LG V30+

A lot has changed since 2015 when LG launched the V10, debuting its flagship V-series. Back then, it was more of an experimental lineup which had some nifty little unique features. Some of those conceptual features like the dual camera setup and second screen made their way into the market with various OEM’s.

In fact, just last year we saw numerous smartphones with a dual camera system on the back, something that LG did with its second flagship smartphone, the V20.

Now, while other smartphone manufacturers have slowly caught up with LG, instead of leaping forward, LG is focusing on improving its own palette. And that’s what the V30 is all about. The subtleties.

In India, LG has launched the V30+ instead, which comes with double the storage than the regular variant.

LG V30+ price and release date

LG launched the V30+ in India on 13 December last year at a competitive price of Rs 44,990. For a flagship smartphone in the Indian market, LG has managed to get the pricing right. The V30+ is available exclusively on Amazon India.

Design

The LG V30+ is a single block of glass accented by a metal frame. Even then, the V30+ does not give you the first impression of being a sturdy phone. It has this delicate to touch surface which will only reaffirm your decision of putting on a case. That is a drawback of having a glass back on a smartphone. While you get a gorgeous device in your hand, the chances of it slipping and crashing to the ground are heightened.

There are no logos or markers on the front and the phone just looks drop dead sexy with its symmetrical design. On the back, you get the dual camera setup followed by a fingerprint sensor that doubles up as the clickety home button. The V30+ and LG signage are under the glass which does not distract your eyes from that shiny back. 

LG V30+ measures in at 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm and weighs 158 grams which puts it at par with the rest of the flagship smartphones. It’s remarkable what LG has achieved by fitting in a display that’s half an inch larger making it the same size as the metal frame.

On the left edge, you will find the volume rockers while the right side houses the hybrid SIM card slot. Up top, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack while the bottom has a speaker grill and the USB-C port along with a microphone.

The phone is IP68 certified which makes it dust and waterproof for over 1.5 meters or 30 minutes. It is also MIL-STD-810G compliant which is a US military test for determining the surviving capability of devices under certain environmental conditions. Though by that, it does not mean that the V30+ is durable and won’t crack upon receiving a hit.

Display

LG’s FullVision 6-inch OLED display tuned to a QHD+ resolution (2,880 x 1,440 pixels) makes for the front of the phone. There are minimal bezels on all the four sides. Using many of the so-called “bezel-less” smartphones in recent times, we have come to appreciate the little bezels on the front as they minimise accidental touches while the phone is in use.

The display is bright enough with vibrant colors and is great to watch videos on. Of late, Google’s Pixel 2 XL has been on the receiving end of criticism because of issues like desaturated colors, screen burn-in, and a blue-tinted LG manufactured display. These do not plague the V30+ except the blue tinted display which is minimal but something you cannot unsee once you notice it.

The settings include a comfort view option which can be turned on to reduce the blue light on the display. There isn’t much wrong with the display of V30+, it does a nice job and users who consume a lot of content on their phones will absolutely love it. It’s just that we have seen more superior displays on phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and S8+.

LG has done away with the second screen on the V30+ which was a unique part of the V-series phones up until last year. Now, there’s a virtual floating bar which does the same job and tucks away on either side of the screen. It’s customisable and users can select their most used app to show up in the floating bar. It is a welcome change, but it cannot save the user experience. 

Interface and reliability

The V30+ comes with Android 7.1.2 Nougat out-of-the-box which is a bummer. LG released it during the second half of 2017 while it did not show up in India until December. LG could have easily shipped the phone with the Android 8.0 Oreo.

LG’s UX is one of the worst interfaces to have ever existed on a phone. It’s really bad to use. The interface generally makes the phone feel a bit laggy. On occasions when you wouldn’t expect it to be sluggish, such as on tapping the settings, it takes a while before the options are launched. There are unnecessary effects in the interfaces like the one on the homescreen which stretches the display on either of the pages on the homescreen. All of this makes for a bad smartphone experience.

If that wasn’t enough, LG has filled the phone with bloatware apps like Memo, Tasks, Smart Doctor, SmartWorld and even an E-mail app among others which just adds to its sluggishness.

LG is in dire need of a UX overhaul if it wants the phones to run on all engines. This compromise is something that is not expected from flagship smartphones.

Performance

Even though the V30+ comes buffed up with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835, it doesn’t feel any snappier. Upon filling the phone with usual apps, we noticed small lags while tapping on an icon and the menu. This has majorly to do with the company’s homegrown UX which isn’t optimised well enough.

Normal users won’t notice these performance issues until a few months into the regular usage. All the phones available in this price segment are prone to fatigue after some time, this one is just at the starting of the curve.

The phone was able to run games like Asphalt 8 but with titles like Injustice 2 and Dawn of Titans, it stuttered and lagged quite often. The camera app felt slow as did the phone in general when we tried to multitask. It just did not feel powerful enough. 

With phones like the OnePlus 5T and the Mi Mix 2, this was never a case. They just braced up for whatever we threw at them and performed without any woes.

The regular V30 comes with a 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard storage while the V30+ has double the internal storage which can further be expanded to 256GB.

Listening to music on the V30+ takes it to a new level of enjoyment. We applaud it for two things, one for including the 3.5mm headphone jack and supplementing it with an awesome Quad DAC (digital to analog converter) and unique settings to squeeze more use out of it. The second is that the V30+ has the ability to tweak the sound profile delivered by the Quad DAC, even individually tweaking the decibel level of each ear speaker when switched on which is a new feature. 

The V30+ is also one of the first smartphones to support the MQA wireless audio codec. Of course, you’ll need high-end headphones to properly enjoy it but LG’s melding of innovation on both the wired and wireless fronts shows that it can honour its legacy while advancing with technology.

Camera

LG has put in a lot of effort in bringing upgraded hardware and features to make use of the dual camera system of the V30+. However, everything goes in vain when it comes to the camera department.

Given that the two cameras, one with a f/1.6 aperture lens and the other with f/1.9 aperture should ideally perform well. The company’s decision to put in a 1-micron sensor under them prevents them from capturing enough light which in turn produces low clarity images and makes for a heartbreaking experience.

The secondary camera on the V30+ is a wide-angle one but doesn't support autofocus which is again not very good. LG is consistent with its main camera feature of pairing a primary lens with a wide-angle one for some awesome looking fish-eye effect shots. The LG V30+ camera takes some good wide shots but because of the lack of detail and over-saturation, the phone just doesn’t cut it for a flagship-level camera.

In our time with the phone, we did not find it to be the industry-best at illuminating a dark scene either. What the camera does better than most is providing a better balance of lighting and contrast for capturing the golden hours of the day.

Flipped over on its front, the small 5MP selfie camera is a straight up disappointment. While the lighting and colours look fine for the most part, the photos lack detail and in general make you look gloomy. I don’t use the front-facing camera much but this is all I could make for the selfie snapper. It’s bad and LG needs to fix it.

The V30+ is packed with camera features like professional colour grading to give each video and picture the right kind of contrast, lighting and saturation. For power users who want to shoot footage with the V30+ and export to say the Adobe Premiere, you can export the Cine Log, which retains the metadata during post-production. If you’d rather edit video on the phone, LG has including an app that can let you do just that.

LG has also partnered with Graphy to teach users how to become comfortable with the manual mode.

Another new addition to the camera software is Point Zoom. Activated within the Cine Video mode in the camera app, this new feature smoothly zooms in on wherever you tap,  instead of the standard centre zoom effect we’re all accustomed to. It might not sound like much, but it’s one of those small things that will likely make a big difference moving forward in smartphone videography.

These extra features cannot dismiss the issue at hand which is that the camera in the V30+ lacks basic necessities to capture a good picture worthy of a flagship smartphone.

Battery life

Battery performance has been one of the highlighting features in the V-series. With the V30+, LG has a non-removable 3,300 mAh battery which can withstand usage throughout the day and then some.

Given that the V-series smartphones up until now usually had a removable battery, the V30+ does away with it which is a refreshing change. Usually, users now carry a power bank with them for that last minute charge to give their phones a boost. 

Thus, the LG V30+ continuing with the removable battery would have made no sense. An all-day battery life is an easy goal for this phone to meet. When we watched a 60-minute movie file in 1080p, the V30+ remarkably only dropped down to 87% once it was finished. In our daily usage, the phone lasted easily for 12-13 hours - which is good.

As far as recharging is considered, from 0%, it can go up to 30% in 15 minutes, up to 67% after a half hour, and 100% in just under two hours. 

These are pretty good stats but to us, it feels a bit slower because we have seen the blazing fast Dash Charge.

Verdict

Although the company took some time to bring the V30+ to India, the pricing is right on point. Still, we wouldn’t recommend you get one because of the many problems the phone comes with. The camera on board needs improvement and the UI needs a complete overhaul. Whatever points LG scores in the design department, it loses in the performance and camera domains. 

If you want a powerful smartphone then the OnePlus 5T falls into that category and if you want a powerful and a unique phone then the Mi Mix 2 will suffice. LG V30+ isn’t something we feel you should spend +Rs 40,000 on. 

Who's it for?

V30+ is strictly for audiophiles who should consider it as the best smartphone for audio listening available right now. Another set of users for whom this phone feels perfect are videographers or people looking to take a plunge into video production as a hobby. The CineMode will allow them to create some beautiful cinematic videos which is an advantage with this phone. 

from TechRadar: Technology reviews http://ift.tt/2DtrSZe