It’s official! LG’s next flagship was revealed today at IFA Berlin, and the company isn’t straying too far from their strengths for this new device. Does it look similar to the seamless design of the Samsung S8? Absolutely. Does it also have what sounds like superlative audio upgrade following on from the V20’s benchmark-setting hardware and a camera that will give its competitors a run for their money? Hells yes and never have I wanted a phone more.
Here’s the long and short of what was shown at IFA this morning: The LG V30 packs a six-inch 18:9 OLED screen into its seamless body, which is rounder and has ejected the second screen gimmick entirely. LG is calling this the “FullVision” screen, which makes the phone more ergonomic and less of a black monolith that the V20 was.
As for the audio, LG says that an improved Quad-DAC is back, this time developed in conjunction with engineers from B&O Play. Branded earphones from the audio giants will also be included, with digital filters designed to adjust the pre- and post-ringing of the impulse response of music with three selectable filters.
The LG V30 will also support MQA (Master Quality Authenticated), in case you ever wanted to hear Kurt Cobain clear his throat between the lyrics to Heart-Shaped Box. The microphone rounds off the list, with LG saying that this audio capturer will have a broader sound spectrum. As for the camera? You’re still getting a regular focal length smartphone camera that tags in a super-wide lens. The primary camera is a 16-megapixel snapper with an f/1.6 aperture, that combines pictures with a 13-megapixel camera that cuts down on the fish-eye with its 120-degree viewing angle.
LG is also looking at the video market, with an app called Cine Effects. Here’s the official description of that:
LG’s new Cine Video mode allows anyone to produce movies like a pro, thanks to its powerful Cine Effect and Point Zoom features. Users can now take high-quality videos enhanced by the cinematic hues of various movie genres with only a smartphone. While typical cameras only allow one to zoom in on the center of the frame, Point Zoom allows users to zoom in on any subject smoothly using the zoom slider, regardless of its position in the frame, another industry first.
And Cine Effect provides a palette of 15 presets to give videos a unique movie-like look, from romantic comedy, summer blockbuster, mystery, thriller and classic movie, among others.
LG V30 supports LG-Cine Log which allows for greater creative flexibility when capturing videos. With the ability to preserve a wide dynamic range and color gamut, LG-Cine Log videos files can save far more accurate image details. LG-Cine Log also allows for recording video using log gamma curve for maximum flexibility in producing the look the user wants during post-production.
And here are the official specs for the phone, in all their glory:
Key Specifications:
- Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 Mobile Platform
- Display: 6.0-inch 18:9 QuadHD+ OLED FullVision Display (2880 x 1440 / 538ppi)
- Memory:
- V30: 4GB LPDDR4x RAM / 64GB UFS 2.0 ROM / MicroSD (up to 2TB)
- V30+: 4GB LPDDR4x RAM / 128GB UFS 2.0 ROM / MicroSD (up to 2TB)
- Camera:
- Rear Dual: 16MP Standard Angle (F1.6 / 71°) / 13MP Wide Angle (F1.9/ 120°)
- Front: 5MP Wide Angle (F2.2 / 90°)
- Battery: 3,300mAh
- Operating System: Android 7.1.2 Nougat
- Size: 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm
- Weight: 158g
- Network: LTE-A 4 Band CA
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 5.0 BLE / NFC / USB Type-C 2.0 (3.1 compatible)
- Colors: Aurora Black / Cloud Silver / Moroccan Blue / Lavender Violet
- Others: IP68 Water and Dust Resistant / MIL-STD 810G Compliant / Crystal Clear Lens / 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC / HDR10 / Daydream / Google Assistant / UX 6.0+ / Voice Recognition / Face Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 3.0 Technology / Wireless Charging
The LG V30 sounds like a fantastic phone on the surface. Hopefully we’ll have a review unit soon enough, so we can see if LG has indeed put their money where their mouth is.
Last Updated: August 31, 2017
