LG V30 (Coming Oct 5th, $800)

[Vermillion]

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/16/16457544/lg-v30-review-design

This review really rags on the P-OLED screen on the V30 which makes me worry about the Pixel 2 XL which shares the same screen...

Personally I think some of the reviewers got bad screens. I saw the demo V30 at T-Mobile yesterday (fuckers still don't have it in stock even though it was supposed to happen on the 13th). Screen looked pretty fucking awesome to me. I didn't see any of the banding Verge and Ars saw. Many other reviewers never mentioned it either.

 

[exlink]

Personally I think some of the reviewers got bad screens. I saw the demo V30 at T-Mobile yesterday (fuckers still don't have it in stock even though it was supposed to happen on the 13th). Screen looked pretty fucking awesome to me. I didn't see any of the banding Verge and Ars saw. Many other reviewers never mentioned it either.

This could also be true. I played with a demo unit at the Verizon store over the weekend and the screen basically looked flawless. Reviewers like Android Headlines had posted pictures of their V30 screen showing it to be pretty much flawless as well.

Hopefully this is just a bad first batch...

 

[bastage]

I played with one today again... I tried really hard to see any of the banding & I could not see any at all. There was a very small amount of light bleed from the bottom that I could see when I looked for it with a black screen & the brightness at 100, but I have yet to see any phone screen that I couldn't find some with those conditions.

And then I went ahead & ordered one.

 

[ChronoReverse]

The banding issue, when present, would only be easily visible with a grey screen at low brightness.

In fact, with a solid black screen, if there were *ANY* light bleed, then the OLED panel has already failed. It should be pure black regardless of the brightness setting.

 

[bastage]

The banding issue, when present, would only be easily visible with a grey screen at low brightness.

In fact, with a solid black screen, if there were *ANY* light bleed, then the OLED panel has already failed. It should be pure black regardless of the brightness setting.

I get hands on with basically every new smartphone daily & I have yet to see a single one where I couldn't see any light bleed. This includes Samsung & there amoled screens.

As for the banding I started on a lower brightness & a grey screen. I will check tomorrow on minimum brightness.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I get hands on with basically every new smartphone daily & I have yet to see a single one where I couldn't see any light bleed. This includes Samsung & there amoled screens.

Not sure what you're seeing then. I've owned AMOLED phones since the Nexus One so I know all about the graininess, uneven brightness and "mura" issues that AMOLED's can have but starting around the Galaxy S4, even the extremely slight uniform glow with a totally black but turned on screen was finally gone. If you've been using Samsung's AMOLEDs, there should not be light bleed in any way.

 

[Vermillion]

Finally got the V30 today. Love it. Zero banding and black as night.

Wonderful phone. Think I'll keep it awhile. Probably the longest I'll have kept a device since my Nexus 6.

 

[Agenesis]

Finally got the V30 today. Love it. Zero banding and black as night.

Wonderful phone. Think I'll keep it awhile. Probably the longest I'll have kept a device since my Nexus 6.

How does the sceen compare to the Nexus 6? Specifically grain issues?

 

[Vermillion]

How does the sceen compare to the Nexus 6? Specifically grain issues?

I see no grain issues on mine. Gorgeous screen. Visibly better than my G6 which I upgraded from. Highly evident watching movies with MX Player Pro.

Been a long time since I had my N6 so can't comment on comparison there.

 

[Darkswordz]

Here it is compared to my Nexus 5 screen, just for giggles. I notice color shifting when viewing at off-angles, but I won't be doing much of that so it's not a deal breaker.

 

[JMccovery]

Got my V30 on Monday, and I'm loving it.

Didn't think it would be so much smaller than either the V20 or the Note 4, but the way it feels in my hand is just so natural.

Don't have any display issues as some have experienced; overall happy with the screen, just wish the auto brightness wasn't so finicky (used to the Note 4 trying to melt my eyeballs in darkness); when it goes to 0% it is really hard to see anything at times.

Kinda wish the speaker was front or rear firing (dual front speakers would've been awesome), because I occasionally cover the speaker while holding it.

When I head home this weekend, I'm going to stop by a TMO store and see if there are any good cases I can pick up right away, as I'm afraid of dropping it whilst climbing in and out of my truck, or while pulling it out of my pocket.

 

[exlink]

For those of you with the V30; do you get a blue tint when you tilt your phone? I've heard conflicting reports of some having them and others not having them.

 

[Vermillion]

For those of you with the V30; do you get a blue tint when you tilt your phone? I've heard conflicting reports of some having them and others not having them.

Mine does slightly but that doesn't bother me at all.

What I care about is that the screen is gorgeous when looking straight on.

 

[bastage]

For those of you with the V30; do you get a blue tint when you tilt your phone? I've heard conflicting reports of some having them and others not having them.

I just got mine tonight and looked for it. It's there and noticable, but not an issue where is going to bother me in usage. If I can see the screen at any angle with my polarized glasses on then it's more then with it.

 

[bastage]

After a few days with the v30 including one where I spent the majority of the day starting at the screen along with the screen of another device (playing Pokemon Go with 2 accounts) which includes an iPhone 7, 7 plus, 8 & 2017 iPad.. The blue tint is now a non issue completely. The screen looks so much better then the rest it was crazy. And not once was I ever the least little bit distracted by the tint.

 

[NamelessPFG]

iFixit hasn't torn down the V30 yet, but a certain someone else famous for his scratch and bend tests has.


I still don't like the sealed back, but the reassuring part here is that LG opted for conductive contact pads instead of cables for things like the fingerprint scanner that can be accidentally sliced through while trying to cut through all the adhesive around the back glass edges (which he certainly did cut when making the "transparent back" Note 8 video). That makes it a lot less of a pain to service and get to the battery when said battery eventually ends up losing its ability to hold a charge (as all lithium batteries do).

 

[Deleted member 245375]

I can't imagine iFixit giving this anything less than a 10/10 for how easy it is to fix whatever happens to be an issue. Tearing it down is basically idiot proof as long as one remembers it's got a totally glass back on it and it's nice to see the adhesive is pretty much consistently on the outer edges alone so with a spudger of most any kind (I kinda get squeamish whenever I see Zack use that steel separator he's got, I prefer hard plastic ones or even guitar picks) the chance of slicing a ribbon cable are almost non-existant because there are none on the outer edges, a major win-win IMO for LG.

When he called it practically modular in all respects I couldn't help but agree, it's not truly modular like most people think when the word "modular" is thrown around but considering how all the components are connected using those conductive pads is certainly an improvement over designs that don't.

Great video from Zack, but then again he's never made one I've had any issues with anyway.

While I don't really put much faith in the DxOMark anymore I'm still interested to see what they give the V30 considering that fantastic camera assembly, wonder what's taking them so damned long to get the testing done now that the device has been available for a few days - some of the other hardware was of course tested and had a score posted before people could even buy the damned devices. Guess LG didn't consider DxOMark worth their time to send 'em some devices for testing, maybe.

 

[Blown 89]

What's the general consensus on the V30's camera? Specifically taking photos on Auto mode. I'm seeing reviews all over the place....some say it's the second coming of Christ and others say you're better off hand drawing your subject. I was pretty disappointed in the Pixel not having a headphone jack and the dongle put out some truly terrible audio so I might make the switch away from Google for the first time since the original Galaxy. The camera is the make it or break it for me though and judging by the pictures from friend's phones they nailed it. Hopefully LG did too.

 

[Vermillion]

What's the general consensus on the V30's camera? Specifically taking photos on Auto mode. I'm seeing reviews all over the place....some say it's the second coming of Christ and others say you're better off hand drawing your subject. I was pretty disappointed in the Pixel not having a headphone jack and the dongle put out some truly terrible audio so I might make the switch away from Google for the first time since the original Galaxy. The camera is the make it or break it for me though and judging by the pictures from friend's phones they nailed it. Hopefully LG did too.

I find the camera to be most excellent. All V series cameras have been grrat. I used it a lot over the weekend and never had a picture that made me go uggg. All pictures are crisp and clear and detailed.

 

[shansoft]

What's the general consensus on the V30's camera? Specifically taking photos on Auto mode. I'm seeing reviews all over the place....some say it's the second coming of Christ and others say you're better off hand drawing your subject. I was pretty disappointed in the Pixel not having a headphone jack and the dongle put out some truly terrible audio so I might make the switch away from Google for the first time since the original Galaxy. The camera is the make it or break it for me though and judging by the pictures from friend's phones they nailed it. Hopefully LG did too.

If you are someone who is into real camera, you will find it to be a meh. If you are just typical average user, its a decent camera.

The reason why some review praise it due to lens aperture, but their software is still holding it back just like any other LG phone, which is never great in the first place.

 

[Deleted member 245375]

The LG G4 had the best camera assembly, hands down, and personally I still find that it produces better visual quality to this day than any other device I've had the opportunity to do my own testing with (RAW image sensor captures only). The very first time I had a G4 I went out in downtown Las Vegas and snapped images that just floored me the moment I was even looking at the results on the G4's screen itself, and my jaw hit the floor again when I got back home and loaded the RAW dng captures into Photoshop, simply astonishing stuff but that's my personal opinion on it.

I can't speak for the V30 yet since I haven't had an opportunity to use one. The V10 had the same camera assembly as the G4 and I did own a V10 recently and got effectively the same results (the software processing was slightly altered on the V10 for some reason LG chose to modify the software), and I had a V20 earlier this year and was happy with the performance the camera assembly provided but when I would compare similar shots taken under similar circumstances and lighting with the G4 vs the V20 the G4 still provided better visual quality, again that's my opinion.

No I don't need some lab to do testing and say which one is better, what matters to me personally is what the camera assembly produces and provides to me as an image that I can work with on a computer, not a bunch of specs or some damned "<whatever>Mark" arbitrary number to whatever degrees.

The only way to know I suppose is get a V30 and do some testing yourself and then decide - taking the advice of others or basing a purchase on a review just never makes sense to me. If you get it and test it out yourself and you're not happy with it return it, it's pretty simple stuff in that respect.

Here's a Flickr group that features only G4 images, there's some pretty astonishing shots in here, seriously:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2817972@N21/pool/

I'm not saying that other smartphone camera assemblies can't get close to that or even equal some of those shots, I'm just saying that in my experience with using smartphone cameras of all kinds on all sorts of devices (except the V30 at this moment, I have tested out all the latest Samsung and Apple hardware which is usually considered the stuff others are measured by) the G4 still to this day years later is a match for anything on the market today.

 

[celwin]

Was that close up insect pic really taken with a cell phone? Hard to believe.

The LG G4 had the best camera assembly, hands down, and personally I still find that it produces better visual quality to this day than any other device I've had the opportunity to do my own testing with (RAW image sensor captures only). The very first time I had a G4 I went out in downtown Las Vegas and snapped images that just floored me the moment I was even looking at the results on the G4's screen itself, and my jaw hit the floor again when I got back home and loaded the RAW dng captures into Photoshop, simply astonishing stuff but that's my personal opinion on it.

I can't speak for the V30 yet since I haven't had an opportunity to use one. The V10 had the same camera assembly as the G4 and I did own a V10 recently and got effectively the same results (the software processing was slightly altered on the V10 for some reason LG chose to modify the software), and I had a V20 earlier this year and was happy with the performance the camera assembly provided but when I would compare similar shots taken under similar circumstances and lighting with the G4 vs the V20 the G4 still provided better visual quality, again that's my opinion.

No I don't need some lab to do testing and say which one is better, what matters to me personally is what the camera assembly produces and provides to me as an image that I can work with on a computer, not a bunch of specs or some damned "<whatever>Mark" arbitrary number to whatever degrees.

The only way to know I suppose is get a V30 and do some testing yourself and then decide - taking the advice of others or basing a purchase on a review just never makes sense to me. If you get it and test it out yourself and you're not happy with it return it, it's pretty simple stuff in that respect.

Here's a Flickr group that features only G4 images, there's some pretty astonishing shots in here, seriously:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2817972@N21/pool/

I'm not saying that other smartphone camera assemblies can't get close to that or even equal some of those shots, I'm just saying that in my experience with using smartphone cameras of all kinds on all sorts of devices (except the V30 at this moment, I have tested out all the latest Samsung and Apple hardware which is usually considered the stuff others are measured by) the G4 still to this day years later is a match for anything on the market today.

 

[Bandalo]

How has LG been on updating their devices? I like the looks and reviews on this phone, but I've gotten used to the frequent updates on my Nexus, and I don't want to be waiting months for security updates and years for OS updates like some vendors...

 

[Vermillion]

How has LG been on updating their devices? I like the looks and reviews on this phone, but I've gotten used to the frequent updates on my Nexus, and I don't want to be waiting months for security updates and years for OS updates like some vendors...

With my V20 and my G6 I was getting updates every other month.

 

[Bandalo]

With my V20 and my G6 I was getting updates every other month.

That's not bad...The frequent updates are the only advantage Google phones have with the Pixel these days...

 

[mls1995]

Unlocked V30s are up for preorder

Will begin shipping Tue Dec 5. That shipping date is very disappointing

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1357369-REG/lg_lgus998_ausasv_lg_v30_us998_64gb.html

 

[slyxxmarbo]

there's a new promo for the LG v30 from Tmobile. buy a lg v30 and get a lg v20 or lg g6 for free or get $500 for a 2nd lg v30, but i think you have to open a line tho...plus you still get the google day dream for free as well i believe. http://www.lg.com/us/mobile-phones/v30/promotion/t-mobile

wish they'd just give out a gift card and not dangle these deals with an alternative motive behind it.

 

[Vermillion]

there's a new promo for the LG v30 from Tmobile. buy a lg v30 and get a lg v20 or lg g6 for free or get $500 for a 2nd lg v30, but i think you have to open a line tho...plus you still get the google day dream for free as well i believe. http://www.lg.com/us/mobile-phones/v30/promotion/t-mobile

wish they'd just give out a gift card and not dangle these deals with an alternative motive behind it.

"Dangle a deal?"

I've been using LG devices since the V10. There's no dangling anything. It's just a promo. I would have gotten the LG devices regardless but the 200GB SDcard, extra batteries, 360 camera, B&O headphones ($250 MSRP), Google Home ($130 MSRP), and now a Daydream ($100 MSRP) are just great bonuses. I certainly ain't complaining as I still use all of them on nearly a daily basis.

 

[Deleted member 245375]

The free V20 or G6 is free via rebate which means you pay full price for either device up front then they'll reimburse you at a later time (they're wording the deal like 24 months later or at least till you've paid off the main device the deal is attached to) so no I wouldn't consider it a good deal personally.

And yes, all these ridiculous "get this free, get that free, get this free..." type bullshit makes no sense to me at all in the long run: just charge LESS for the damned flagship device in the first place and then all this other bullshit wouldn't be necessary.

 

[DoubleTap]

I ordered 2 V30+ phones from Sprint using the BOGO (lease promo) and they arrived on Monday. You have to add a line to get it, but we needed to do that anyway.

No screen issues at all and looks very comparable to the AMOLED in my Note 5 - same exact width, just taller (which makes it look smaller IMO)

The screen button on the back takes some getting used to, but it's fine.

The one complaint I might have is that the mute button is below the disconnect call button (is caddy corner on the Note 5) and I know at some point I'm going to hang up on someone trying to mute a sneeze or something.

Other than that, I'm really happy with it.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Anyone with a V20 upgraded to the V30? I wanna know if it was worth it.

 

[bastage]

Anyone with a V20 upgraded to the V30? I wanna know if it was worth it.

I didn't go straight from the v20 to the v30 but owned both..

On a pure performance standpoint... No it's not worth the upgrade. The v20 is a damn good phone anyway. There v30 is everything improved, some things a little, some things allot, but definitely not worth 800 bucks to upgrade from one to the other.. Wait till the price drops which will probably be soon, or you get a good deal on one.

 

[DoubleTap]

I've decided to return the V30+ phones to Sprint.

They were on a "buy one, get one free" Lease for $38/mo (required adding a 3rd line which we have been meaning to do for the kids)

While I was fine with the phone, it didn't really blow my skirt up. The real issue is that my wife can't stand the screen compared to the one on her iphone.

She always liked the AMOLED screen on my Note 5, but the V30+ just did not have a good white (too grey) and tilting the phone just a little gives everythng a blue cast.

Since most of what she does is photo based (where as I'm more audio focused) it was a total deal breaker.

I'd keep one for me if it was $18-22/mo but it's not in the same range as the normal $35-40 lease phones.

So back they go.

Probably get a Note 8, even though they are freakishly long and rectangular and I hate the curved sides, but not sure what else to get.

 

[mls1995]

I've decided to return the V30+ phones to Sprint.

They were on a "buy one, get one free" Lease for $38/mo (required adding a 3rd line which we have been meaning to do for the kids)

While I was fine with the phone, it didn't really blow my skirt up. The real issue is that my wife can't stand the screen compared to the one on her iphone.

She always liked the AMOLED screen on my Note 5, but the V30+ just did not have a good white (too grey) and tilting the phone just a little gives everythng a blue cast.

Since most of what she does is photo based (where as I'm more audio focused) it was a total deal breaker.

I'd keep one for me if it was $18-22/mo but it's not in the same range as the normal $35-40 lease phones.

So back they go.

Probably get a Note 8, even though they are freakishly long and rectangular and I hate the curved sides, but not sure what else to get.

S8 is on sale at best buy

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-galaxy-s8-64gb-midnight-black-verizon/5789008.p?skuId=5789008

 

[DoubleTap]

S8 is on sale at best buy

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-galaxy-s8-64gb-midnight-black-verizon/5789008.p?skuId=5789008

Thanks, but it looks like just the Verizon one is on sale. Sprint version is regular price.

Also, I have truly enormous hands, the small phones are too small for me, the big ones are just right.

Not gonna lie, still thought hard about an iPhone X

 

[DOOMHAMMA]

For those of you with the V30; do you get a blue tint when you tilt your phone? I've heard conflicting reports of some having them and others not having them.

Mine definitely does. My screen also has two darker bands and a dark spot near the top. It's been driving me nuts. I am either getting a different phone or using the warranty to get a new one.

 

[Blown 89]

Mine definitely does. My screen also has two darker bands and a dark spot near the top. It's been driving me nuts. I am either getting a different phone or using the warranty to get a new one.

I'm had a camera problem with my first one and returned it for a replacement. There's a blue shift but they are both minor. The second phone has much less blue shift. Both have zero banding.

People need to stop nitpicking this display, it's still a very good display.

 

[slyxxmarbo]

"Dangle a deal?"

I've been using LG devices since the V10. There's no dangling anything. It's just a promo. I would have gotten the LG devices regardless but the 200GB SDcard, extra batteries, 360 camera, B&O headphones ($250 MSRP), Google Home ($130 MSRP), and now a Daydream ($100 MSRP) are just great bonuses. I certainly ain't complaining as I still use all of them on nearly a daily basis.

yea youre right, i've been with LG since the g3, and had the v10 and curerntly have the v20. they do make good products regardless of the incentives

 

[Deleted member 245375]

All this focus on a blue tint when viewing from an angle other than perpendicular to the display - do you folks actually seriously consider this a major malfunction or something? Is it natural to you to sit off-angle in front of a display of most any kind in today's world, or is it natural to hold a smartphone so that you're not actually looking directly at the display aka perpendicular to it at most any given moment?

 

[exlink]

All this focus on a blue tint when viewing from an angle other than perpendicular to the display - do you folks actually seriously consider this a major malfunction or something? Is it natural to you to sit off-angle in front of a display of most any kind in today's world, or is it natural to hold a smartphone so that you're not actually looking directly at the display aka perpendicular to it at most any given moment?

While I sit at my desk I often like to glance at my phone while it's sitting off to the side to see if I have any notifications. But then again the blue tint was never the deal breaker for me.