Arguably, LG is one of the most innovative smartphone manufacturers out there. The brand has always been the first to adopt the latest technologies (QHD displays, HDR 10 compliant 18:9 full vision screens, etc) and has also led way for several new ones.
Some of the radical experiments you can associate with the brand include the curved-display G FLex phones, rear placement of power button and volume rocker( on the rear-key), the modular G5, the wide-angle lens dual camera system, the ticker display on V10, and even the ludicrous mosquito repellant phone launched recently in India.
As you’d notice, most of these innovations have failed to stick and that might make the brand appear a bit confused. With LG V30+, the South Korean manufacturer focuses on what works best, eliminates the gimmicks, and aims at offering a phone that simply works and has been priced just right. Let’s try and estimate LG’s new approach in our LG V30+ quick review.
LG V30+ Specifications
| Model | LG V30+ |
| Display | 6-inch curved OLED, 18:9, QHD+, 538 PPI |
| Processors | Octa-core Snapdragon 835, Adreno 540 GPU |
| RAM | 4GB LPDDR4X |
| Internal Storage | 128GB UFS 2.0, MicroSD card support |
| Software | Android 7.1.2 Nougat based LG UX 6.0 |
| Primary Camera | 16MP, OIS, EIS, PDAF, Laser AF, F/1.6 aperture, two-tone flash+ 13MP, F/1.9 aperture, 120-degree wide-angle lens |
| Secondary Camera | 5MP front-facing camera, f/2.2 aperture |
| Dimensions and Weight | 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm; 158g |
| Battery | 3300mAh, Quick Charge 3.0 |
| Others | 4G VoLTE, USB Type-C, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 LE, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Water and dust resistant, fingerprint sensor, 3.5mm Audio Jack |
| Price | Rs. 44,990 |
LG V30+ Box Content:
- Good quality Headphones (spare earbuds)
- Fast charger
- USB Type-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Documentation
LG V30+ Design and Display
This is one area where you have to applaud LG. The LG V30+ looks stunning from every angle and feel premium too. The phone does feel slightly slippery but has great in in hand feel. The phone has all glass front and back and a lightweight Aluminium frame running along the edges. The phone weighs just 158g which means it is quite light in hands.
The display has curved side edges and the power button (that also doubles as fingerprint sensor) is present on the rear. It took us some time to get used to rear power button but it is convenient after you get the hang of it.
The phone packs the homemade 6-inch QHD+ P-OLED screen with 18:9 Aspect Ratio and 2880x 1440 pixels resolution. LG is offering same display to Google for its Pixel 2 XL which has resulted in some bad press. If you look at it from the front, everything looks really good and crisp, but when you gawk at it from an angle, you will notice a blue tint become prominent on the phone. Color calibration isn’t perfect but it isn’t noticeably bad either.
The display supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision which means it is future ready. The LG V30 display pixels can touch 606nits and is bright enough for comfortable outdoor usage.
Also Read: Under Display Fingerprint Sensors Enter Mass Production
LG V30+ Hardware and software
The LG V30+ will be the flag bearer until the G7 goes official. Being a flagship device it houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile processor coupled with 4GB of RAM, which is enough muscle power to carry out even the most demanding tasks.
The phone comes running on Android Nougat ROM which has been customized by LG to add it’s own skin and features. LG has added a software-based floating bar which is a replacement for the secondary screen that LG offered in the V10 and V20. Apart from this, there are a couple of other software enhancements that LG is offering but we will need some more time to judge how handy they prove to be with practical usage.
LG V30+ Camera & Music
At the LG V30+ India launch event, the company had a lot to say about the camera. It heaped praises on its capabilities to capture cinematic pictures and videos.
The phone packs a dual lens setup where a standard 16MP lens is teamed with a 13MP wide angle shooter. This application of dual cameras is slightly different from what others are doing and there is no portrait mode or optical zoom option on the V30+.
Though we are yet to test LG V30+ Camera to its full potential, our initial impression is somewhat positive. While shooting outdoors, it captures decent details, good colors and wide angle shots are impressive. Indoors, however, the camera performance isn’t anywhere close to other 2017 flagships. There are tons of mode available on the camera including 360 panoramas, HDR, manual mode, popout shots, etc.
The selfie camera also struggles a lot when used in not-so-favorable lighting conditions. It requires extremely steady hands to capture a decent selfie. 
LG’s have been boasting about its audio capabilities for past few generations and same is the latest one. The LG V30+ features a quad DAC under the hood that enhances audio when you listen to it via wired headsets. The FLAC sound best and there is also a noticeable difference in the audio quality of MP3 files when Hi-Fi DAC is turned on.
LG V30+ Quick Review: Impressive Enough?
The LG V30+ pays meticulous attention to details. It looks awesome, is very comfortable to handle, the floating bar is a great alternative to the ticker display and something we like, the software is quite interesting and the performance feels pretty smooth.
Out initial reading is that display issues are overhyped. The lowlight camera performance seems to fall a bit short of contemporary standards. Overall, we have quite enjoyed our first 24 hours with the LG V30+ but will need some more time to decide if this is a phone we can recommend. Stay tuned for our full review.
Pros
- Looks and feels awesome
- HiFi Quad DAC makes a difference (excellent audio output)
- The phone retains 3.5mm audio jack
- Daylight camera performance is very good
- Fast performance and intuitive software
Cons
- Low light camera performance needs improvement
- no portrait mode
- Blue color shift when the display is viewed from extreme angles
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