The LG V30 is a solid device and was probably one of the best phones from the company in 2017, but it is now 2018, and it is getting a slight refresh. The reason I say slight is that at MWC 2018 LG just unveiled the V30S ThinQ. It has some big upgrades on the software side, which is coming to current owners of the V30, along with packing more RAM and storage inside.
I should mention that there are two new colors as well: Moroccan Blue and Platinum Gray. The V30S keeps the 6.0-inch QuadHD+ OLED FullVision Display with a 2880 x 1440 resolution, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, a 3300mAh battery, a 5-megapixel front camera, and a dual 16-megapixel and 13-megapixel lens setup on the back. Upgraded on the V30S is 6GBs of RAM and up too 256GB of internal storage.
The artificial intelligence or AI upgrades are most noticeable with the camera. LG has also announced AI CAM, QLens and Bright Mode which automatically enhance images to make for the best shot possible. AI CAM will analyze the subjects or objects in the photo across these eight categories: portrait, food, pet, landscape, city, flower, sunrise, and sunset. It will auto adjust the saturation, image angles, lighting, color balance, and more. I will have to wait to see how this truly performs, but LG is basing these adjustments on a library of photos across these categories that the AI has studied. QLens will let you scan QR codes to aid with online shopping directly from the camera.
LG is also partnering with Google to improve the voice AI experience on the V30S. They have also implemented new voice commands throughout the operating systems. A common theme with the V30S would be that these are mostly upgrades on the software side, rather than new hardware. And the reason for increasing the RAM is most likely for a smoother experience across these new AI features.
The LG V30S ThinQ will launch in Korea in the coming weeks, but it should have a broader rollout across the globe in the coming months.
