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LG V30 Smartphone Review

Bright prospects. With the LG V30, the Koreans now show a real high-end smartphone, which offers strong video features and an improved dual camera. LG has taken the complaints about the G6 for the German market to heart and also offers the device with wireless charging and quad-DAC audio here as well.

For the original German review, see here.

After a one-year hiatus, LG now brings its V series to Europe again. The second flagship series is now also equipped with the current premium SoC by Qualcomm and thus offers fast performance in all areas. This is a great plus, especially for the communications module. In addition to Gigabit LTE, there will also be Bluetooth 5.0, although it will have to wait for the Android 8.0 Oreo update that might still come this year. At 81%, the display to surface ratio is very good. 

The LG V30 offers 4 GB of working memory and 64 GB of internal storage. In addition, there is supposed to be a V30+, which has 128 GB of storage. Both models can be expanded via an optional microSD card. The dual camera has been updated and now offers a larger aperture with f/1.6, which should still allow taking great pictures, especially in low light conditions. The resolution of the main camera has also been increased to 16 MP. In terms of the display, LG is now using the in-house OLED technology, providing the V30 with a FullVision panel in the 18:9-format (2:1). In addition to a fingerprint sensor, the V30 also offers facial and voice recognition to unlock the smartphone.

The LG V30 must endure a comparison with all the other top smartphones. These include the HTC U11, the Huawei P10 Plus, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, the OnePlus 5, the Honor 9 and the iPhone 7 Plus. In terms of price and size, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the Huawei Mate 9 in particular are the most similar competitors.

Our V30 model is a preproduction unit, with the software and hardware not being the final versions. There may still be changes until November, when it comes on the market. 

LG V30 (V Series)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (8998) 8 x 2.5 GHz, Kryo 280
Graphics adapter
Memory
4 GB 
, LPDDR4x
Display
6.00 inch 2:1, 2880 x 1440 pixel 537 PPI, capacitive touchscreen, ten multitouch points, FullVision QHD+ In-Cell Touch Display, OLED, HDR10, glossy: yes
Storage
64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash, 64 GB 
, 50.09 GB free
Connections
1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: combined headphone and microphone port, Card Reader: microSD up to 2TB (SDHC, SDXC), 1 Fingerprint Reader, NFC, Brightness Sensor, Sensors: acceleration, proximity, color spectrum, and g sensors, compass, barometer, facial and voice recognition, OTG, Wifi Direct
Networking
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 5.0, GSM/GPRS/Edge (850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz), UMTS/HSPA+ (band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8), LTE Cat. 16 (band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 28, 38), LTE, GPS
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 7.3 x 151.7 x 75.4 ( = 0.29 x 5.97 x 2.97 in)
Battery
12.5 Wh, 3300 mAh Lithium-Polymer, Quick Charge 3.0, Qi wireless charging
Operating System
Android 7.1 Nougat
Camera
Primary Camera: 16 MPix (71°, f/1.6, 1.0 μm, OIS, UHD video) + 13 MPix (120° wide-angle, f/1.9, 1.0 μm, OIS)
Secondary Camera: 5 MPix (82/90°, f/2.2, 1.12 μm, Full-HD video)
Additional features
Speakers: mono speaker, Keyboard: virtual, Schnellladegerät, USB-Kabel, B&O Play Headset, LG UX 6.0+, 24 Months Warranty, IP certified according to IP68, 14 MIL-STD-810G tests passed, FM radio, Hifi quad-DAC , fanless
Weight
158 g ( = 5.57 oz / 0.35 pounds), Power Supply: 73 g ( = 2.58 oz / 0.16 pounds)
Price
899 Euro
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Case

Despite its large 6-inch display, the LG V30 is very manageable and compact. LG itself specifies that it has the same dimensions as conventional 5.5-inch smartphones, which is also obvious in our size comparison graphic. With only 158 grams (~5.6 oz), it is surprisingly light and also comfortably flat. Due to the rounded Corning Gorilla Glass 5, the smartphone fits comfortably into the hand, but it attracts fingerprints like a magnet. 

The workmanship of the LG V30 offers no reason for complaints. The seams between the materials are cleanly built, even though they can be felt. The gaps are tight and even. The card slot also fits flush into the case frame and accepts a Nano-SIM card as well as a microSD card in our test unit. The smartphone is torsion-proof and creaks only minimally. Due to the OLED technology, even pressing hard on the case or the front glass does not result in a wave image on the screen. 

In accordance with IP68, the case is protected against dust and water. In addition, it survived 14 tests according to the military MIL-STG-810G standard without any damage. In the LG V20, it was still possible to replace the battery, but the manufacturer has changed this in the new model. The LG V30 is available in the colors Aurora Black (black), Cloud Silver (silver), Moroccan Blue (blue), and Lavender Violet (lavender), although for the time being, the last color variant will not be available in Germany. 

The LG G6 is in the center.

Size Comparison

159.5 mm / 6.28 inch 73.4 mm / 2.89 inch 8.1 mm / 0.3189 inch 172 g0.3792 lbs158.2 mm / 6.23 inch 77.9 mm / 3.07 inch 7.3 mm / 0.2874 inch 188 g0.4145 lbs156.9 mm / 6.18 inch 78.9 mm / 3.11 inch 7.9 mm / 0.311 inch 192 g0.4233 lbs156 mm / 6.14 inch 77 mm / 3.03 inch 7.9 mm / 0.311 inch 191 g0.4211 lbs154.2 mm / 6.07 inch 74.1 mm / 2.92 inch 7.25 mm / 0.2854 inch 153 g0.3373 lbs153.5 mm / 6.04 inch 74.2 mm / 2.92 inch 7 mm / 0.2756 inch 165 g0.3638 lbs151.7 mm / 5.97 inch 75.4 mm / 2.97 inch 7.3 mm / 0.2874 inch 158 g0.3483 lbs148.9 mm / 5.86 inch 71.9 mm / 2.83 inch 7.9 mm / 0.311 inch 163 g0.3594 lbs147 mm / 5.79 inch 71 mm / 2.8 inch 7.5 mm / 0.2953 inch 155 g0.3417 lbs148 mm / 5.83 inch 105 mm / 4.13 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 1.5 g0.00331 lbs

Connectivity

Its retail price of slightly over $800 seems pretty confident given that similar high-end smartphones, such as the Huawei P10 Plus, the Sony Experia XZ Premium, or the OnePlus 5, can be had for around $600 already. On the other side of the spectrum are the more expensive alternatives, like the Apple iPhone 8 Plus or the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Compared to these phones, the LG V30’s 4 GB of RAM seems sort of low - most of its competitors are equipped with 6 GB or more. Storage space is fairly uniform at 64 GB, only the Huawei offers 128 GB by default whereas higher storage tiers on the other models are optional and quite pricey upgrades. Fast UFS storage has become the de facto standard for phones at this price point.

The LG V30 supports storage expansion via microSD cards. Unfortunately, these can only be formatted as external storage. Apps have then to be moved onto the microSD card manually. As we speak, a Dual SIM version is not available in the European and North American markets.

The V30’s USB port only supports USB 2.0, which is pretty poor for a premium device. On the plus side, it supports USB-OTG, NFC, and Wi-Fi Direct.

left: volume rocker
left: volume rocker
right: SIM tray
right: SIM tray
top: 3.5 mm audio jack, microphone
top: 3.5 mm audio jack, microphone
bottom: microphone, USB-C port, speaker
bottom: microphone, USB-C port, speaker

Software

The smartphone comes with Google Android 7.1.2 Nougat preinstalled, with security patches as of September 1 2017. Consequently, at the time of writing it was already slightly outdated, and we expect more timely and frequent updates for flagship smartphones. The user interface is very similar to that of the LG G6 but offers an extra floating bar. Unlike the V10 and V20, the V30 does not have an additional display for shortcuts and extra information so LG had to make up for the lack thereof through software. The floating bar can be moved around freely anywhere on the display.

The settings menu has been amended by several new options, for example a feature called “smart settings” that subsumes various settings depending on location, or the possibility to start a particular app every time headphones are connected to the phone. The operating system can further be personalized with themes and screen content can be downsized for one-handed operation. Even the display resolution and white balance are customizable to one’s liking. And these are only but a few of the new options available on the LG V30.

Out of the box, there are no third-party or trial applications installed on the phone but LG does add a few in-house apps. An update to Android 8.0 Oreo has already been announced, with a closed beta already being rolled out to users in Korea and a final version expected in early 2018. According to a report on XDA Developers, Project Treble - the separation of core Android from any OEM-specific components - has not been implemented therein. LG states that in addition to a plethora of new features and enhancements Android Oreo is also supposed to improve battery life.


LG V30: home screen
LG V30: home screen
LG V30: home screen with floating bar
LG V30: home screen with floating bar
LG V30: home screen
LG V30: home screen
LG V30: battery is built in. ;-)
LG V30: battery is built in. ;-)
LG V30: floating bar settings
LG V30: floating bar settings
LG V30: software information
LG V30: software information

Communication and GPS

The V30 supports all current and common Wi-Fi standards, including the less commonly used and therefore less congested 5 GHz band. Wi-Fi performance was very fast, and the V30’s RX bandwidth was twice as high as the already quite fast OnePlus 5’s. Transmitting data was incredibly fast as well, and only the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus was able to keep up with the V30. Real world tests close to the Wi-Fi router revealed an excellent Wi-Fi reception with websites loading blazingly fast. This was also the case at a distance of 10 m (around 33 ft) to the router with three massive walls in between and Wi-Fi signal strength at around 75 %.

Thanks to LTE Cat. 16 the V30 is a true Gigabit smartphone: its maximum downstream and upstream transmission bandwidth is 1,000 and 150 MBit/s, respectively. Obviously, real world performance depends on the cellular network and operator in question. With a total of 13 bands LTE support is decent but not as extensive as on other flagships. This will become particularly important when traveling abroad, where the OnePlus 5 with its support for 22 different LTE bands is the king of the hill. With 4/5 bars even indoors, cellular reception in German cities with decent Vodafone coverage was okay.

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
LG V30
Adreno 540, SD 835, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
703 MBit/s
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
Mali-G71 MP20, Exynos 8895, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
656 MBit/s -7%
OnePlus 5
Adreno 540, SD 835, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
539 MBit/s -23%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
Adreno 540, SD 835, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
494 MBit/s -30%
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
A11 Bionic GPU, A11 Bionic, Apple 256 GB (iPhone 8 / Plus)
374 MBit/s -47%
LG G6
Adreno 530, SD 821, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
220 MBit/s -69%
Huawei Mate 9
Mali-G71 MP8, Kirin 960, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
165 MBit/s -77%
Honor 9
Mali-G71 MP8, Kirin 960, 64 GB eMMC Flash
140 MBit/s -80%
Huawei P10 Plus
Mali-G71 MP8, Kirin 960, 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
128 MBit/s -82%
iperf3 receive AX12
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
A11 Bionic GPU, A11 Bionic, Apple 256 GB (iPhone 8 / Plus)
914 MBit/s +39%
LG V30
Adreno 540, SD 835, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
657 MBit/s
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
Adreno 540, SD 835, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
501 MBit/s -24%
OnePlus 5
Adreno 540, SD 835, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
371 MBit/s -44%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
Mali-G71 MP20, Exynos 8895, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
368 MBit/s -44%
LG G6
Adreno 530, SD 821, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
325 MBit/s -51%
Honor 9
Mali-G71 MP8, Kirin 960, 64 GB eMMC Flash
283 MBit/s -57%
Huawei Mate 9
Mali-G71 MP8, Kirin 960, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
259 MBit/s -61%
Huawei P10 Plus
Mali-G71 MP8, Kirin 960, 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
40.8 MBit/s -94%

Location services worked well indoors as long as we were close to a window. In that case, accuracy was decent at 4 m (13 ft). Outdoors, GPS accuracy was even better at only 3 m (10 ft).

To determine overall GPS accuracy and usability, we took the LG V30 on a bike tour together with a Garmin Edge 500 professional GPS. The respective recorded tracks of both devices only differed by around 40 meters (131 ft) in the end, which means that GPS tracking on the LG V30 is pretty accurate. Only when driving through the woods did the V30 lose GPS connectivity resulting in an alleged loop instead of the actual bend. Given that overall accuracy was still very good with plenty of measuring points along the way it is safe to say that the LG V30 is more than usable for everyday navigation purposes.

GPS LG V30 - overview
GPS LG V30 - overview
GPS LG V30 - woods
GPS LG V30 - woods
GPS LG V30 - bridge
GPS LG V30 - bridge
GPS Garmin Edge 500 - overview
GPS Garmin Edge 500 - overview
GPS Garmin Edge 500 - woods
GPS Garmin Edge 500 - woods
GPS Garmin Edge 500 - bridge
GPS Garmin Edge 500 - bridge

Telephony and Call Quality

LG has modified the phone app slightly. When launched, the dial pad loads first with recent calls, contacts, and groups located in tabs at the top of the screen. Call quality can be improved in the phone’s settings, and there is also an option to enable active noise cancelling.

Overall call quality was decent, and both conversational partners had no trouble understanding each other very clearly. Speaker phone worked reliable and well, although it required the user to raise his or her voice somewhat.

Cameras

front facing camera
front facing camera
front facing camera (wide angle)
front facing camera (wide angle)
main camera
main camera
main camera (wide angle)
main camera (wide angle)

The cameras are similar to the LG G6. In other words the front-facing camera is still equipped with a 5 MP sensor and capable of taking selfies at an angle of 82° or 90°. Videos are recorded in FHD. Selfies were acceptable yet visibly overexposed. Accordingly, photos taken with the front-facing camera show less details in bright areas, and are somewhat blurred along the edges.

The main shooter is a dual-lens camera with a 13 MP and a 16 MP sensor. Compared to the G6’s camera, its main sensor resolution has thus been increased by 3 MP. It also no longer features plastic lenses but lenses made of glass for improved light transfer instead. As before, the second camera features a wide angle lens (120°). Both cameras are supported by optical images stabilization yet the main camera’s pixel size has been reduced to 1 µm resulting in a noticeably worse low-light performance despite the higher aperture of f/1.6. That said, low-light performance is still more than acceptable when compared to other smartphones, with plenty of details and decent focus. Unlike the artifacts the iPhone X produced the LG V30’s low-light photos were more natural with a fairly low level of noise.

Under decent lighting conditions photos turned out very well, with a very nice focus and high details. When compared to the iPhone X, the photos were slightly darker and dark areas lacked detail. Edges were clear-cut and generally speaking, the photos were very rich in detail.

LG has also improved video recording, and has added quite a few new extras compared to the G6. For example, a feature called Cine-Video produces very atmospheric videos. Another feature is point zoom, where you select a section of the image the camera softly zooms in to and out of. These features worked very well overall.

Image Comparison

Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.

Scene 1Scene 2Scene 3
click to load images
LG V30
LG V30
LG V30
LG V30
LG V30
LG V30
LG V30
LG V30
LG V30
LG V30: Weitwinkel

For the sake of better comparability, we test all cameras in our lab under normalized conditions. Unfortunately, the V30’s cameras have failed to produce a sharp image rich in detail in our lab. Colored areas seemed somewhat pixelated, and the edges of text placed directly in front of colored backgrounds were slightly blurred. The focus on our reference card photo was significantly better in the middle and visibly deteriorated towards the edges, and colors were too bright.

reference card
reference card
reference card details
reference card details
CalMAN ColorChecker colors; reference color in the bottom half of each square.
CalMAN ColorChecker colors; reference color in the bottom half of each square.

Accessories & Warranty

In addition to the phone itself, the box also contains a quick charger, a USB cable, a SIM tool, and a nicely designed in-ear headset co-created by B&O. The V30 is Google Daydream compatible with VR headsets available for around $100. LG does not list any additional accessories for the V30 on its website.

Please see our Guarantees, Return Policies and Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

Input Devices & Handling

The V30 ships with LG’s self-developed keyboard app enabled by default. It supports various customizations, such as for example changing the keyboard layout or a continuously adjustable keyboard height. It also features swipe gestures and word suggestions. Typing worked quite well but they keys are too narrow for big hands. Other keyboard apps can be downloaded from Google’s Play Store.

The touchscreen was reliable and fast, and detected input and movement up to its very edges.

An additional way if interacting with the phone is implemented through aforementioned floating bar. It allows preconfiguring quick-set actions which can then be triggered by double-clicking the volume down button. The phone also supports locking the screen as well as waking up from standby by double tapping on the home screen.

In addition to the rear-mounted fingerprint reader, which worked as fast and reliable as expected, the phone can also be unlocked via face or voice recognition. LG does display a warning that these methods are less secure than the fingerprint reader. For example, the phone could be unlocked by someone who looks similar to the user or someone with a similar voice. In addition, facial recognition is by far not as sophisticated as Face ID on the iPhone X and doesn’t work in the dark at all. The strictness and thresholds of facial recognition parameters are configurable but be warned: the system became much slower and less reliable with increased accuracy and strictness: when enabled the phone had trouble detecting the reviewer’s face frequently, which means we cannot recommend enabling this feature at this point just yet. Voice recognition was more reliable overall, but like facial detection it also results in decreased overall security.

Display

subpixel geometry
subpixel geometry

The V30’s large 6.0-inch display is based on LG’s FullVision technology known from its TV division. Like the G6’s display its display ratio is 2:1, and the display is therefore narrower than regular 16:9 devices. Pixel density is very high thanks to the panel’s high 2880 x 1440 resolution, and the display is very crisp. Support for HDR10 content is included as well.

Average brightness was determined at 428 nits and therefore acceptable albeit significantly lower than on most other high-end smartphones. An 87 % brightness distribution is decent overall, but also means large uniform colored areas tend to be less uniform than expected. At brightness levels of 80 % and below, the screen starts to flicker at a very low 227 Hz. Sensitive users might be able to notices this screen flickering. If you need to make sure we suggest trying out the display for a few minutes before making any final purchase decisions.

404
cd/m²
430
cd/m²
451
cd/m²
402
cd/m²
432
cd/m²
456
cd/m²
398
cd/m²
425
cd/m²
454
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
FullVision QHD+ In-Cell Touch Display tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 456 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 428 cd/m² Minimum: 6.12 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Center on Battery: 432 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.18 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 5.3 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
100% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.33
LG V30
OLED, 2880x1440, 6.00
LG G6
IPS LCD, 2880x1440, 5.70
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
Super AMOLED, 2960x1440, 6.20
Huawei P10 Plus
LTPS, 2560x1440, 5.50
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
IPS, 3840x2160, 5.50
OnePlus 5
AMOLED, 1920x1080, 5.50
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
IPS, 1920x1080, 5.50
Screen
13%
43%
37%
32%
32%
44%
Brightness middle
432
646
50%
560
30%
568
31%
578
34%
426
-1%
559
29%
Brightness
428
611
43%
562
31%
562
31%
568
33%
431
1%
538
26%
Brightness Distribution
87
89
2%
93
7%
92
6%
92
6%
93
7%
90
3%
Black Level *
0.23
0.43
0.62
0.38
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
4.18
4.5
-8%
1.7
59%
2.4
43%
2.8
33%
1.6
62%
1.3
69%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
8.53
8.3
3%
3.4
60%
3.8
55%
5.1
40%
4.1
52%
2.7
68%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
5.3
6
-13%
1.6
70%
2.5
53%
2.8
47%
1.7
68%
1.8
66%
Gamma
2.33 94%
2.27 97%
2.13 103%
2.37 93%
2.15 102%
2.25 98%
2.25 98%
CCT
7487 87%
7996 81%
6435 101%
6779 96%
6728 97%
6329 103%
6797 96%
Contrast
2809
1321
932
1471
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
67.74
81.57
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
99.05
99.87

* ... smaller is better

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM detected 227 Hz ≤ 80 % brightness setting

The display backlight flickers at 227 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 80 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting.

The frequency of 227 Hz is relatively low, so sensitive users will likely notice flickering and experience eyestrain at the stated brightness setting and below.

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18110 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

Given the underlying OLED technology individual pixels can be completely turned off, which means very deep and true blacks. Accordingly, this also results in an infinite contrast ratio and popping colors. Color representation is configurable either via various presets or manually, and a blue light filter is available to boot. We have taken measurements with our spectrophotometer and the CalMAN software with all available presets as well as a manually adjusted display. AdobeRGB coverage was tested with the photos preset enabled.

Generally speaking color deviations to their respective reference colors were very noticeable. In return, gray scale representation was very good, and we have not noticed any color tints on grays whatsoever. sRGB color space coverage is more than 100 % and 96 % AdobeRGB coverage was very impressive. Due to the OLED technology, rich colors are visibly oversaturated.

saturation - AdobeRGB
saturation - AdobeRGB
grayscale - AdobeRGB
grayscale - AdobeRGB
color space - AdobeRGB
color space - AdobeRGB
color accuracy - AdobeRGB
color accuracy - AdobeRGB
saturation - manual
saturation - manual
grayscale - manual
grayscale - manual
color space - manual
color space - manual
color accuracy - manual
color accuracy - manual
saturation - movies
saturation - movies
grayscale - movies
grayscale - movies
color space - movies
color space - movies
color accuracy - movies
color accuracy - movies
saturation - photos
saturation - photos
grayscale - photos
grayscale - photos
color space - photos
color space - photos
color accuracy - photos
color accuracy - photos
saturation - internet
saturation - internet
grayscale - internet
grayscale - internet
color space - internet
color space - internet
color accuracy - internet
color accuracy - internet
saturation - normal
saturation - normal
grayscale - normal
grayscale - normal
color space - normal
color space - normal
color accuracy - normal
color accuracy - normal

The V30 fared very well outdoors as long as the ambient light sensor was enabled or the phone was manually set to maximum brightness. Unfortunately, the display is highly reflective. Our review unit’s ambient light sensor was surprisingly anemic and sometimes failed to notice changes in lighting conditions entirely.

A very obvious blue tint is visible when looking that the display from the side. Otherwise, it remained usable and readable from all sides even at acute angles.

viewing angles
viewing angles
outdoors - ambient light sensor
outdoors - ambient light sensor
outdoors - maximum brightness
outdoors - maximum brightness
outdoors - medium brightness
outdoors - medium brightness
outdoors - minimum brightness
outdoors - minimum brightness

Performance

The V30 features Qualcomm’s fastest currently available SoC, the Snapdragon 835, as well as an Adreno 540 GPU, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of flash storage. Unsurprisingly, the V30 performed very well in our benchmarks. It may not have been the fastest phone but its AnTuTu and Geekbench scores were at a level expected of a high-end phone in 2017. The processor has become much faster when compared to the LG G6. GPU performance was among the best we have ever seen, and the V30 beat almost all of its competitors hands down. Offscreen rendering at a normalized resolution was particularly impressive.

Everyday performance was very snapppy. Neither multitasking nor demanding apps are a real challenge for this phone and even videos can be easily edited quickly and without significant loading times.

AnTuTu v6 - Total Score (sort by value)
LG V30
173749 Points
LG G6
151751 Points -13%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
165382 Points -5%
Huawei P10 Plus
138326 Points -20%
Huawei Mate 9
124087 Points -29%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
173403 Points 0%
OnePlus 5
177156 Points +2%
Honor 9
150276 Points -14%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
165399 Points -5%
PCMark for Android
Work performance score (sort by value)
LG V30
6854 Points
LG G6
5703 Points -17%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
5830 Points -15%
Huawei P10 Plus
7377 Points +8%
Huawei Mate 9
7403 Points +8%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
7695 Points +12%
OnePlus 5
7826 Points +14%
Honor 9
7034 Points +3%
Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value)
LG V30
5603 Points
LG G6
5152 Points -8%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
5195 Points -7%
Huawei P10 Plus
6157 Points +10%
Huawei Mate 9
6299 Points +12%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
6433 Points +15%
OnePlus 5
6579 Points +17%
Honor 9
6113 Points +9%
BaseMark OS II
Overall (sort by value)
LG V30
2702 Points
LG G6
2496 Points -8%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
3301 Points +22%
Huawei P10 Plus
2563 Points -5%
Huawei Mate 9
2772 Points +3%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
3506 Points +30%
OnePlus 5
3790 Points +40%
Honor 9
2779 Points +3%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3097 Points +15%
System (sort by value)
LG V30
4238 Points
LG G6
3646 Points -14%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
5319 Points +26%
Huawei P10 Plus
3572 Points -16%
Huawei Mate 9
3616 Points -15%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
5857 Points +38%
OnePlus 5
5902 Points +39%
Honor 9
4154 Points -2%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
6582 Points +55%
Memory (sort by value)
LG V30
2091 Points
LG G6
1930 Points -8%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
3135 Points +50%
Huawei P10 Plus
3331 Points +59%
Huawei Mate 9
3850 Points +84%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
3444 Points +65%
OnePlus 5
4423 Points +112%
Honor 9
3258 Points +56%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
1319 Points -37%
Graphics (sort by value)
LG V30
5949 Points
LG G6
5138 Points -14%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
6126 Points +3%
Huawei P10 Plus
3438 Points -42%
Huawei Mate 9
3939 Points -34%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
6045 Points +2%
OnePlus 5
6144 Points +3%
Honor 9
4126 Points -31%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
6875 Points +16%
Web (sort by value)
LG V30
1009 Points
LG G6
1073 Points +6%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
1163 Points +15%
Huawei P10 Plus
1054 Points +4%
Huawei Mate 9
1076 Points +7%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
1239 Points +23%
OnePlus 5
1287 Points +28%
Honor 9
1069 Points +6%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
1542 Points +53%
Geekbench 4.4
64 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value)
LG V30
1900 Points
LG G6
1831 Points -4%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
2015 Points +6%
Huawei P10 Plus
1852 Points -3%
Huawei Mate 9
1866 Points -2%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
1904 Points 0%
OnePlus 5
1973 Points +4%
Honor 9
1869 Points -2%
64 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value)
LG V30
6078 Points
LG G6
4369 Points -28%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
6695 Points +10%
Huawei P10 Plus
6267 Points +3%
Huawei Mate 9
6445 Points +6%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
6491 Points +7%
OnePlus 5
6799 Points +12%
Honor 9
6527 Points +7%
Compute RenderScript Score (sort by value)
LG V30
8016 Points
LG G6
7080 Points -12%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
8295 Points +3%
Huawei Mate 9
Points -100%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
7881 Points -2%
OnePlus 5
8005 Points 0%
Honor 9
Points -100%
3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
LG V30
34139 Points
LG G6
29276 Points -14%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
29282 Points -14%
Huawei P10 Plus
26156 Points -23%
Huawei Mate 9
27364 Points -20%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
32302 Points -5%
OnePlus 5
40229 Points +18%
Honor 9
28883 Points -15%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
37746 Points +11%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
LG V30
55271 Points
LG G6
32128 Points -42%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
33077 Points -40%
Huawei P10 Plus
33307 Points -40%
Huawei Mate 9
35626 Points -36%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
52358 Points -5%
OnePlus 5
58001 Points +5%
Honor 9
38979 Points -29%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
63386 Points +15%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
LG V30
14601 Points
LG G6
22335 Points +53%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
20892 Points +43%
Huawei P10 Plus
14934 Points +2%
Huawei Mate 9
15104 Points +3%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
13800 Points -5%
OnePlus 5
19411 Points +33%
Honor 9
15150 Points +4%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
15626 Points +7%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 (sort by value)
LG V30
4738 Points
LG G6
3282 Points -31%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
3958 Points -16%
Huawei P10 Plus
2229 Points -53%
Huawei Mate 9
2367 Points -50%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
3407 Points -28%
OnePlus 5
4219 Points -11%
Honor 9
2611 Points -45%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3034 Points -36%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Graphics (sort by value)
LG V30
5895 Points
LG G6
4121 Points -30%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
4786 Points -19%
Huawei P10 Plus
2469 Points -58%
Huawei Mate 9
2448 Points -58%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
5107 Points -13%
OnePlus 5
4765 Points -19%
Honor 9
2990 Points -49%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
4235 Points -28%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Physics (sort by value)
LG V30
2808 Points
LG G6
1961 Points -30%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
2465 Points -12%
Huawei P10 Plus
1662 Points -41%
Huawei Mate 9
2123 Points -24%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
1574 Points -44%
OnePlus 5
3012 Points +7%
Honor 9
1809 Points -36%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
1522 Points -46%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) (sort by value)
LG V30
3635 Points
LG G6
2669 Points -27%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
3188 Points -12%
Huawei P10 Plus
1747 Points -52%
Huawei Mate 9
2240 Points -38%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2895 Points -20%
OnePlus 5
3566 Points -2%
Honor 9
2666 Points -27%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Graphics (sort by value)
LG V30
3903 Points
LG G6
2980 Points -24%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
3479 Points -11%
Huawei P10 Plus
1767 Points -55%
Huawei Mate 9
2294 Points -41%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
3723 Points -5%
OnePlus 5
3757 Points -4%
Honor 9
2798 Points -28%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Physics (sort by value)
LG V30
2931 Points
LG G6
1955 Points -33%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
2466 Points -16%
Huawei P10 Plus
1679 Points -43%
Huawei Mate 9
2117 Points -28%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
1628 Points -44%
OnePlus 5
3026 Points +3%
Honor 9
2287 Points -22%
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value)
LG V30
60 fps
LG G6
46 fps -23%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
58 fps -3%
Huawei P10 Plus
40 fps -33%
Huawei Mate 9
60 fps 0%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
60 fps 0%
OnePlus 5
60 fps 0%
Honor 9
55 fps -8%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
57.7 fps -4%
1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value)
LG V30
113 fps
LG G6
75 fps -34%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
104 fps -8%
Huawei P10 Plus
56 fps -50%
Huawei Mate 9
80 fps -29%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
109 fps -4%
OnePlus 5
115 fps +2%
Honor 9
60 fps -47%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
92 fps -19%
GFXBench 3.0
on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value)
LG V30
35 fps
LG G6
27 fps -23%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
38 fps +9%
Huawei P10 Plus
29 fps -17%
Huawei Mate 9
37 fps +6%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
46 fps +31%
OnePlus 5
56 fps +60%
Honor 9
28 fps -20%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
55.2 fps +58%
1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value)
LG V30
59 fps
LG G6
38 fps -36%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
50 fps -15%
Huawei P10 Plus
19 fps -68%
Huawei Mate 9
34 fps -42%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
47 fps -20%
OnePlus 5
61 fps +3%
Honor 9
30 fps -49%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
58.7 fps -1%
GFXBench 3.1
on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen (sort by value)
LG V30
19 fps
LG G6
16 fps -16%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
23 fps +21%
Huawei P10 Plus
12 fps -37%
Huawei Mate 9
28 fps +47%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
37 fps +95%
OnePlus 5
41 fps +116%
Honor 9
22 fps +16%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
41.5 fps +118%
1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen (sort by value)
LG V30
40 fps
LG G6
29 fps -27%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
42 fps +5%
Huawei P10 Plus
22 fps -45%
Huawei Mate 9
24 fps -40%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
35 fps -12%
OnePlus 5
42 fps +5%
Honor 9
22 fps -45%
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
41.3 fps +3%
GFXBench
on screen Car Chase Onscreen (sort by value)
LG V30
13 fps
LG G6
11 fps -15%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
13 fps 0%
Huawei P10 Plus
10 fps -23%
Huawei Mate 9
14 fps +8%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
25 fps +92%
OnePlus 5
25 fps +92%
Honor 9
16 fps +23%
1920x1080 Car Chase Offscreen (sort by value)
LG V30
24 fps
LG G6
20 fps -17%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
25 fps +4%
Huawei P10 Plus
15 fps -37%
Huawei Mate 9
fps -100%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
23 fps -4%
OnePlus 5
25 fps +4%
Honor 9
15 fps -37%
Lightmark - 1920x1080 1080p (sort by value)
LG G6
24.34 fps
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
25.06 fps
Huawei Mate 9
19.14 fps
Basemark X 1.1
Medium Quality (sort by value)
LG G6
37621 Points
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
41901 Points
Huawei Mate 9
42176 Points
High Quality (sort by value)
LG G6
35449 Points
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
42335 Points
Huawei Mate 9
31104 Points
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal - offscreen Overall Score (sort by value)
LG G6
647 Points
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
1280 Points
Huawei Mate 9
699 Points
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
1177 Points
Epic Citadel - Ultra High Quality (sort by value)
LG G6
59 fps
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
59.7 fps
Huawei Mate 9
60.5 fps

Legend

 
LG V30 Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (8998), Qualcomm Adreno 540, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
 
LG G6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro, Qualcomm Adreno 530, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
 
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Samsung Exynos 8895 Octa, ARM Mali-G71 MP20, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
 
Huawei P10 Plus HiSilicon Kirin 960, ARM Mali-G71 MP8, 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
 
Huawei Mate 9 HiSilicon Kirin 960, ARM Mali-G71 MP8, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
 
Sony Xperia XZ Premium Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (8998), Qualcomm Adreno 540, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
 
OnePlus 5 Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (8998), Qualcomm Adreno 540, 64 GB UFS 2.1 Flash
 
Honor 9 HiSilicon Kirin 960, ARM Mali-G71 MP8, 64 GB eMMC Flash
 
Apple iPhone 7 Plus Apple A10 Fusion, Apple A10 Fusion GPU / PowerVR, 128 GB NVMe

Rendering websites turned out to be one of the V30’s weaknesses as most of its competitors were faster. The difference was negligible thanks to its very fast Wi-Fi modem and only noticeable when using mobile data instead.

Extensive HTML5 websites, such as Google’s Interland, loaded acceptably fast and were smooth overall.

JetStream 1.1 - Total Score
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
223.5 Points +322%
OnePlus 5 (Chrome 59)
71.6 Points +35%
Huawei Mate 9 (Chrome 54)
68.6 Points +30%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus (Samsung Browser 5.2)
62.2 Points +18%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium (Chrome 59)
61.5 Points +16%
Honor 9 (Chrome 59)
58.6 Points +11%
Huawei P10 Plus
58.4 Points +10%
LG G6 (Chrome 57)
56.6 Points +7%
LG V30 (Chrome 62)
52.9 Points
Octane V2 - Total Score
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
35209 Points +235%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus (Samsung Browser 5.2)
14050 Points +34%
OnePlus 5 (Chrome 59)
11945 Points +14%
Huawei Mate 9 (Chrome 54)
11897 Points +13%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium (Chrome 59)
10672 Points +2%
LG V30 (Chrome 62)
10506 Points
Huawei P10 Plus (Chrome 58.0.3029.83)
10213 Points -3%
Honor 9 (Chrome 59)
10208 Points -3%
LG G6 (Chrome 57)
9113 Points -13%
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total
LG V30 (Chrome 62)
3630 ms *
Sony Xperia XZ Premium (Chrome 59)
3199 ms * +12%
Honor 9 (Chrome 59)
3149 ms * +13%
Huawei P10 Plus (Chrome 58.0.3029.83)
3107 ms * +14%
Huawei Mate 9 (Chrome 54)
2734 ms * +25%
OnePlus 5 (Chrome 59)
2622 ms * +28%
LG G6 (Chrome 57)
2464 ms * +32%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus (Samsung Browser 5.2)
2237 ms * +38%
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
720 ms * +80%
WebXPRT 2015 - Overall
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
362 Points +162%
OnePlus 5 (Chrome 59)
161 Points +17%
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus (Samsung Browser 5.2)
154 Points +12%
Huawei Mate 9 (Chrome 54)
152 Points +10%
Sony Xperia XZ Premium (Chrome 59)
149 Points +8%
Huawei P10 Plus
140 Points +1%
LG V30 (Chrome 62)
138 Points
LG G6 (Chrome 57)
122 Points -12%
Honor 9 (Chrome 59)
107 Points -22%

* ... smaller is better

By default, the V30 is equipped with 64 GB UFS 2.1 storage, and the not yet available V30+ is going to offer 128 GB. Performance was very decent and as expected for its class. That said, some other smartphones with UFS 2.1 storage were a bit faster than the V30.

Performance when accessing our microSD reference card, a Toshiba Exceria Pro M501, was mediocre at best.

LG V30LG G6Samsung Galaxy S8 PlusHuawei Mate 9Sony Xperia XZ Premium
AndroBench 3-5
8%
28%
-14%
-1%
Sequential Read 256KB
669
428.7
-36%
788
18%
594
-11%
687
3%
Sequential Write 256KB
193.2
122.8
-36%
194.2
1%
142.9
-26%
194
0%
Random Read 4KB
78.2
95.2
22%
127.2
63%
94.7
21%
74.1
-5%
Random Write 4KB
10.21
16.58
62%
15.27
50%
8.77
-14%
17.2
68%
Sequential Read 256KB SDCard
62.8
77.6 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
24%
71.1 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
13%
54 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-14%
36.79 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-41%
Sequential Write 256KB SDCard
47.2
53.3 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
13%
57.2 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
21%
29.53 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-37%
33.31 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-29%

Gaming

As expected, the V30 is a decent gaming smartphone only limited by its high display resolution. While Dead Trigger 2 failed to run at 60 FPS on the LG V30 other less demanding games, such as Temple Run 2, did. Given that 30 FPS are most commonly considered to be enough for a smooth gaming experience it is safe to say that the V30 will be able to run all games smoothly. Some smartphones are even limited to 30 FPS by their respective manufacturers by default, giving the LG V30 an edge over these particular phones. On the other hand, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium managed to run Dead Trigger 2 at 60 FPS despite its almost identical screen resolution.

Game controls via gyroscope and touchscreen were responsive, accurate, and reliable.

Dead Trigger 2
Dead Trigger 2
Temple Run 2
Temple Run 2

Emissions

Temperature

GFXBench battery test
GFXBench battery test

LG did a fantastic job optimizing the phone for low surface temperatures, and with a maximum of no more than 30.3 °C the phone did not heat up significantly at all. Surface temperatures under load were only slightly higher than idle temperatures.

Consequently, we found it rather strange and somewhat annoying that the V30 started to throttle despite its low temperatures after longer periods of sustained load. We discovered this during GFXBench’s battery test: while frame rates remained consistently high during the first twelve iterations of the test they started to drop slowly afterwards and hit rock bottom around the 21st iteration, with a total performance decrease of 20 %. Thus, if you’re playing games or using demanding apps expect to experience a drop in performance after a certain amount of time.

Max. Load
 29.6 °C
85 F
29.2 °C
85 F
28.6 °C
83 F
 
 30.2 °C
86 F
29.7 °C
85 F
30.2 °C
86 F
 
 30.3 °C
87 F
29.5 °C
85 F
29 °C
84 F
 
Maximum: 30.3 °C = 87 F
Average: 29.6 °C = 85 F
27.4 °C
81 F
29.5 °C
85 F
29.3 °C
85 F
27.9 °C
82 F
29.3 °C
85 F
30 °C
86 F
28.2 °C
83 F
29.3 °C
85 F
30.3 °C
87 F
Maximum: 30.3 °C = 87 F
Average: 29 °C = 84 F
Power Supply (max.)  29.6 °C = 85 F | Room Temperature 21.5 °C = 71 F | Voltcraft IR-350
(+) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 29.6 °C / 85 F, compared to the average of 32.7 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 30.3 °C / 87 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 30.3 °C / 87 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.8 °C / 84 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.

Speakers

pink noise
pink noise

The V30’s mono speaker is located at the bottom of the device. The phone lacks an equalizer or any sort of sound settings for its internal speaker whatsoever, which means you’re limited to external equalizers. At 84.1 dB(A) it’s sufficiently loud, and sound quality is decent overall albeit less balanced than on the iPhone 8 Plus.

The phone is equipped with a HiFi Quad DAC transforming the digital signals into analog sound output via the phone’s 3.5 mm headphone jack, and supports lossless compression formats such as FLAC. Another technology for improved sound quality is MQA, a feature that allows studio quality audio streaming and supports various filters for individually customizing the sound output to one’s liking. The included B&O headset put out very clear sound yet lacked bass.

Bluetooth streaming via aptX HD is supported when connected to compatible speakers. Yet even without aptX HD, Bluetooth streaming quality was very high.

dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2027.228.327.22527.92627.93126.928.226.94028.633.728.65030.431.430.46324.528.624.58025.527.225.510028.329.328.312531.326.331.316031.524.331.52003523.93525038.622.638.631542.220.242.240048.518.648.550056.418.356.463061.116.661.180067.616.567.6100071.415.271.4125072.614.972.61600741474200072.81472.8250074.213.974.23150751475400073.613.973.6500071.713.871.7630066.713.866.7800065.513.765.51000071.113.771.11250074.313.874.31600054.313.854.3SPL84.127.684.1N54.2154.2median 66.7median 14.9median 66.7Delta12.83.212.8hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseLG V30
LG V30 audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 32.3% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (5.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 7.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.7% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (25.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 59% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 34% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 76% of all tested devices were better, 5% similar, 19% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

frequency diagram (checkboxes selectable/deselectable!)

Battery Life

Power Consumption

Overall power consumption was comparatively low on the LG V30. Only the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus was even more efficient but had a slightly higher power consumption under load. The LG G6 was also much less efficient under load.

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.11 / 0.19 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 0.72 / 1.37 / 1.41 Watt
Load midlight 3.46 / 7.83 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Metrahit Energy
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.
LG V30
3300 mAh
LG G6
3300 mAh
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
3500 mAh
Huawei P10 Plus
3750 mAh
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
3230 mAh
OnePlus 5
3300 mAh
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
2691 mAh
Power Consumption
-18%
8%
-73%
-38%
-24%
-37%
Idle Minimum *
0.72
0.62
14%
0.68
6%
1.03
-43%
0.62
14%
0.73
-1%
0.72
-0%
Idle Average *
1.37
1.43
-4%
1.13
18%
2.61
-91%
2.44
-78%
1.44
-5%
2.45
-79%
Idle Maximum *
1.41
1.48
-5%
1.16
18%
2.83
-101%
2.59
-84%
1.5
-6%
2.52
-79%
Load Average *
3.46
5.52
-60%
4.69
-36%
7.03
-103%
4.94
-43%
6.91
-100%
3.84
-11%
Load Maximum *
7.83
10.47
-34%
5.24
33%
10.08
-29%
7.91
-1%
8.51
-9%
9.02
-15%

* ... smaller is better

Battery Life

The V30’s 3,300 mAh battery has remained unchanged from the G6. Despite the larger display our battery life expectations were fairly high due to the OLED panel and the highly efficient SoC, and the V30 did not disappoint. The 7 % difference on paper between the V30 and the G6 yield an extra 82 minutes of battery life in our Wi-Fi test resulting in a total of 12:54 hours and first place among its competitors.

The phone supports both QuickCharge 3.0 and Qi wireless charging. Using the included LG quick charger it takes 110 minutes to charge the phone from near empty to full, and only 36 minutes from near empty to 50 %. Wireless charging is significantly slower, and it takes 55 minutes to reach that 50 % threshold.

Battery Runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)
31h 54min
WiFi Websurfing
12h 54min
Big Buck Bunny H.264 1080p
13h 42min
Load (maximum brightness)
4h 27min
LG V30
3300 mAh
LG G6
3300 mAh
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
3500 mAh
Huawei P10 Plus
3750 mAh
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
3230 mAh
OnePlus 5
3300 mAh
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
2691 mAh
Battery Runtime
-7%
-8%
-15%
-8%
-21%
-10%
Reader / Idle
1914
1789
-7%
1565
-18%
1655
-14%
1754
-8%
1534
-20%
2085
9%
H.264
822
779
-5%
742
-10%
756
-8%
802
-2%
623
-24%
733
-11%
WiFi v1.3
774
692
-11%
736
-5%
760
-2%
695
-10%
518
-33%
657
-15%
Load
267
252
-6%
275
3%
174
-35%
236
-12%
247
-7%
211
-21%

Verdict

In review: LG V30. Review unit courtesy of LG Germany.
In review: LG V30. Review unit courtesy of LG Germany.

With the LG V30, the Koreans have made quite an effort, producing the smartphone that many had already wished for during MWC. It brings all the missing features, which were lacking in the LG G6 to become an absolutely high-end product: a current top SoC, a quad-DAC audio-chip, and wireless charging. In addition, there is now an OLED display, although it cannot quite convince outdoors yet. Apparently LG went without a bigger increase of the brightness via sensor as we know it from the Samsung Galaxy S8, and many others. Sensitive users should make sure to test the display at reduced brightness before making any final purchase decisions.

In terms of quality and design, the LG V30 does not show any weakness, offering a compelling choice of colors and a great display to surface ratio. Anyone who picks up the smartphone for the first time will be surprised how light it feels.

The software is still Android 7.1, but an update to 8.0 Oreo is in the works. Even though our test unit is a preproduction model, the system runs quite smoothly. The USB connection is fast, but unfortunately only offers the 2.0 transfer standard and no wired display output.

Its most important feature, the camera, has been further optimized and turned out very well. Various video features will make the phone more appealing to many users. However, we would have wished for a better front-facing camera.

Initial performance is very high but drops significantly after a while, and not all games will run at 60 FPS. In return, the phone offers several goodies and gimmicks, such as the wide angle camera lens, the speaker that can be used as extra microphone, or MQA for high-quality audio streaming.

Even though the LG V30 is far from perfect it is a very confidently priced stunning high-end smartphone with certain indisputable qualities.

The V30 is a high-quality daily driver for those users who love to record videos, prefer narrow display bezels and popping display colors, and like to enjoy high-quality HiFi sound.

LG V30 - 12/13/2017 v6(old)
Daniel Schmidt

Chassis
90%
Keyboard
65 / 75 → 87%
Pointing Device
89%
Connectivity
52 / 60 → 86%
Weight
92%
Battery
95%
Display
84%
Games Performance
65 / 63 → 100%
Application Performance
61 / 70 → 88%
Temperature
94%
Noise
100%
Audio
68 / 91 → 75%
Camera
92%
Average
81%
89%
Smartphone - Weighted Average

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Daniel Schmidt, 2017-09- 5 (Update: 2020-05-19)