As awesome as LG phones look, not sure if I'd ever own another or could recommend one to someone.
I've been burned twice by LG hardware issues on phones. Most recently it was with the LG G4 and their known crappy soldering causing the model to suddenly die. They replaced it twice due to the issue but the 3rd time they would not, said the phone was out of warranty.
I understand warranty and all that but if you have a known, admitted (by LG themselves), and prevalent issue with hardware failing you should support your customers; otherwise you will have no customers left.
I'm the opposite. I bought only failed Samsung phones and one failed Nexus phone until I bought a G3. I've now owned every LG phone since without a single failure. Consumer electronics aren't that reliable and I don't see any difference between companies.
Yep. I used to be a die hard HTC guy until I started having problems, then I went LG and haven't looked back. And if I start having consistent issues ill try Samsung or whatever.
Too many people use anecdotal "evidence" to make recommendations to others. It's kind of sad really.
I always thought electronic devices -- being solid-state -- just didn't fail, by and large. But I've had a Samsung and a (LG-manufactured) Nexus die on me -- screen went to multicolour snow on the first, the second entered a boot-loop. I'm very, very conservative with my devices, subjecting them to minimal accelerations and temperature extremes. I guess tech just isn't as reliable as I thought it was.
I just shared what I experienced which is not my opinion or anecdotal recommendation! I've wasted too much money for LG and Samsung and it's time to go back to Nokia.
Better than the G6 but too small for the V series and the bezels too large to compete. Just 4GB of RAM does stand out too.Might be costly to add more but it's not a 200$ phone.
only .3 inches smaller screen, but almost 10mm shorter and 1mm thinner and a lot lighter than the note 8 with the same screen to body ratio pretty much... not sure how you can say the bezels are too large... the curved edge illusion got you?
I'll start by saying that i have never given Apple a single cent and i do not use any of their products. That being said, Apple's design gives one the illusion that bezels have been fully removed and no Android phone so far is even close to that. Yes in practice Apple will have some 4mm bezels all around and that's a lot, plus the cutout but the perception is what matters. Apple might also get rid of buttons at the bottom of the display, something that should have been done a few years ago when phones when to 5.5 inch and above but Google is lazy. Anyway, the Android guys will have a terrible cycle in the high end. Maybe Huawei or Vivo do better towards the end of the year but that's far from certain.
One last note, Samsung uses 18.5:9 AR not 18:9 like this one and the Note 8 is also too small, if you actually look at the width of the display not the diagonal. That's the biggest sin for the Note 8, its main competitor is the S8+. If the Note was 6.7 inch, Samsung S8+ and Note 8 added up would sell an extra 3 to 5 million units this year.
So 82 percent screen like the Note 8 (compared to 72 percent or so last year) and not excessively tall (because of the 18:9 instead of 18.5) but the same width and thinner too. Sounds like you are saying how much you like the V30 ;)
You seem to be stuck on the Note 8, like that's teh standard but that one is equally bad.
I've been waiting for 100% display for 15 years so if i was aiming to be blunt, i would say that this is an embarrassment. If you look back, this is how the G4 should have been like but LG decided to experiment with silly ideas and just waste a few years.
I've been waiting for a 4.4" phone with a 6.3" screen and 500+ PPI resolution since the Palm Pre launched in 2009. /JK (well, halfway)
I always thought it would be nice if a phone could slide out or flip out an extension to the display. Got the idea from the combination of the Pre's "full screen display" with slide out keyboard and the iPhone's full screen display with virtual keyboard. Phone thickness never bothered me, and things hadn't yet taken a turn for the "thin is in" movement, but I digress.
So it's impossible to hold with one hand without the side of your hand accidentally registering button presses, or make a case for, so it will break the first time it suffers a minor drop?
All-screen looks nice - I'm not disputing that - but it's a bit lacking from a usability standpoint.
You write a lot, but I see nothing in terms of evidence to back up your odd assertions that this device is somehow too small. Most people make the opposite complaint - and by most, I mean millions of users.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix already did a large screen Android device with almost nonexistent bezels in October 2016. In no way are Apple leading this charge.
Your statement about lower buttons is pure nonsense. They have been an on/off option is software for years now. Some manufacturers include them, some don't, but the options has been there for many moons.
It's an odd argument anyhow. "Too small" or "Too large" are matters of personal opinion. It's like saying an SUV is too large or a compact car is too small. For a commuter vs. a Family of 6 the uses are different and neither is right or wrong.
Speak for yourself. Apple's design only gives YOU the illusion that bezels have been fully removed. Geez, you keep ranting on with nonsense. Have you forgotten taking your meds?
"That being said, Apple's design gives one the illusion that bezels have been fully removed and no Android phone so far is even close to that."
Uhh. The Apple design that hasn't been made public, and that consists purely of rumors? Regardless of your opinion of Apple, this sort of comment really doesn't make sense until we're comparing two ACTUAL designs.
Yeah, the Note 8 is too big. If it had a 3600 mAh+ battery to show for it, I wouldn't mind, but Samsung basically launched a phone much bigger than the S7 Edge in every dimension while cutting the battery by 10%.
It takes actual knowledge to have opinions about CPU design, or OS design, or language design or, hell, even UI design. But every monkey with a keyboard can have an opinion about the appearance of things.
So compared to Galaxy S8 plus: 6% smaller battery, better DAC, ships with 1 higher minor android version. Is the camera better based on spec? With all those B1G1 deals Samsung did, LG would need some kind of promotion to help move units. I don't see any compelling reason to upgrade.
You know I use to be a photo developer 12 or so years ago, and I remember printing plenty of 2mp images on 8x10 that looked just fine. It always cracks me up when I read stuff saying things like printing an 8x10 with an 8mp image is unacceptable. Hell I used to know guys who would print billboards off of ~4mp images.
Again I'm not saying resolution isn't important, I'm just saying that because image sensors have become so dense, people are making assumptions about what "low" resolution actually is. I mean, think about the fact that a 65" 4K TV is roughly 9 megapixels and it looks JUST FINE, even standing 3 feet away from it, now tell me that an 8mp image printed on a 8x10 is somehow not good enough lol.
Obviously I'm not referring to you, I'm just saying a lot of people have been making those types of claims lately.
I believe the V20 went a long way in saving LG mobile division's bacon after the disaster that was the G5. I think they might be banking on the V series keeping them going now.
Why they decided to make it more like the G series though, I have no idea. I guess the V30 is more of a merger of the two, and that they decided that what made the V series popular was the 'professional' video and audio.
After the mediocre V10 and V20 I have collecting dust I will forgo the V30. The specs other than the CPU are at least 1-2 gens old. They finally have OLED which all phones since 2015 should have had. And the one thing IMO that generated interest in the V series, removable battery, is gone as well. Oh, and if the quad DAC is anything like the V20 dac you will probably hear no difference as you would need high impedance headphones to hear it. At least on the V10 you could download an app that forced it to be on all the time.
>"1-2 gens old" LPDDR4X - current gen UFS 2.1 - current gen QHD OLED with narrow bezels - current gen 3300mah battery - not impressive but at least on par with other flagships Dual camera with f/1.6, OIS, PDAF - current gen Android 7.1.2 - not the newest but only pixel phones are on oreo right now
Hey Anandtech, what's been going on with your smartphone reviews? We haven't seen any full reviews of any 2017 phones from you guys with only a SD835 vs exynos 8895 comparison on the S8 and a p10 and p10 plus performance and battery life report. It's pretty much in second round of 2017 flagship territory now with the note 8, essential ph1, and v30 having just launched and the next iPhone and next pixel coming soon, yet you guys still haven't done a full review of any of the first round 2017 flagships (S8, g6, u11, etc.).
I always looked forward to you guys' smartphone reviews since you guys actually test certain things like performance, battery life, and display accuracy a lot more thoroughly than any other smartphone reviewer but recently you guys haven't been putting out any smartphone reviews at all, which worries me.
Is it because Matt left? He had an almost 2 month gap during which he never published any articles and since the sd835 vs exynos article he hasn't published anything, and he's also no longer on the editor list. This would make sense as both Ian and Ryan published the last two smartphone launch articles which traditionally would be done by someone like Matt.
I would love it if you guys could hire another full time smartphone editor. I'm sure the traffic those articles would generate would pay for the cost in no time.
Same here. I know, you know how much tech and evolution is going on with smartphones. Their tech is seemingly better and cheaper than standalone digital cameras (excluding sensors). Display tech of Samsung is just unbelievable.
Which to some extent is just economics, as the iPhone is the biggest seller in North America. So if you're only going to do one article, you're going to do it one the subject which gets the most views.
Good hardware, but outdated Android version right from the start. Koreans have real problems with software, after all betas of Oreo were available 6 month ago.
To cover multimedia (audio, video, photography, etc.) related features with the technical depth and professional knowledge we tend to expect from AnandTech articles.
It's just that we are accustomed to the idea that AnandTech always wrote the most in-depth, most insightful, technically definitive article for any given topic among major websites =)
Oh we definitely still love doing that. The question is more about what kinds of products you'd like to see. "Multimedia" is an incredibly broad subject.
"but in our preview device even at minor viewing angles we saw a very noticeable blue tinge"
Should anyone be surprised by this? LG hasn't learned anything or changed anything in their approach to this industry. Still 8000k white point, horrible display calibration. Likely won't get android P (unless everyone groans at them when they announce it won't get P) and security updates will be non-existent - up to few and far between. They need to change their phone business model, they are getting left behind. This planned obsolescence with their flagships is awful, and I haven't even discussed their QC.
Future Android versions will be far easier to qualify after Android 8, thanks to Project Treble, so I'm mildly optimistic that we might start seeing slightly better support in future.
Looks interesting, although I would have preferred Bluetooth 5.0, Quickcharge 4+, and Android Oreo. These are nitpicks, but if I'm going to spend $700+ for a phone it can't just be good.
I know these people might be in the minority, but this is not what many V series users probably want. It's going more towards the form side, than the function side of things. It's essentially a bigger, slightly different G6.
I understand why LG might have done this. The G series hasn't done so well, while the V series has done alright.
It’s interesting how all of these “new” Android phones are using an SoC that’s now about a year old. Can’t they get their act together on this with Qualcomm?
And all of these nice color modes on this phone don’t work properly, because there’s no systemwide color management. In fact, there’s no color management at all.
As compared to the helio X30, for instance, since it's the only other top end chip LG could have used as exynos and kirin are obviously not available to them
The 835 has been available for five months. It is the latest SoC available. You won't see anything new from anyone other than Apple for the rest of the year.
Looks OK. Some decent bezel space and much less (no?) curve on the screen than what Samsung's doing now. Being able to hold your phone without spurious inputs AND able to look straight at it and read everything? What an amazing concept. And kudos on keeping the headphone jack. Standardized, consumer friendly, unpowered audio? Another amazing concept.
Lack of removable battery is bad, biggest issue looks like the glass-all-over idiocy. Manufacturers, get your heads out of your rears and go back to good, grippy plastic. That's the real premium material. That would be real bravery.
Is LG going to have a flagship phablet this generation? 6" in 2:1 doesn't cut it. Hopes dashed when the V30+ turned out to just regard storage.
Seriously, phone designers who put in mirror finishes on phones aka dust/fingerprint/scratch magnets need to waterboarded again and again until they get their dumb ideas out from their rears.
Does it have an LED notification light? I know that sounds like a crazy question.. but the LG G6 does not and as much as I love the G6 I find that one oversight to be a MAJOR drawback.
Why the hell would you remove the damn LED notification light???
I don't have hard data so maybe you are right. I know my dad was disappointed his Moto G5 Plus didn't have one. It's not just us tech nerds that care about these details.
A multi-coloured light that can be configured to show specific colours per app is indeed essential. It's amazing how much information can be gleaned but something as simple as a blue vs green vs red vs purple light. :)
I actually hate those lights, if you have your phone in your room you have to place it face down on a flat surface and even then the stupid thing usually blinks bright enough to disturb your sleep.
All nice with small reservations with the small camera sensor but the show stopper is its price. It is going to start at near the Samsung Note 8 price. Some reviewers are pitting this against the Note 8 which is more likely suggested by LG. A V30 is not a Note 8 level in many ways.
This is competing with the S8+ and is late by a few months. We don't even know yet how well their OLED display performs which is more likely slightly inferior to Samsung.
I actually kind of hate that phrase. There is definitely such a thing as a bad product. If it costs you $10k to manufacture and the highest you can sell it at is $5k, that's a bad product. That statement is only look at post production and doesn't factor in the whole picture of manufacturing costs, R&D, advertising costs, etc etc etc.
I have the V10 and I love it. I skipped the V20 because there were minimal improvements over the V10. I don't think I'm getting the V30 because of the loss of the removable battery, the SecondScreen, and the IR blaster (in that order). I hope another manufacturer picks up from where LG (and Samsung a couple of years ago) left off and continue to offer a removable battery option (yes I know Apple never had a removable battery yet sells millions of units every year, but being able to replace a used-up or weak battery with a fully-charged one in minutes is a BIG plus). I find the SecondScreen very useful in terms of always-on status and time and keeping incoming notifications out of the way yet visible. As for the IR blaster, I find it more convenient to whip out my phone instead of hunt for the remote when I plop down in front of the TV. So there LG, I'll be "upgrading" to a V20 because your V30 is a downgrade for me from the V10.
Yeah, looks good. MQA is bullshit, just crap for the uninitiated, custom design compression for hi quality streaming. Enjoy that compression, though truth told all streaming is compressed. Its all crap, but don't try to trick me into saying crap is better crap. B&O is crap too. I'd rather have MEE audio do my earphones. And 24/96? Really? Sammy's doing 384/32 I believe, plus DSD. Not breaking any ground there LG. I guess y'all can tell I'm an audio enthusiast. Love the IP68 cert, that's the right direction. Who cares that it's more difficult to repair, there's always a trade off. Im cool with it.
They really are. I am very much into audio equipment and what not, and there is definitely quality levels, but if you do double blind tests like you said, the vast vast majority, even "professionals" couldn't reliably identify the difference. One of my favorite things is the company McIntosh back in the 70's did a thing where they had a display with 2 identical sets of speakers/amps/etc right next to each other with an A/B switch. They had one speaker connected with super high end silver blah blah cables, and the other one with (no shit) lamp cord, so they basically just cut the cable off some lamp somewhere and used it for speaker wire. They did this to show how much snake oil there was in regards to speaker cables.
Phone looks like a solid option but after replacing 3 V10's due to the hardware crapping out, all over the course of 6 months and seeing so many complaints on the V20 with similar problems I don't care to put money into their pockets....which is a shame because I was really interested in the Pixel XL....decisions decisions.
So I know it's never going to happen, but I would literally LOVE if companies started offering flagship phones without all the effort/expense on the cameras. I know I'm absolutely in the minority here and that a lot of people the camera is one of if not THE most important thing on the phone. But, I personally only use the camera for stuff like, you just had an auto accident and need to take some pics, or maybe there is a document you need to save and you don't have a scanner handy or whatever.
If I could get a phone with a top end screen, processor, etc etc, but at 20-30% less because of no insane camera and associated hardware, I would be so happy. Alas I don't ever see that happening.
I don't think the camera and associated bits are that much of the price. Frankly the cost of luxury phones is hugely inflated -- margins are 50+%. The cost of the components for a S8 or V30 is not four times that of a Moto G5. Nor is the R&D that is required.
Yeah, it honestly always struck me as odd that a phone cost as much as a good mid grade ultrabook. Hell even a top of the line ultrabook isn't significantly more than one of these new $1000 phones.
This is what is in the first page of the review: "The battery is virtually unchanged from the V20, its 3300 mAh capacity being just 100 mAh larger than its predecessor. "
WRONG. The V20 had a replaceable battery. The V30 is not replaceable. Big difference. I recently bought a V20 specifically because I could replace the battery. This is a big loss.
Also, the review seemed surprised that the the power on button was on the back and part of the fingerprint reader. That is exactly the configuration of the V20.
Next time pick a reviewer who is familiar with the LG phones.
Because of the stuff I do w/ the phone, I realized coming from a Priv to an S8+ the power of performance. Having Lyft, Uber, Maps, and a Phone call up makes the phone freeze. With the S8+ you can have lots of apps up and have Zero lagging/crashing. You get lag or a hang during a drive down the freeway you miss an exit which turns a 4 minute ETA into a 15 minute one which leads to a cancellation or wasted gas.
The real question is how reliable are they? I've had a Note 4 for three years, and dropped it many times and its still kicking. Probably going to the 8+, but this LG does look good on paper.
6-inch maybe too big for me to hold, I just bought one-plus 5 from promopure.com. I looked a lot of reviews before buying this phone, Hope it don't let me down.
Needs BT 5.0 and either a larger battery or a replaceable battery would be great. I don't need a camera that takes perfect pictures of other galaxies, I just want more battery life.
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Guitaripod - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
What a beast.cknobman - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
As awesome as LG phones look, not sure if I'd ever own another or could recommend one to someone.I've been burned twice by LG hardware issues on phones.
Most recently it was with the LG G4 and their known crappy soldering causing the model to suddenly die.
They replaced it twice due to the issue but the 3rd time they would not, said the phone was out of warranty.
I understand warranty and all that but if you have a known, admitted (by LG themselves), and prevalent issue with hardware failing you should support your customers; otherwise you will have no customers left.
Netmsm - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
after failed products, G3 and G4 as disastrous ones and G5, LG is still alive. I can't trust LG again!Alistair - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I'm the opposite. I bought only failed Samsung phones and one failed Nexus phone until I bought a G3. I've now owned every LG phone since without a single failure. Consumer electronics aren't that reliable and I don't see any difference between companies.Kutark - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Yep. I used to be a die hard HTC guy until I started having problems, then I went LG and haven't looked back. And if I start having consistent issues ill try Samsung or whatever.Too many people use anecdotal "evidence" to make recommendations to others. It's kind of sad really.
G0053 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I was about to say, I've owned HTC, LG, and Samsung phones and never had any of them fail. Then again I treat my stuff well.Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
I always thought electronic devices -- being solid-state -- just didn't fail, by and large. But I've had a Samsung and a (LG-manufactured) Nexus die on me -- screen went to multicolour snow on the first, the second entered a boot-loop. I'm very, very conservative with my devices, subjecting them to minimal accelerations and temperature extremes. I guess tech just isn't as reliable as I thought it was.flyingpants1 - Tuesday, September 26, 2017 - link
No man.. The LGs are known to be defective. G2, G3 and G4 at least.Netmsm - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
I just shared what I experienced which is not my opinion or anecdotal recommendation! I've wasted too much money for LG and Samsung and it's time to go back to Nokia.Raniz - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
This sounds like a really good phone.jjj - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Better than the G6 but too small for the V series and the bezels too large to compete.Just 4GB of RAM does stand out too.Might be costly to add more but it's not a 200$ phone.
Alistair - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
only .3 inches smaller screen, but almost 10mm shorter and 1mm thinner and a lot lighter than the note 8 with the same screen to body ratio pretty much... not sure how you can say the bezels are too large... the curved edge illusion got you?jjj - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I'll start by saying that i have never given Apple a single cent and i do not use any of their products.That being said, Apple's design gives one the illusion that bezels have been fully removed and no Android phone so far is even close to that. Yes in practice Apple will have some 4mm bezels all around and that's a lot, plus the cutout but the perception is what matters.
Apple might also get rid of buttons at the bottom of the display, something that should have been done a few years ago when phones when to 5.5 inch and above but Google is lazy.
Anyway, the Android guys will have a terrible cycle in the high end. Maybe Huawei or Vivo do better towards the end of the year but that's far from certain.
One last note, Samsung uses 18.5:9 AR not 18:9 like this one and the Note 8 is also too small, if you actually look at the width of the display not the diagonal.
That's the biggest sin for the Note 8, its main competitor is the S8+. If the Note was 6.7 inch, Samsung S8+ and Note 8 added up would sell an extra 3 to 5 million units this year.
Alistair - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
So 82 percent screen like the Note 8 (compared to 72 percent or so last year) and not excessively tall (because of the 18:9 instead of 18.5) but the same width and thinner too. Sounds like you are saying how much you like the V30 ;)jjj - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
You seem to be stuck on the Note 8, like that's teh standard but that one is equally bad.I've been waiting for 100% display for 15 years so if i was aiming to be blunt, i would say that this is an embarrassment.
If you look back, this is how the G4 should have been like but LG decided to experiment with silly ideas and just waste a few years.
snowmyr - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I'm pretty impressed that you've been waiting for a 100% display back when the Nokia 6100 was a kick ass phone.BurntMyBacon - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
I've been waiting for a 4.4" phone with a 6.3" screen and 500+ PPI resolution since the Palm Pre launched in 2009. /JK (well, halfway)I always thought it would be nice if a phone could slide out or flip out an extension to the display. Got the idea from the combination of the Pre's "full screen display" with slide out keyboard and the iPhone's full screen display with virtual keyboard. Phone thickness never bothered me, and things hadn't yet taken a turn for the "thin is in" movement, but I digress.
Rοb - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
Wait for foldable Display as that's certain to make the Phone smaller than the Display's size and thicken it up a bit.twtech - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
So it's impossible to hold with one hand without the side of your hand accidentally registering button presses, or make a case for, so it will break the first time it suffers a minor drop?All-screen looks nice - I'm not disputing that - but it's a bit lacking from a usability standpoint.
Spunjji - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
You write a lot, but I see nothing in terms of evidence to back up your odd assertions that this device is somehow too small. Most people make the opposite complaint - and by most, I mean millions of users.The Xiaomi Mi Mix already did a large screen Android device with almost nonexistent bezels in October 2016. In no way are Apple leading this charge.
Your statement about lower buttons is pure nonsense. They have been an on/off option is software for years now. Some manufacturers include them, some don't, but the options has been there for many moons.
goatfajitas - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
It's an odd argument anyhow. "Too small" or "Too large" are matters of personal opinion. It's like saying an SUV is too large or a compact car is too small. For a commuter vs. a Family of 6 the uses are different and neither is right or wrong.goatfajitas - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
/editI will say this though, for its size I wish it had a bigger battery, but I say that of pretty much every flagship out there.
Kutark - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Yeah, I would gladly give up a couple millimeters of thickness to get an extra 200-300mah out of it.Rοb - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
Buy a Battery Case.sonny73n - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Speak for yourself. Apple's design only gives YOU the illusion that bezels have been fully removed. Geez, you keep ranting on with nonsense. Have you forgotten taking your meds?name99 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
"That being said, Apple's design gives one the illusion that bezels have been fully removed and no Android phone so far is even close to that."Uhh. The Apple design that hasn't been made public, and that consists purely of rumors?
Regardless of your opinion of Apple, this sort of comment really doesn't make sense until we're comparing two ACTUAL designs.
WPX00 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Yeah, the Note 8 is too big. If it had a 3600 mAh+ battery to show for it, I wouldn't mind, but Samsung basically launched a phone much bigger than the S7 Edge in every dimension while cutting the battery by 10%.Tams80 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
What is with this obsession with thin bevels?!goatfajitas - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Smaller phones with bigger screens. What is hard to get about that?name99 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
It takes actual knowledge to have opinions about CPU design, or OS design, or language design or, hell, even UI design. But every monkey with a keyboard can have an opinion about the appearance of things.http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Parkinsons...
Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Just so long as it doesn't spread to tablets, as I'd actually like to be able to hold them.Lggg - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Seriously imx351?That is the front facing camera sensor used by htc u and telephoto lens used by asus send one selfie pro 4......
godlyatheist - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
So compared to Galaxy S8 plus: 6% smaller battery, better DAC, ships with 1 higher minor android version. Is the camera better based on spec? With all those B1G1 deals Samsung did, LG would need some kind of promotion to help move units. I don't see any compelling reason to upgrade.Alistair - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
They annoyingly didn't announce the price, so it's hard to say. The Note 8 is $1456 in Canada, so no problem there.But the regular S8 is similar and under $800 CAD after taxes on sale right now. That's some tough competition.
snowmyr - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I don't think the V30 is aimed at S8 plus owners.Karenalison - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Please please please tell me of it supports mhl /slimport /hdmijimjamjamie - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I don't understand LG's product stack. Surely the G-series is more well-known than the V-series, why is the V-series taking over as the flagship?Also that front facing camera.. I'm sure that 'generation V' will love taking 5mp potato selfies..
A5 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
5MP at f/1.9 will look fine as a lossy gif in snapchat. 8mp would be nice, but aperture is king.Kutark - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
You know I use to be a photo developer 12 or so years ago, and I remember printing plenty of 2mp images on 8x10 that looked just fine. It always cracks me up when I read stuff saying things like printing an 8x10 with an 8mp image is unacceptable. Hell I used to know guys who would print billboards off of ~4mp images.Again I'm not saying resolution isn't important, I'm just saying that because image sensors have become so dense, people are making assumptions about what "low" resolution actually is. I mean, think about the fact that a 65" 4K TV is roughly 9 megapixels and it looks JUST FINE, even standing 3 feet away from it, now tell me that an 8mp image printed on a 8x10 is somehow not good enough lol.
Obviously I'm not referring to you, I'm just saying a lot of people have been making those types of claims lately.
Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Well said, Kutark!Tams80 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I believe the V20 went a long way in saving LG mobile division's bacon after the disaster that was the G5. I think they might be banking on the V series keeping them going now.Why they decided to make it more like the G series though, I have no idea. I guess the V30 is more of a merger of the two, and that they decided that what made the V series popular was the 'professional' video and audio.
Oyeve - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
After the mediocre V10 and V20 I have collecting dust I will forgo the V30. The specs other than the CPU are at least 1-2 gens old. They finally have OLED which all phones since 2015 should have had. And the one thing IMO that generated interest in the V series, removable battery, is gone as well. Oh, and if the quad DAC is anything like the V20 dac you will probably hear no difference as you would need high impedance headphones to hear it. At least on the V10 you could download an app that forced it to be on all the time.Retycint - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
>"1-2 gens old"LPDDR4X - current gen
UFS 2.1 - current gen
QHD OLED with narrow bezels - current gen
3300mah battery - not impressive but at least on par with other flagships
Dual camera with f/1.6, OIS, PDAF - current gen
Android 7.1.2 - not the newest but only pixel phones are on oreo right now
So your point is?
Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Nexus phones are on Android 8 too.But the 835 is current as well. The V30 is a good phone.
Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Sorry should say the 5X and 6P. Not all Nexus phones.Rοb - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
He saw one word and dismissed it out of hand.Also, new Sonys are Oreo.
peevee - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Ian, you have a mistake in the spec table - both Snapdragon 820 and 835 have 4x cores of each type, not 2x.MrCommunistGen - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Snapdragon 820 is definitely 2 + 2, not 4 + 4.Dr. Swag - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Not true, 820 is 2xkryo high performance and 2xkryo lower performancephoenix_rizzen - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
SD810 is 4xA57 + 4xA53.SD820 is 2xKryo + 2xKryo.
SD835 is 4xKryo + 4xKryo.
Dr. Swag - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Hey Anandtech, what's been going on with your smartphone reviews? We haven't seen any full reviews of any 2017 phones from you guys with only a SD835 vs exynos 8895 comparison on the S8 and a p10 and p10 plus performance and battery life report. It's pretty much in second round of 2017 flagship territory now with the note 8, essential ph1, and v30 having just launched and the next iPhone and next pixel coming soon, yet you guys still haven't done a full review of any of the first round 2017 flagships (S8, g6, u11, etc.).I always looked forward to you guys' smartphone reviews since you guys actually test certain things like performance, battery life, and display accuracy a lot more thoroughly than any other smartphone reviewer but recently you guys haven't been putting out any smartphone reviews at all, which worries me.
Is it because Matt left? He had an almost 2 month gap during which he never published any articles and since the sd835 vs exynos article he hasn't published anything, and he's also no longer on the editor list. This would make sense as both Ian and Ryan published the last two smartphone launch articles which traditionally would be done by someone like Matt.
Stochastic - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I would love it if you guys could hire another full time smartphone editor. I'm sure the traffic those articles would generate would pay for the cost in no time.Dr. Swag - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Yeah for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if after CPUs and GPUs smartphone reviews are one of the most popular types of reviews on Anandtech...zodiacfml - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Same here. I know, you know how much tech and evolution is going on with smartphones. Their tech is seemingly better and cheaper than standalone digital cameras (excluding sensors). Display tech of Samsung is just unbelievable.goatfajitas - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
They only care about iPhones now. You will see a full review of that when it comes.Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Which to some extent is just economics, as the iPhone is the biggest seller in North America. So if you're only going to do one article, you're going to do it one the subject which gets the most views.Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Anandtech has very few editors now, and the results are evident in the Alexa site rankings.Ryan Smith - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
"Is it because Matt left?"Indeed we are between mobile editors at the moment. I'm hiring some new guys, but it's going to be a bit longer until you see them.
Dr. Swag - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
I see. Are you still planning on eventually reviewing all the 2017 flagships or just skipping them?peevee - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Good hardware, but outdated Android version right from the start. Koreans have real problems with software, after all betas of Oreo were available 6 month ago.eio - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
AnandTech needs a multimedia technology editor.Ryan Smith - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
What would you like to see such an editor cover exactly?eio - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
To cover multimedia (audio, video, photography, etc.) related features with the technical depth and professional knowledge we tend to expect from AnandTech articles.eio - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
It's just that we are accustomed to the idea that AnandTech always wrote the most in-depth, most insightful, technically definitive article for any given topic among major websites =)Ryan Smith - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Oh we definitely still love doing that. The question is more about what kinds of products you'd like to see. "Multimedia" is an incredibly broad subject.Oyster - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
How was the one-handed usage experience?anactoraaron - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
"but in our preview device even at minor viewing angles we saw a very noticeable blue tinge"Should anyone be surprised by this? LG hasn't learned anything or changed anything in their approach to this industry. Still 8000k white point, horrible display calibration. Likely won't get android P (unless everyone groans at them when they announce it won't get P) and security updates will be non-existent - up to few and far between. They need to change their phone business model, they are getting left behind. This planned obsolescence with their flagships is awful, and I haven't even discussed their QC.
Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Future Android versions will be far easier to qualify after Android 8, thanks to Project Treble, so I'm mildly optimistic that we might start seeing slightly better support in future.anactoraaron - Thursday, September 7, 2017 - link
Unfortunately anything regarding project treble applies to devices shipped with oreo. The V30 ships with nougat.Stochastic - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Looks interesting, although I would have preferred Bluetooth 5.0, Quickcharge 4+, and Android Oreo. These are nitpicks, but if I'm going to spend $700+ for a phone it can't just be good.Tams80 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Wait, it doesn't have Bluetooth 5.0?!iamlilysdad - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
It requires Oreo. So no, it does not have it. It should come with Oreo, but no guarantee.Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
BT5 is hardware, not software. It's unrelated to Android 8.Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Yes I was very surprised at no BT5. I wouldn't buy a phone without it.Tams80 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
What an utter disappointment.I know these people might be in the minority, but this is not what many V series users probably want. It's going more towards the form side, than the function side of things. It's essentially a bigger, slightly different G6.
I understand why LG might have done this. The G series hasn't done so well, while the V series has done alright.
Oh well, they've lost at least one customer here.
melgross - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
It’s interesting how all of these “new” Android phones are using an SoC that’s now about a year old. Can’t they get their act together on this with Qualcomm?And all of these nice color modes on this phone don’t work properly, because there’s no systemwide color management. In fact, there’s no color management at all.
Stochastic - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
The 835 hasn't been around that long. More like 5 months, right?melgross - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
It seems like a lot longer than that.Ok, I checked. It’s 8 months.
goatfajitas - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
What of it? its the latest chip out and it's extremely fast.melgross - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Well, extremely fast compared to what?Retycint - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
As compared to the helio X30, for instance, since it's the only other top end chip LG could have used as exynos and kirin are obviously not available to themgoatfajitas - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
Compared to any and all competitors. Right now it is the chip to have. Hello.Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
The 835 has been available for five months. It is the latest SoC available. You won't see anything new from anyone other than Apple for the rest of the year.Maxpower2727 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
The 835 is the latest current high-end SOC that Qualcomm has announced. What else do you suggest they use?GreenMeters - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Looks OK. Some decent bezel space and much less (no?) curve on the screen than what Samsung's doing now. Being able to hold your phone without spurious inputs AND able to look straight at it and read everything? What an amazing concept. And kudos on keeping the headphone jack. Standardized, consumer friendly, unpowered audio? Another amazing concept.Lack of removable battery is bad, biggest issue looks like the glass-all-over idiocy. Manufacturers, get your heads out of your rears and go back to good, grippy plastic. That's the real premium material. That would be real bravery.
Is LG going to have a flagship phablet this generation? 6" in 2:1 doesn't cut it. Hopes dashed when the V30+ turned out to just regard storage.
StrangerGuy - Thursday, September 7, 2017 - link
Seriously, phone designers who put in mirror finishes on phones aka dust/fingerprint/scratch magnets need to waterboarded again and again until they get their dumb ideas out from their rears.shadarlo - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Does it have an LED notification light? I know that sounds like a crazy question.. but the LG G6 does not and as much as I love the G6 I find that one oversight to be a MAJOR drawback.Why the hell would you remove the damn LED notification light???
melgross - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Maybe because they found that most people don’t care, and it’s just one more thing to put in.Stochastic - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I care.melgross - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Yeah, sure, but comments in threads don’t make for the most reliable numbers. What percentage of buyers read this, one ten thousand of a percent?Stochastic - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I don't have hard data so maybe you are right. I know my dad was disappointed his Moto G5 Plus didn't have one. It's not just us tech nerds that care about these details.Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
A notification light is essential. I rather like knowing if I have a notification!!phoenix_rizzen - Saturday, September 2, 2017 - link
A multi-coloured light that can be configured to show specific colours per app is indeed essential. It's amazing how much information can be gleaned but something as simple as a blue vs green vs red vs purple light. :)Kutark - Thursday, September 14, 2017 - link
I actually hate those lights, if you have your phone in your room you have to place it face down on a flat surface and even then the stupid thing usually blinks bright enough to disturb your sleep.zodiacfml - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
All nice with small reservations with the small camera sensor but the show stopper is its price. It is going to start at near the Samsung Note 8 price. Some reviewers are pitting this against the Note 8 which is more likely suggested by LG. A V30 is not a Note 8 level in many ways.This is competing with the S8+ and is late by a few months. We don't even know yet how well their OLED display performs which is more likely slightly inferior to Samsung.
Stochastic - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
There's no such thing as a bad product, only a bad price.Kutark - Thursday, September 14, 2017 - link
I actually kind of hate that phrase. There is definitely such a thing as a bad product. If it costs you $10k to manufacture and the highest you can sell it at is $5k, that's a bad product. That statement is only look at post production and doesn't factor in the whole picture of manufacturing costs, R&D, advertising costs, etc etc etc.Rοb - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
Want a better Sensor visit DxOMark and see that the HTC U11 rates the highest score ever.cooldoods - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
I have the V10 and I love it. I skipped the V20 because there were minimal improvements over the V10. I don't think I'm getting the V30 because of the loss of the removable battery, the SecondScreen, and the IR blaster (in that order). I hope another manufacturer picks up from where LG (and Samsung a couple of years ago) left off and continue to offer a removable battery option (yes I know Apple never had a removable battery yet sells millions of units every year, but being able to replace a used-up or weak battery with a fully-charged one in minutes is a BIG plus). I find the SecondScreen very useful in terms of always-on status and time and keeping incoming notifications out of the way yet visible. As for the IR blaster, I find it more convenient to whip out my phone instead of hunt for the remote when I plop down in front of the TV. So there LG, I'll be "upgrading" to a V20 because your V30 is a downgrade for me from the V10.B166ER - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Yeah, looks good. MQA is bullshit, just crap for the uninitiated, custom design compression for hi quality streaming. Enjoy that compression, though truth told all streaming is compressed. Its all crap, but don't try to trick me into saying crap is better crap. B&O is crap too. I'd rather have MEE audio do my earphones. And 24/96? Really? Sammy's doing 384/32 I believe, plus DSD. Not breaking any ground there LG. I guess y'all can tell I'm an audio enthusiast.Love the IP68 cert, that's the right direction. Who cares that it's more difficult to repair, there's always a trade off. Im cool with it.
StrangerGuy - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Ever done a actual DBT between "clearly crap" 16/44 vs "vastly superior" 384/32?Doubt you won't, because overdosing on those placebo pills must be a favorite hobby of yours. Audiophiles are such a hilarious and deluded bunch.
zodiacfml - Saturday, September 2, 2017 - link
True. These audiophiles should go over to imaging technology as there's much growth and to do there.Rοb - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
If he was an Audiophile he'd know the Specs:AUDIO CODEC AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, FLAC, MP3, MIDI,
Vorbis, PCM, ADPCM, WMA, AC3, OPUS, DSD, ALAC, MQA
AUDIO PLAYBACK 1.2W Speaker
Supports Max 32bit / 384KHz audio files through
wired headphones
AUDIO RECORD HD Audio Recorder 24bit / 192KHz FLAC
Hi-Fi Record with high AOP Mic Up to 135dB
Kutark - Thursday, September 14, 2017 - link
They really are. I am very much into audio equipment and what not, and there is definitely quality levels, but if you do double blind tests like you said, the vast vast majority, even "professionals" couldn't reliably identify the difference. One of my favorite things is the company McIntosh back in the 70's did a thing where they had a display with 2 identical sets of speakers/amps/etc right next to each other with an A/B switch. They had one speaker connected with super high end silver blah blah cables, and the other one with (no shit) lamp cord, so they basically just cut the cable off some lamp somewhere and used it for speaker wire. They did this to show how much snake oil there was in regards to speaker cables.CalifLove00 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Phone looks like a solid option but after replacing 3 V10's due to the hardware crapping out, all over the course of 6 months and seeing so many complaints on the V20 with similar problems I don't care to put money into their pockets....which is a shame because I was really interested in the Pixel XL....decisions decisions.Kutark - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
So I know it's never going to happen, but I would literally LOVE if companies started offering flagship phones without all the effort/expense on the cameras. I know I'm absolutely in the minority here and that a lot of people the camera is one of if not THE most important thing on the phone. But, I personally only use the camera for stuff like, you just had an auto accident and need to take some pics, or maybe there is a document you need to save and you don't have a scanner handy or whatever.If I could get a phone with a top end screen, processor, etc etc, but at 20-30% less because of no insane camera and associated hardware, I would be so happy. Alas I don't ever see that happening.
Meteor2 - Friday, September 1, 2017 - link
I don't think the camera and associated bits are that much of the price. Frankly the cost of luxury phones is hugely inflated -- margins are 50+%. The cost of the components for a S8 or V30 is not four times that of a Moto G5. Nor is the R&D that is required.Kutark - Thursday, September 14, 2017 - link
Yeah, it honestly always struck me as odd that a phone cost as much as a good mid grade ultrabook. Hell even a top of the line ultrabook isn't significantly more than one of these new $1000 phones.Rοb - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
Buy a top-end mid-range Phone.BBD231 - Thursday, August 31, 2017 - link
Top end specs, ip68. Wonder how fluidity is compared to the S8.aadish151 - Saturday, September 2, 2017 - link
Bluetooth is 5.0 and not 4.2 as mentioned in the comparison table.LongTimePCUser - Saturday, September 2, 2017 - link
Did the reviewer ever look at the V20?This is what is in the first page of the review:
"The battery is virtually unchanged from the V20, its 3300 mAh capacity being just 100 mAh larger than its predecessor. "
WRONG.
The V20 had a replaceable battery. The V30 is not replaceable.
Big difference. I recently bought a V20 specifically because I could replace the battery.
This is a big loss.
Also, the review seemed surprised that the the power on button was on the back and part of the fingerprint reader. That is exactly the configuration of the V20.
Next time pick a reviewer who is familiar with the LG phones.
Lau_Tech - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
Are you kidding? They dont have anyone who is familiar with Android phonesRouche - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
Is it really Dual Sim + Dedicated microSD? Some of travellers its crazy important.Rοb - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
Correction: "LG stated that this audio is good at 24-bits and 96 kHz, ...".Should be: "LG stated that this audio is good at 24-bits and 196 kHz, 135 dB SPL ...".
Source: http://www.lg.com/ca_en/cell-phones/lg-LGH933-Silv... .
ummduh - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - link
I really like this phone, but I'm wondering how locked down it is going to be. Samsung levels? I won't buy a phone I can't do whatever I want with!AntDX316 - Monday, September 4, 2017 - link
Because of the stuff I do w/ the phone, I realized coming from a Priv to an S8+ the power of performance. Having Lyft, Uber, Maps, and a Phone call up makes the phone freeze. With the S8+ you can have lots of apps up and have Zero lagging/crashing. You get lag or a hang during a drive down the freeway you miss an exit which turns a 4 minute ETA into a 15 minute one which leads to a cancellation or wasted gas.sgunes - Monday, September 4, 2017 - link
Most of the other websites have the V30 Bluetooth as version 5.0 not 4.2.See: http://www.androidauthority.com/lg-v30-specs-79644... https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/08/lg-v30-pri...
It has even BT 5.0 aptxHD as per: http://www.androidauthority.com/lg-v30-audio-79744...
eyesmilejj - Tuesday, September 5, 2017 - link
What's the front facing camera sensor??please tell me Who knows??
beck2050 - Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - link
The real question is how reliable are they? I've had a Note 4 for three years, and dropped it many times and its still kicking. Probably going to the 8+, but this LG does look good on paper.iPhone 8 - Sunday, September 10, 2017 - link
The new LG V30 is highly appealing that's why its fare to say it will be one of the best Smartphones released this year.The new LG V30 is also available to buy here: http://lgv30.yolasite.com/
Robbin3789 - Sunday, September 10, 2017 - link
6-inch maybe too big for me to hold, I just bought one-plus 5 from promopure.com. I looked a lot of reviews before buying this phone, Hope it don't let me down.samer1970 - Saturday, September 16, 2017 - link
LG needs to change their logo . it looks like a one eyed man laughing at you.boe - Sunday, September 24, 2017 - link
Needs BT 5.0 and either a larger battery or a replaceable battery would be great. I don't need a camera that takes perfect pictures of other galaxies, I just want more battery life.