LG V30+ Review: The videographer's smartphone arrives

Design

In design, the V30+ both looks and feels like a mashup of LG’s G6 and the Google Pixel 2 XL. This makes a lot of sense - given that LG actually produced both devices. However, the biggest difference between the V30+ and Google’s plus-sized flagship comes in material design. Where the Pixel 2XL delights in its textured, metallic feel, the V30+ sticks to the edgeless ‘glass-sandwich’ design of its predecessors (as well as much of its TouchWiz-powered competition).

The only part of the form-factor that’s fumbled here is the display. Don’t get me wrong, LG’s OLED makes for a great mobile viewing experience. However, in dark environments especially, a thin line separating the screen from the frame can sometimes reveal itself. From a certain angle, it looks like the screen is almost peeling off or cracking - and even if there doesn’t appear to be any practical drawback to this feature, it still punctures the illusion of seamlessness so central to the aesthetics of these sorts of devices.

Credit: Fergus Halliday | IDG

Still, that aside, the feel-factor of the V30+ does feel like LG’s best execution of the formula yet. Like previous phones in the V-series, the V30+ is envisioned as one of those flagship phones that’s got it all. Particularly if you’re a power-user. Gorgeous OLED screen? Check. Snappy processor? You ‘betcha. DAC headphone jack? Yep. Looking at it more broadly, it definitely feels like the V30+ fits into that new, ultra-premium niche occupied by the iPhone X, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Huawei’s Mate 10 Pro. It’s LG’s stab at offering a best-in-class experience for those who want to spend well over $1000 on their next smartphone.

Like many of these high-end devices, the V30 + does also support unlocking your phone via facial recognition. However, this feature is much closer to what’s in the Galaxy Note 8 and OnePlus’ new 5T than the iPhone X’s FaceID tech. There are no fancy lasers and 3D scanning involved - which means it can be fooled by photos. Still, it does make for a much faster and convenient way to log in for those willing to accept those terms and conditions.

Credit: LG

Unfortunately, there is one detail here that doesn’t quite jive with the V30+’s promised offer of a best-in-class software experience. The software. The V30+ runs on Nougat. Now, Nougat isn’t bad by any stretch. However, it stands out like a sore thumb in a world where Android 8.0 Oreo was released into the wild a whole three months ago. You’re already paying top-dollar for a phone like the V30+, it only makes sense that it should launch with the latest version of Android. Most of its direct competition does.

Things like notification dots, picture-in-picture and improved Bluetooth connectivity sound small but could significantly improve the V30+ experience, given the devices’ specs.  At some point, an upgrade will probably happen but, as it stands, it as a weak point versus the competition.

Performance

LG’s UX hasn’t always been the cleanest skin of Android available but the V30+ feels like the most minimalist manifestation the company have shipped yet. Even if it does sometimes feel a bit flavorless and in-cohesive, it usually offers up an an experience that succeeds at putting performance first.

Opening, closing and switching between apps is all super smooth. In addition, the secondary ticker display of the V20 has been dropped but primarily substituted through the V30+’s Always On display (and on-screen Floating Bar) - which work almost as well as the Pixel 2 XL’s setup (which remains the Gold Standard for the feature these days).

Credit: LG

In everyday performance, the V30 was snappy in exactly the you’d expect from a device this side of the $1000 mark and running Qualcomm’s world-class Snapdragon 835 processor. It boots fast. It loads fast. Generally, it’s just all-around fast and it never feels like you’re waiting for the device to catch up with your inputs.

Credit: Fergus Halliday | IDG

These strengths were matched nicely in our benchmarking of the device. Here, the V30+ absolutely proved itself in league with the best smartphones 2017 had to offer, though it did lag behind Samsung’s Note 8 on raw compute power.