The LG V30 Is a Stunning Smartphone With One Heck of a Camera

If you feel like you’ve seen the LG V30 before, there’s a reason for it. Images of the smartphone leaked earlier this month, first spotted by Droid Life. But alas, LG has officially unveiled the LG V30 at IFA and… it’s impressive. It takes many of the best specs from LG’s recent flagships and builds upon them. (Even if it loses some of the features that made its predecessor, the V20, a favorite among power users.) Here’s what you need to know.

The V30 has a curved 6-inch QuadHD+ Full Vision display — it’s the first LG smartphone to have an OLED display, following in the footsteps of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and One Plus 5. OLED smart displays are the future because they produce more vivid colors and have better color contrast than LCD displays. They’re also more energy efficient, meaning smartphones can have bigger screens without needing a bigger battery. The V30 has an 18:9 aspect ratio, like the G6, but, with an 82 percent screen-to-body ratio, its display takes up nearly the entire face of the phone. (No bezels!) By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S8 has a slightly better 83 percent screen-to-body ratio.

Last year’s V20 was known for its video- and photo-capturing abilities, and the V30 improves on that. It has dual-camera system (16M regular, 13MP wide-angle) and it’s the first smartphone with a f/1.6-aperture lens, the widest ever in a smartphone. The lens promises to let significantly more light in than other high-end smartphones, making it a great low-light shooter. (The iPhone 7’s camera has an f/1.8 aperture, for example, meaning the V30’s camera can take in roughly 25 perfect more light.)

With video, the V30 has a Point Zoom mode; you select an area on the screen and zoom in on it as you’re filming to create dramatic videos. This could be ideal for upping the hilarious videos you take of your dog. If you’re into film, the V30 has Cine Effect feature that can overlay your videos with 16 cinematographer-grade filters. And if you want to edit numerous videos together into a montage, this smartphone’s Video Studio tool that enables you to do just that. (It’s kind of like Apple’s Clips app.)

LG V30: Specs

Processor: Snapdragon 835
Display: 6-inch QuadHD+ Full Vision display
Resolution: 2880 x 1440
Rear Facing Camera: 16MP and 13MP
Selfie Camera: 5MP
RAM: 4GB
Battery: 3,300mAh

LG is once again catering to the audiophile crowd with the V30. It has a built-in hi-fi quad DAC that lets you experience audio with 32-bit playback. If you listen to lossless music and like to walk around with wired hi-fi headphones, the LG V30 could be for you. (And yes, it has a headphone jack.) Additionally, the V30 is water- and dust-resistant (IP68) and supports wireless charging (just like the G6). It’s fairly rugged, with Gorilla Glass 5 on its front and back, and, according to LG, was able to pass 14 different military-standard durability tests. And its home button (slash fingerprint sensor) is on the back center of the smartphone, safely out of smudging distance from the camera — we’re looking at you, Samsung.

Part of what endeared the previous V20 to power users was its swappable battery, which would greatly extend the phone’s battery life. This new flagship doesn’t have that, and in a way has sold its soul a little to compete with mainstream premium rivals, like the Galaxy S8 or iPhone 7. The V20 also had a “second screen” at the top of its main display where you could put things like app shortcuts and music controls. While the V30 doesn’t have this, it does have what LG calls the “Floating Bar,” which lingers on your home screen and gives you access to the same types of shortcuts. (If you don’t want the Floating Bar, you can disable it in Settings.)

Pricing and availability have yet to be officially announced, however expect the LG V30 to arrive this fall. This article will be updated with further pricing and availability once announced.

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