LG V30: A lesser-known flagship phone
This post was originally published in the Southwest Journal, a Southwest Minneapolis community newspaper.#####For my column this month, I have a smartphone review for you.The friendly folk at Verizon Wireless sent me the LG V30 to check out. This is a flagship phone from LG with solid reviews, and I was looking forward to playing with it. A couple of months ago I wrote about the Google Pixel 2 XL which happens to have been built by LG, so I was hoping for this to be a sort of cousin to the Pixel 2 XL.LG is a major Android smartphone manufacturer, but they don’t do as well marketing their phones and tend to be eclipsed by Samsung, the 800-pound gorilla. They have the hardware and software to keep up and still provide solid phones, but their reputation could use some help.While the size is similar to the Pixel 2 XL, the LG V30 is its own phone. The 6-inch design of aluminum and glass does not feel as big as it sounds and instead rests nicely in the hand with a large screen including the now common 18:9 dimensions. It has an OLED display with Quad HD (four times as many pixels as a 1080p full HD display). The screen looks sharp and vibrant.It has some nice features, including waterproofing, wireless charging, expandable microSD storage and more, such as a headphone jack. The phone has all of the features that I would look for in a smartphone, so it definitely has that going for it as far as a flagship smartphone. Waterproofing is a great safety feature, wireless charging is incredibly convenient and expandable storage means you are not limited to the phone’s built-in storage.Even though the trend is that wired headphones seem to be going away, the LG V30 is getting quite a bit of attention for including the jack along with QuadDAC (digital-to-analog converter). LG claims it “sounds louder, cleaner, and more accurate — like the original live performance with the 32-bit QuadDAC.”The LG V30 does not come with headphones, and all that I have on hand are inexpensive earbuds, but in testing it out, the sound was crisp, clear and rich and would no doubt sound even better with good headphones. Even when recording audio and video, it uses three separate microphones to maintain true sound for videos.How are the photos? According to LG, “similar to DSLR cameras, the LG V30’s standard camera features a wide f/1.6 aperture and a glass lens, resulting in impressive low-light performance and improved color clarity.”I noticed that colors looked warm and rich. Because of the dual cameras on the rear, zooming allows you to zoom in on any area of the image, and then you can control focus from there.One thing that bothers me on this phone is the lack of an app drawer as part of LG’s own flavor of Android. An app drawer is a slide up or menu item that lists all of your apps and then allows you not to have them all displayed on pages like your home screen. It’s common for Apple to do this, but with Android I am used to only putting out the apps that I use on screens and leaving the rest in the app drawer. Not a major issue, but worth writing about.A nice little bonus is that on top of the manufacturer’s one-year warranty, LG provides a second year of warranty upon registration. That definitely says something for LG believing in its build quality.Additionally, the price is well below some of the newer flagships. The list price is about $840, but there are big incentives from the major mobile carriers, and it can be found for under $700 online.All in all, the LG V30 is a solid phone that has the features most would be looking for. I may well consider this for my next phone.
Paul Burnstein is a tech handyman. As the founder of Gadget Guy MN, Paul helps personal and business clients optimize their use of technology. He can be found through gadgetguymn.com or via email at paul@gadgetguymn.com.
