Is the underrated LG V30 still the best buy of late 2017?
It’s been months since the launch of LG’s new flagship killer in the V series of the smartphone line up, it’s very own LG V30. Keeping tabs on its predecessors the V10 and the last year’s flagship killer LG V20, V30 on the other hand did not fail to disappoint in any prospect.
Having the specs worth being called the flagship killer of this year’s smartphone line up, V30 comes out on top. Having the top spec chipset from QUALCOMM its very own MSM8998 Snapdragon 835, having a CPU with Octa-core (4x2.45 GHz Kryo & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo) and consisting of latest Adreno's 540 GPU. Its ships with Android Nougat 7.1.2 out of the box. Its comes with two models with 128 GB, 4 GB RAM (V30+) variant or 64 GB, 4 GB RAM (V30) variant both currently available on the online retail market.
In the camera department it's whooping best in its class in terms of image rendering, having Dual 16 MP (f/1.6, OIS, 3-axis, laser & phase detection autofocus) + 13 MP (f/1.9, no AF), LED flash with an 1.0 micron pixel size. The images quality is on par with its latest competitions in the market right now. The quality of image falls between Samsung's Galaxy S8 and the latest iPhone 8. As per selfie camera it is good but not extraordinary having only 5 MP, f/2.2, 1/5" sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size. LG V30 support 4k @ 30 fps as the highest resolution possible to record video in this price bracket. Only smartphone camera to beat this is the Apple's very own iPhone 8 and 8 plus along with the newly arrived iPhone X or 10.
As per the Wi-Fi brands that are supported by this phone, it surely does not fall behind too, supporting both 2.4 Ghz as well as 5 Ghz bands along with Bluetooth 5.0. Having the latest chipset it comes with a great power with the geek bench scores comparatively similar to Samsung's latest flagships along with the public favourite One plus 5, having scores of around 1900 single core score and a whooping multi core score of around 6400. Thus, the handling capacity of games and the day to day tasks are brilliant with extraordinary ram management system offered by LG.
It has both glass front and back with a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protecting with a front display having Dolby Vision/HDR10, Always-on display, LG UX 6.0+. And most important spec nowadays is having 3.5mm audio jack (which it has thankfully someone's listening). It also consists of all the required sensors which a flagship device should have. But no IR blaster and heartrate sensor provided by Xiaomi and Samsung respectively.
But with all the power full specs and hardware inside the phone does it beat the latest 2017’s flagship killers? Well, a big yes! Why?, because the smartphone has every possible feature with an excellent software experience along Oreo update guaranteed till January. Having a battery of Non-removable Li-Po 3300 mAh which is pretty average but in real life supports and last full day without any charge thanks to LG’s classic software tweaks and optimizations. Yes its trending 18:9 in 2017 well, LG’s got that too, with P-OLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours having a Size of 6.0 inches, 92.9 cm2 (~81.2% screen-to-body ratio) and a resolution of 1440 x 2880 pixels, 18:9 ratio (~537 ppi density). With glass on the front and back, the V30 joins this year’s trend of flagship phones moving beyond plastic and metal to an all-glass finish. That makes for a striking look and allows for the V30’s wireless charging, however I’m not a huge fan of the move. And the everyday usage causing scratches accumulating testament to the softness of the material. LG has waterproofed the V30 to an IP68 rating, and it put the device through a bunch of drop tests.
Like its predecessors, the LG V30 is a phone designed to appeal to spec lovers first, though with its pretty aesthetic and great ergonomics it could have stood a chance of attracting a more mainstream audience as well. But the story of LG smartphones has always been a matter of “could have” and “should have.” It’s not that LG phones aren’t improving every year, they are, and they continue to offer cutting-edge specs with each new iteration — but the improvements the company is making seem to always be accompanied by self-inflicted wounds. The LG G5 was a nice step up in design over the G4, but LG hamstrung it with a poorly conceived and quickly aborted modular accessory system. The G6 got better again, but it too lacked the final polishing touch to outshine Samsung’s more accomplished designs. But this year's V30 put a cutting edge in progress of LG's flagship line up with classic looks and ergonomic design along with high class specs. So should you buy this phone in late 2017?, as stated previously yes you can.
