took the phone off the charger at 4:30am. used it for 90 minutes on my bus trips to and from work among lots of other use today..
I'm actually more interested in this phone than any of the iPhones ATM. But I can't seem to get past that fingerprint sensor being in the back, having been using it in the front for so long.
I'm sure you'll get used to it. I've got a Galaxy S8 plus which arguably has a worse placement on the back and I have no problems using it. So, I'm sure you could easily get used to this one since it's got better placement. LG made a great phone.
It is so natural that once you get used to it you won't want to go back. With my Nexus 5x my finger automatically goes on the fingerprint sensor as I take it out of my pocket and the phone is open as soon as I look at it. It really is very fluid.
The audio and power on buttons were also natural on the back when the previous LG flagships had them there. It took a long time after I stopped using the Flex 2 to quit trying to adjust the sound on the back. I wish the G6 and V30 kept the same placement.
I have a C10 and love the buttons in the back wish they had kept them all in the back.
Trust me it's so natural. You just pick up the phone and your index finger is already there. No fumbling around or shimmying. Some other companies are just stubborn but I digress.
After a few days of using the finger print scanner on the back you will be thinking how inconvenient it is placed on the front. I love the back placement on my old LG phones.
Those are some big bezels on the sides. Reminds me of a phone X that was just announced.
Oh God, here we go
Lol.
After it was suggested to me on this site that this is really just an ultimate G6 and not really a V series phone, I've kinda cooled on purchasing it. I want a true successor to the V20!
I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. There probably won't be one. This is the way the market is headed.
I know most people don't care for it but they lost me a bit excluding the second screen. I find it very useful on my v10
You can always get another brand that offers a second screen. Oh, wait...
Very nice!! (Borat accent)
This, to me, sounds like the best device that LG has ever made.
I have been thoroughly enjoying my G6 and the V30 looks to be a slightly larger and improved G6, I'll be on line to buy one as soon as Tmo starts selling it.
Yeah that's me too. But my old G4 just was at the end of it's life so I couldn't wait on the V30 and had to get the G6. But now I'm thinking I'll put a little extra each month towards paying off the G6 and get a V30 maybe sometime next year.
For the love of god, can we have a release date? I'll buy this in a heartbeat but if they delay the launch so much, the phone will be irrelevant
1st November in the UK.
Love the article, and though I've already bought the note 8, this was a very compelling argument for the v30. But I enjoyed the adult nature of this article. It was well written. Truly one of the best I've read on the site. Hopefully there are no babies complaining about the use of some choice words. Only one actually.
The LgV30 is better than anything Apple just put out.
Any news of LG Pay being on the V30?
This would be an awsome phone to get.... IF... we could actually get/order it! LG screwed the pooch in their release date. All the interest and hoopla is centered around the Note 8 / Iphone 8/X. This will get lost in the shuffle. They had a window of opportunity to grab some new customers who were just waiting to part with their money, but they missed the boat. It's a shame. I went ahead with the Note 8, but would have seriously considered this phone had it been available. Thanks for the great review AC!
I completely agree and did the same thing. With the trade-in offer and additional Best Buy $150 I didn't want to wait to see what they'd offer with the V30.
It's released 1st November in the UK. But it's only at the Carphone Warehouse. Odd.
I want this phone so bad. Can't wait to get rid of my Galaxy S8
What do you dislike about the S8?
You and me both. Got the S8+ because my carrier doesn't sell an LG flagship. I can't do it much longer though, if they don't put the V30 up for pre-order (whenever the hell LG actually launches it) I'm jumping ship and putting it on a credit card and going with h20 wireless.
But will the V30 be tempered glass friendly ?
I agree with what a lot are saying about the release date. This phone looks VERY compelling, but the Pixel launch before it may sway me that way.
I like this better than the note 8. I have a feeling I'll like the Mate 10 better than the v30 so that's what I'll probably end up with
I'm gonna preorder the mate 10 pro if rumors are right, it shaping up to be the best phone of 2017.
Yeah, where'd my bag phone get to?
And the Pixel will be better than the Mate 10...AND on and on and on.
yeah i hear ya but i actually dont like stock Android. I like some features so pixel doesnt do anything for me
LG blows everyone away with the best mobile ever built. Well done.
I loved my bootloop!!
Will buy the V30 sure ! But not so sure if the V30 is replacing my V20 as my daily runner. The V30 is missing the best feature for TOTAL mobile freedom: Removeable battery. I just not want see me walking around with battery packs in 2017
This makes no sense.
Yeah. I am going to miss the hell out of that. I'm keeping the V20 because of that feature. it comes in SO handy.
Might have bought it if batt was 4000mah and selfie cam was at least 8 F1.7 MP, waiting for the mate 10.
Hm, front cam is pretty decent in my V20. Better than my friends IPhone, Galaxy etc because I have wide angle We take my V20 for photos because it's the best
drop test V20 Vs. V30 , please
Well, we all know how THAT is gonna go!
Alex, regarding the displays performance in low light, did you notice any similar banding issues or uneven qualities like Ars Technica did? I'm so used to Samsung displays that it's been a while since I've seen an OLED panel with those kind of issues. Even my Pixel has a nice, even look when the brightness of the display is down and I'm using my phone in the dark.
Yeah, that's what I'd like to know as well. The images from Ars Technica looked pretty bad, but I'm wondering how obvious the problem is is real world usage. Any way to show us what the problem looks like while using some apps (Gallery, Netflix, whatever)?
If I could get any phone in the world I wanted this would be the one. The U11 is no longer my dream phone. However since it's not an earth shaker like the new Galaxy class phones or even that new x phone from Apple the best Lg can hope for is 2nd or third runner up. And by the way that new apple just won't be called the 10. Nope people will call it the X pronounced exx. And if it's successful next years iteration will be the X2 and so on. TEN2 wouldn't make any sense.
I so want this to sell well. We need another competitor with decent sale numbers on the Android side.
I love LG but this phone won't compete against the Note Series. I've had LG for the past 3 years and used to hate Samsung. I got the Note 8 and so far it's the best phone imo. Don't worry I'm not troll or anything it just is what it is. People say you don't need that extra 2GB of RAM but damn it makes that difference. Buy the LG if you want to continue to keep an awesome brand but get that note 8 if you want S Pen larger screen and the 2GB of extra RAM.
Couple questions based on my experience briefly owning and then returning a V20: 1. Does do not disturb scheduling actually work? On the V20 there was a menu to schedule when DND would turn itself on and off but it didn't actually turn DND on or off. 2. Does the camera app do HDR in manual mode? On the V20, HDR was only available in full auto.
Hmm. I've never had a problem with the scheduling for my do not disturb feature.
my S7 does the same thing. DND mode is scheduled to go on and off, and doesnt.
I'm thinking it's more Android related than phone related..
Great review Alex - particularly appreciate the great photos you took right next to my office!! This will be my next phone - once I know the UK release date ...
It's the V20 all over again. No release date, no price no nothing....if their track record is to be followed then I guess a late October release, which I guess is good considering they can get some sales before the iPhone X can start shipping Nov 3. I really wish LG would announce the important info like everyone else when they reveal their next flagship.
How are the LG phones with Android updates??? I have a Samsung galaxy s6 and it takes months for updates, don't want to go through that again.
I don't know, but Samsung S6 was my last straw when it comes to waiting for updates. I'm team Pixel now.
Yeah I'm sick of waiting almost a year to get a update. So annoying.
Upgrade your phone 3 or 4 times a year and updates are no longer an issue. #1stworldproblems
My only concern is how soon so they update their phones. I want this phone but the lack of info on release and price isn’t helping. I actually need to buy a phone really soon.
usually takes about 6 months to update. I got nougat in April.
I'm looking forward to this phone so much. So glad they decided to release it everywhere along with no matter swing features in different regions. I only got a Pixel XL last year because they didn't bring the V20 to the UK. This has everything I liked about that phone and more. Great initial review.
They just need to get this phone in the cellular markets. What is taking them so long? When you want to compete against the big companies you need to get them out when those other companies release their phones.
Fantastic the best review I've read on this device. For the past year I've been using the V20. It's a good phone. I'm liking the V30 but with no word on when where and how much. And with the Early offers on the Note8 this coming Saturday will be the day I make my move to the Note8 unless LG comes out and says when and how much I'm not waiting for them. Not when there are other phones out there. Like the note8 and the pixel I simply do not understand introducing this with no date. The Lost me there.
Took the words right out of my mouth. I actually ordered the Note8 but returned it without opening. I was CERTAIN there would be some news about the V30. Who knew a company could be so tight-lipped about a flagship. And this is precisely the time they should NOT be tight-lipped. Let the world know you have a fantastic, phone to be released at a reasonable price. Usually there are some leaks. Well, LG will lose me if I hear nothing by Monday or Tuesday the latest (the weekends are usually quiet). I will either reorder the Note8 or wait on the Pixel XL. I am just amazed that LG still has not learnt. Every year, the same thing.
I just want that blue color.....buying the phone is a no brainier for me
This is the first time I've been tempted to buy an LG phone.
I'm looking forward to test driving this phone.
LG must have the same advertising department as BlackBerry, amazing how stupid some companies are, you build a great product and then forget about it and think word of mouth will sell phone or anything! Just makes you want to scream
Not much of an improvement over the V20. (Really miss the IR blaster lol) I'm waiting to see what happens with the Mate 10.
Wonder if it may release w Oreo since it's being released so late
Very exciting phone. It's definitely at the top of my list for my next phone. My only hesitation regarding the V30 is the software. I've never been a fan of the LG launcher. Also, are the Lock Screen ads really a thing??
Don't use the stock launcher. Stock launchers are always trash. Install Nova. Problem solved. Lock Screen ads aren't a thing, but they are a thing if you have an app that installs apps on the background that will install am app that had lock screen ads. DT Ignite, which comes pre-installed on carrier phones, installs apps in the background occasionally. I've always disabled it. I have a V20, no lock screen ads, no malicious apps installed without my consent. Software is mostly good. My only gripe is that performance isn't consistent. Should be better with new chip, though. Software is similar to stock Android once you replace LG apps you don't use. Native theme support is amazing.
I use Nova on my Nexus 6p. It makes usability better. It's a pity the 6p is *****.
The good side of the LG launcher are its themes which change the looks of things through the whole system, not just the app icons
Love this phone, even if the software still turns me off. Once again though LG announces a phone far too early and then goes silent. I imagine this will hit after the iPhone hits. They would be better off waiting a bit for the iPhone hype to die down (which you could set your watch to btw) then announcing and releasing it within weeks of each other. As it stands most of the hype for this phone, and ANY hype among the general public, will have died completely.
Same crap I had to deal with from last year. LG is still asking customers to sign up meanwhile the Note 8 and iPhones will already be in hands. I just don't know if I can support a company like this even if they're the only ones who focus so heavily on the things I love. I guess I don't have anywhere else to go but wait on these boneheads to provide fans with basic information. May just end up holding onto my V20 and moving over to Samsung next year. Two years in a row LG.smh
Yes, last year I believe that LG revealed the V20 just after Labor Day and my V20 was delivered on October 21st. Big, splashy reveal then six weeks of waiting. I was activating the V20 as my second Note7 was deactivated waiting to be shipped to the collection depot in Texas. I cannot recall the reveal of the V10 but I found that, by accident, in early November of 2015. Samsung had eliminated the micro SD card slot from the Note 5 which I'd found vexing so I jumped ship; just as I'd jumped ship when Motorola removed the micro SD slot from their flagship device (I'd had Droids, Droid RAZRs since 2009) in early 2013. If Motorola hadn't done that I may not have gotten the Note 3 (my first Note) in October of 2013.
Waiting on this phone.
Nice Job LG! And thanks for putting the touch sensor in the correct place! Get it out, the pixel is coming...between those two for me for my android fix
Wish they'd come around to headphone jacks on the bottom.
The V20 does. Does the V30 have it on the top (haven't read the review and won't)
Images above show it on the top. Wait, you won't read the review, but you'll come to the comments section? That's a bit odd.
Is that mr. mobile with the picture in his hand?
In curious to see how the screen compares with my S8. I'm really interested in this, but am afraid I'll miss the quality of the Samsung display. I'm hoping the Pixel XL 2 ends up being basically this phone minus the quad DAC and a couple of the other v30 features. I'll likely make the jump to that phone if it is really similar.
Hmm, 4.5 hours of SOT? My 3 year old Droid turbo still gets me 5.5 even with games.
Wish they could lock that down better.
I've always been interested in the V- series phones but never got around to owning one. Something else always had just a bit more appeal to me. This is the first time I ever had trouble choosing one phone over the other, in this case the Note 8 vs V30. Unfortanetly for LG, I ordered my Note 8 today from Verizon for 50% off on a trade in because I just couldn't wait around to see if I could've got a similar deal with the V30. Now that they have a killer device, it's a shame that LG won't see much increase in sales most likely due to their inability to effectively launch a device.
I learned my lesson with the G6. I can't wait to buy this phone for half retail price 6 months later ;)
I really like the phone. What I don’t like is how we don’t know when it’ll have a global launch. Has LG not learned from the V20? Don’t tell me by the time we get this phone, the Pixel 2 would’ve already been a thing, like last year. Another thing is that the low-light shots appear quite blurry. The one with Michael Fisher and Andrew seem to be a result of a low shutter speed and the other one may be due to handshake. Kinda wish LG didn’t go with a small sensor because it’s quite apparent that it’s somewhat noisy but in the grand scheme of things, it looks capable. And an actual glass lens element is great.
I got the V20 a month and a half ago so I'm holding off on checking out the V30 purely out of curiosity as I'd rather not feel disappointed with my new phone. It's a little disappointing they got rid of the second screen since I've found it to be useful. The camera and torch shortcuts in particular are a lot, and it has (or had?) a lot of potential for apps to make use of.
How can i recover an old app
Thanks Alex, you covered just about everything I'd want to know given we don't have a final release yet. It sure sounds like the V30 completes with this year's top phones and differentiates itself with the improved wide angle camera, great form factor/ergonomics sans any oddities,, and expected lower price. I'll likely buy this phone and expect Nova Launcher will vastly improve the sw experience. My only dilemma is timing. Who knows when this phone will be available and how soon will we start seeing price cuts.
Do LG phones get timely updates and security patches? It's likely this or the Pixel XL 2 for me...
Get the Pixel if that's your concern, my V20 is on the Dec 2016 security patch
Wow, who is your carrier, Flintstone Wireless?
trust me lg is the worst for updates . that's why my last was the lg pro
That's the worst part, it's not even a carrier phone, I bought it unlocked
my G5 is on julys patch through at&t
Shockingly, mine is on the August security patch. It depends on your carrier too. For timely security updates, the Pixel may be your better bet.
Limited availability is going to keep the phone as a niche device. The V* line of LG phones is not available in a lot of countries. So no matter how good, realistically just the Nexus/Pixel phones, it doesn't matter because it's nowhere to be found.
my take is the carriers are rethinking if they really want to carry lg high-end products any more they've been burned the last 4 years with a lot of left over inventory . case in point the only lg I ever see in the wild are there budget phones here in the states
I REALLY want to love LG- but I am afraid of quality issues. Until I have confidence- I gotta back off.
We've had a Nexus 5- great phone, but had to go back for bootloop. We've had a G2 - lost all power and had to pay the $100 out of warranty-many had issues with the G2.
Had a G3- nice phone- but lost bluetooth and Wifi- battery drained in 6 hours while pinging. Turns out- bad chip connections to motherboard. This and bootloop issues- both very common. LG wants to take another $100 from me to fix the G3- I said send it back to me unrepaired. I can't give them any more of my money. $100 for a phone I can buy refurbed for $80.
Chris
My Note 5- was perfect in every way.
I think a Moto Z Play will work for me next.
People seem to keep bring up the boot loop issues, which for all intent and purposes has been solved with their newer devices, then run out and get a Note 8 and ignore the Kim jong un nuclear explosive device, the Note 7? Sure Samsung got it right with the S8's and Note 8. All companies have had their issues.
AC, you should do an article on which carrier, and phone maker are most efficient with updates
For those of us who have never lived in the LG ecosphere...how long after release does the manufacturer keep releasing monthly security patches?
They have the worst track record next to the Chinese brands
I'm not an Android software developer but it seems to me the way to go with these security updates is to make them downloaded via the Google Play Store as separate entities.
Android Authority did an article on this at the beginning of this year. LG was on top: http://www.androidauthority.com/android-oem-update-speed-743073/
Another take: https://www.cheatsheet.com/gear-style/best-worst-phone-makers-android-up...
I have an LG G5 that has seen a grand total of ONE update since it was released. And I'm stuck on Marshmallow.
So You know. If you keep upgrading your device to a new software version your phone processor will eventually eat up all of your ram/memorie.
Is it a carrier branded one?
The LG G4 just got booted off the monthly list. It launched in April of 2015.
Some great features
Flat
16:9
Latest security update for Android
OK battery life But
Glass back - what is so wrong with plastic? After all most people just put the phone in a plastic case to protect it.
Battery not replaceable
"...with up to 4.5 hours of screen-on time." This isn't good. For a device that's been designed for high-drain activities like recording videos, the battery life needed to be better. This is why previous V-series phones had removable batteries.
This is why I wound up with a total of three batteries for the V10; in case there were days I'd use it at full-tilt. I had been accustomed to replacing at least one battery per day with my powerful and quirky, yet much appreciated, LG V10. It's serving as back-up now but is still ready to go as needed.
Looks like a great step up from the V20 imo, but I love my secondary display. Kinda hard to go back to a phone that doesn't have such a feature, but they atleast "incorporated" it with that little app tray. I enjoyed not having to wake the screen in order to see what notifications I had / the time. For the features though, I think I'll get one personally and give up the screen / removable battery.
Man, I was really hoping for them to incorporate 2 features from the V20 on the V30. Removable batteries and the second screen. Those 2 features are why I bought the phone. I use them both all the time (I have 4 total batteries for the phone...and yes ,I can kill 2 or 3 in a day sometimes). Without those, it's pretty much more of the same as far as I'm concerned. Note 8, S8+, V30...it's a close race now. I'd probably choose the Note 8.
I won't be buying this phone since it doesn't have a removable battery. Fast charging my ass. Battery swapping takes me 2 mins for 0-100 charge.
What phone has a swappable battery anymore? I love my G4 and replaceable/swappable battery, but didn't think any manufacturers were keeping that going.
Moving to non-removable batteries may have made waterproofing possible but it also made planned obsolescence even easier. I would give up the waterproofing in a heartbeat to get the removable battery back.
Non-removable battery, Hmmmm
Every single phone I have had has lost serious battery capacity after 12-18 months, which isn't a problem when its removable. Travelling isn't an issue when you have a removable battery.
Note that I haven't dropped a single phone into water, so being waterproof means jack s* to me If you spend £800 on a sealed phone, it will lose battery capacity until you are only getting 1.5-2 hours SOT.
I'm actually thinking about getting the V20 (The last removable battery phone?) Note that the V30 teardown looks like its quite easy so it may be possible to replace the battery for £75 ish.
I'll wait until the price drops
Agreed, no removable battery is a complete deal breaker. Was thinking of upgrading from my V20, but having to deal with charging when I am travelling is a complete deal breaker. Can't say how annoying it is having your battery ready to die when you are waiting to be checked in. V20 + 2 extra batteries has made travelling a joy. Can't say I ever want to return to not being able to swap batteries on the fly. May just have to keep or re-buy the V20 in the future...
LG seems to do some interesting things, but their history of consistently terrible customer service (across all products, not just phones) is a deal-breaker for me. When spending this much money on a device as important day-to-day as a phone is, I need to have confidence that if something goes wrong (as it has for a number of folks I know--I've never owned an LG phone), the manufacturer is not going to need to be forced into class action lawsuits before they do the right thing.
Well, it looks like LG has finally found its way in the flagship department! And if you use your phone to listen to music on the go, then the quad amp is the catch!
Will the V30 allow me to double tap the screen to activate it like my old G3?
Yes.
You have to admit, LG did an outstanding job. There are no disappointments (except for the selfie camera). This phone is what real Android lovers are wanting, packed with features, very simple and NO BS. LG is the next Samsung, sorry Samsung fan boys.
How big of an upgrade is this over the V20? Now that is affordable I was thinking of picking one of those up. And I must disagree, the G Flex 2 was one of the best phones out there. I loved that one. Still miss it over the G5 I have.
I dont own the V30 but I feel like the upgrade from the V20 isn't that big UNLESS you really are into the whole video taking thing. I'm thinking of waiting about 6 months from now until the price drops on the V30, then that would be worth the upgrade.
Really want to try out that Quad DAC. See how it compares to my Cowon player. Glad to see that LG acknowledges that some of us still like using the 3.5mm headphone jack AND appreciate good audio components. Most people who ask me about what phone they should by next are disappointed when they hear about a great new phone coming out not having a headphone jack.
Judging by the reviews - and comparing specs - this is the phone I've been waiting for to replace my Microsoft Lumia 950. Why? Great camera and headphone socket. Simple really. All of the other specs tick all of the other boxes. I had an open mind - Android or iOS. Looking forward to seeing it in the flesh. The only dissappointment is the non-removeable battery (I'm not a selfie taker).
When are you going to update this review for the full retail hardware rather than your earlier pre-production unit?
Does anyone have any feedback on the signal strength/reception quality on the V30? My wife and I are both looking to get new phones soon and the AT&T BOGO is tempting while we can get the VR headsets too. I haven't had a LG phone before so just curious about the antennas. We have Samsung phones now and they do not get as good of a signal as the Moto phones we've had in the past and that really annoys my wife (her work is worse for signal than mine). Any help anyone can provide on experience with the antennas in the V30 will be very helpful in making our decisions. Thank you very much.
I just got the V30, going from the Samsung S6. My husband has the Samsung S7. Recently we have both had terrible reception in our home, after years of being able to use our phones all over the house. The V30 gets much better reception in the house. Also, the sound quality on the calls is much improved. It's much clearer than my Samsung was.
I would say, why are makers going back to glass? Because aluminum with cutouts is always going to be worse for picking up RF signals than plastic or glass. Even Apple has in the end had to give in to Maxwell's equations.
Call quality on the V30 is definately better than the S7 Edge. Also, Wifi seems to be better as well. I did drop a call the other day, but I was inside a grocery store walking toward the back where the coolers are.
I purchased the V30 last week, coming from a Samsung S6. My husband has the Samsung S7. We have both had reception problems, particularly in our house, which never used to be a problem. The V30 is a big improvement, the reception is much better and the call quality is much improved.
After experiencing all the V20 had to offer I opted for the Samsung Note 8. I found a good quality zoom lens camera more useful than the wide angle thing. The LG series always looks good on paper but it's the real world execution that often falls short of the mark. I figured since LG decided to drop all of the features that made their phones stand out from the rest (removeable battery, IR blaster, etc) and be more Samsung-like, might as well cut out the middle man and get a Samsung device. Maybe after its had some time in real world conditions and the price drops, I might consider adding the V30 to my collection, but with the $300 discount I got for trading in my G4 (plus a free Gear 360 to boot), the Note was just too good to pass up.
The Note 8 is also a great phone, cant go wrong with it.
"In a world of headphone jacks going away, and weird screen dimples, and $700 phones with inexplicably bad cameras, and dumb fingerprint placements (or the lack of any fingerprint scanner at all), and bad biometrics, the V30 is a phone with absolutely no bullshit." This is what all manufacturers need to focus on, and they don't. Now if LG would just update their devices...
I could not agree more. It's an underappreciated masterpiece.
The phone is VERY slick in my hand. Ridiculously slick. (My case is on order from Amazon. I'm getting a nice thin TPU case for it since Tech21 seems to not want to build a case for it. :( It needs something to help with "grip".I think cross hatching on the outer ring of the device would make the need for a case moot.
It's a beautiful phone.
The screen is amazing.
zero lag.
ZERO LAG.
I'm getting a Daydream, too. so I've got that going for me. :)
Amen, I agree 100%
Still loving the phone? The time I spent with it, it was amazing!
I just want to know where I can buy a blue one -in the US...
If You read reviews of the V30 You will get the impression it's a vey good phone but there are better choices. If You read reviews from people who own it You will get a different sense. Yes the display has a blue tint at off angles. Who cares? The ownership experience of this phone with the icredible combination of features and thoughfullness of hardware and software design make it tough to beat.
I
I Love My V30. It still surprises me with little touches, no lag, great audio, fast, fast, fast. Unfortunately many will never know due to near great reviews. Oh, the selfie camera could be better, or the display's good but not peefect. B.S. It's an achievment. I take it over my iPhone X if forced to choose. I could have had 2 Galaxy Notes for the price of one and chose the V30. I have no regrets.
*nudge nudge* I just wanted to say that my V30+ actually did come with an extra goodie in the box and the goodie is a pair of DAC-compatible QuadPlay earbuds. It - plus the added storage - was what made me spring for the V30+. IT'S WORTH IT because I don't own such earphones and wearing headphones can trigger headaches because of the pressure points. Yes, there are affordable options otherwise - I found a few good pairs for a great bargain - but for me, the one coming from LG beats the lesser known brands in terms of manufacturing quality. That bargain pairs I mentioned? The plastic that tucks against the ear is a bit rough and its shape is less sculpted and my ears protested with itchiness. IT'S WORTH IT because though the expandable storage capacity can take the weight off of the internal storage, the amount of free internal storage capacity can also affect app performance. As it is, "System Data" uses up 19GB all by itself. Then, there are apps that can be quite hefty in size including attached data that can only (or should only) run from internal. Add on a few games that will run best on internal and that 64GB space is right on its way to running low. Maybe not dangerously low, but low enough that if I didn't have an external option, I'd be getting a little concerned. That said, for the V30 in general, I think one of the biggest selling points is the fact that it is a beautiful and functional marriage between a great flagship smartphone and an equally great no-fuss file-friendly Hi-Fi music + radio + video + player. It's friendly because it welcomes variety instead of proprietary 'lossless' file types. It's no-fuss because LG's default music player can play them straight out of the box. There's no need for additional software, either, to manage those files and others outside of the phone. Just plug the phone into your computer or pop the microSD card out and drag and drop to your satisfaction. For fellow audiophiles - especially those who don't already own portable DAC players - it's a great chance for a two-in-one. Reputable DAC players have a fairly hefty price tag on their own compared to general portable MP3 players and when I see the V30 as a combo device, I actually see its flagship pricetag to be more than reasonable because its 'split' between two devices. For people who are most interested in the phone itself and less interested in the phone's Hi-Fi capacity, I think the V30 on its own stands out as an elegantly functional work of art. Some favorite reasons in terms of external: It has a headphone jack. Seriously, I hate dongles and I'm not much of a fan of wireless headsets. I hate having extra things to tote around, charge, and possibly lose - especially when I'm traveling. I have sensitive hearing to the point that I can hear frequencies that people generally won't notice and so wireless headsets bother me. If you're worried about getting the headphone jack dirty, just buy a clear stopper. I got a whole bag of them for the cost of a coffee. Bonus: If you're a charms person, then you can turn that clear stopper into a charm. In terms of the casing / housing, I personally like the faint bezel edging. Why? Because it gives the device the tiniest 'lip' which provides a little extra grip. When it's out of the case (and actually, I'm still shopping around for one that I really like), I feel more confident gripping it in my hand. In my opinion, fully rounded and non-bezeling reminds me of smooth river stones... which also reminds me of how slippery they can be. My phone's not a stone and I don't want it to slip away like I'm skipping stones! Gorgeous display for viewing videos and images and with customizable display options both in-device and in-app. In my opinion, curved edges will always produce a bit of a warped distortion and so I don't consider 'warping' at the edges to be a particularly valid criticism. Glasses and prescription sunglasses lenses are cut to produce the most accurate personalized vision augmentation for the person that they are prescribed for. There is always a bit of curvature to them because that is how our eyes are... and it bothers me because I can see that curvature and its warping in my peripheral. It's the same for this phone's screen and for me, it's also the same for all other phones whose displays are curved. For me, the back side on/off switch + lock button + sensor combination is conveniently and unobtrusively placed and my fingerprint reading is spot-on. I lightly press my finger to the sensor and bam. Fast unlock in the blink of an eye. If you're having trouble getting the fingerprint reader to work smoothly, try deleting the fingerprint and set it up again to get a better fingerprint sample. Though you can add multiple fingerprints, for added security, I actually only have one fingerprint so I would have a way to unlock my device in a more deliberate fashion. Hold in one hand for fast unlock which is best when you're in a hurry and/or in a place where a very occasional unintentional peekaboo doesn't matter. Hold in other hand for 100% deliberate unlock when peekaboo isn't acceptable. The sensor works so well that I've actually accidentally unlocked my phone with an unintentional slide of my finger against the sensor while walking in the office. For me, the camera works great - especially for something that doesn't come with augmented exchangeable lenses. I also tend to use manual mode more often than not so perhaps this is something that affects my experience. Some favorites in terms of internal: It offers two options for Home. No app drawer or app drawer. Just press and hold on the Home screen and choose. Themes is available in the same place as is your App Trash bin. Press and hold on apps gives way to in-app shortcuts. I discovered that even without an app drawer, I can just press and hold the Google Play Store app icon and from there, go directly to my Apps listing. Press and hold on the People app gives you a quick option to just Add a new contact. Sweet. Its on-screen keyboard is more accurate than not and you can resize it (by the way, you can also resize apps to better suit the phone's unique screen dimensions). It's about on-par with my Windows Phone keyboard which I feel is the best of all other smartphone keyboards. LG's default apps offer the basics without any fuss or bloat with the possible exception of the LG World and Help: I especially love the QuickMemo feature which lets you write notes, add pictures, and then pin to a Home screen of your choice. And, if you have more than one QuickMemo in your collection, you can scroll through them, too, on that same pinned Memo. Also, given the DAC, its apps now include an HD Audio Recorder. It has its own LG backup settings and its app is called LG Mobile Switch. It lets you back up using your external storage and it works really well. I helped someone switch over from an LG Leon and it went smoothly and the V30 was smart enough (and polite enough) to inform us that because of the different devices and different OSes, some of the Home settings wouldn't carry over. I highly recommend this feature and since it lets you save the backup to an external, it means that LG is prepared for you to carry your external on over to a future LG. Smart cleaning app is great, too. In-house device housekeeper. Click and access Battery Usage, Battery Saver settings, and Device Optimization. Clean things up and see which apps or features are resource vampires. By the way, you can also see which apps have the 'Wake' function enabled. So if you have phantom episodes of your screen turning itself on or the battery draining, you can see which apps might be abusing the 'Wake' function. Battery Saver really does save battery. By a lot. And it has the potential to save even more if you know what to cut back on. On Maximum with heavy Skype usage, moderate Chrome usage, hours of music listening, perusing and downloading apps from the Play Store, and hours worth of fiddling around all of which involves keeping the screen on, I lasted 35 hours and this is straight from the box. As a plus (in my opinion), it automatically triggers dark mode / high contrast mode. For me, it's easier on the eyes - especially at night. Aaaaand... speaking of night... I think it's time for me to wrap up this comment. It turned out to be longer than I thought it would be, but maybe, this will help inform potential buyers about some of the 'good life' things to expect. Clearly, I love this engineering two-in-one marvel. To me, it's underrated, but to each, it's his or her own.
cant wait to get this set up struggleing here a bit
Great!!.. I like this for me!

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