LG V30 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Welcome to phone season. Over the next four weeks, if our expectations play out, we’ll see new flagships from the biggest players in the market, including Samsung and Apple, newcomers like Essential and challengers like LG.

On August 31, LG will debut the V30, the successor to last year’s competent but non-distinct V20, at the IFA 2017 tech show in Berlin. According to Android Authority, the new phone will hit store shelves about a month later, on September 28.

The LG V20 wasn’t a bad phone by any means. It just didn’t deliver enough to stand out from a crowded field of excellent phones in 2016. The V30 could bring more to the table, however. Between the official details the company has announced, the leaked photos we’ve seen, and the rumors floating around online, LG is looking to make a bigger splash with the V30.

We should have the full scoop by the end of the month. For now, we’ll keep a running list of what we know and what we’re hearing below.

Specs we expect to see on the LG V30

• August 31 debut (confirmed)
• 6-inch OLED display (confirmed)
• Edge-to-edge screen with 1,440×2,880-pixel resolution
• Dual rear cameras with an f/1.6 aperture and glass lens (confirmed)
• Fingerprint scanner
• USB-C port
• Snapdragon 835 processor
• 3,300mAh battery

Announcement and release date

LG has confirmed an August 31 debut for the V30. Android Authority has filled in some additional details, reporting that the company will start taking preorders on September 17 and shipping in the US and elsewhere on September 28.

The phone may go on sale earlier — perhaps as soon as September 15 — in South Korea, LG’s home country. Android Authority also suggests that, unlike its predecessors, the LG V30 will be sold in Europe, though it doesn’t provide any details on the time frame for that rollout.

Amping up the camera hardware

The V series needs to step its camera game up to hang with the likes of Google’s Pixel and Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus, and based on the specs already announced, LG may deliver. According to the company’s official statements, the V30 will once again come equipped with dual rear cameras — the V20 was one of the first phones with two cams on the back. But LG has also equipped the V30 with a glass lens, usually found on DSLR cameras, and an f/1.6 aperture, which it says will deliver 25 percent more light than the f/1.8 aperture found on most smartphone cameras. 

It will have a curved, edge-to-edge OLED display

LG has also confirmed that the V30 will have a “plastic OLED FullVision display.” (Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 8, expected to debut during the first half of September, is also rumored to be equipped with OLED technology.) Apparently, LG’s P-OLED configuration places pixels directly on to a plastic substrate, which the company says is stronger than the typical glass base, which is then covered over by Gorilla Glass. LG says this setup reduces burn-in and sucks less power than other OLED technologies. 

In addition, we know that the phone’s 6-inch display will be curved, go from edge to edge, and will have a 1,440×2,880-pixel resolution. It will not be flexible like the LG G Flex 2, the company’s previous OLED phone, but we’re OK with that.

But the V series’ distinctive second screen might go away

The V series is known for its secondary display that runs atop the main screen. According to Android Authority, the company has replaced that second screen for some sort of “floating bar,” which is rumored to give quick access to shortcuts and notifications. Sounds intriguing.

LG might give the V30 a premium sibling

In addition to the flagship V30, LG may also launch an upgraded variant of the phone called the V30 Plus. (The company established a precedent for this sort of thing with the LG G6 Plus, which it revealed a few months after the LG G6.) Unlike the iPhone 7 Plus or the Galaxy S8 Plus, LG’s Plus model won’t be bigger — it’ll just offer more internal storage (128GB instead of 64GB), a different audio system and wireless charging, according to the report.

Price

The LG V30 is said to cost $700 (about £540 or AU$885). The LG V30 Plus, if it’s real, is rumored to start at $875 (about £670 or AU$1,105).