The LG V30 was just announced by LG earlier today, and it looks like an excellent device. The V30 comes with extremely small bezels and great some specs to back it up. The LG V30 is definitely in contention for smartphone of the year, but once again, their announcement has me wanting more. Last year I wrote an article about the LG V20 missing its chance to shine, and I think the V30 might follow suit.
First off, I am a very big fan of LG phones. I have used multiple devices made by the Korean company, including the Nexus 5, G3, G4, G5, V20, and most recently the G6. LG always makes solid devices, but they seem to miss one or two key areas that would make their phones truly dominate the market.
No release date set for the United States
The first major issue with the whole V30 launch is that there is no set release date as of now. For some reason this is a common thing for LG and the V series. You would think that if you’re launching a phone in the second half of the year, you’d want to get it to market as soon as possible. The V30 is going up against the Note8, new iPhones, and even the new Pixels.
The V30 will arrive in South Korea on September 21, but a North American release date will be sometime after. Not only will LG lose perspective buyers to the Note8, which comes out on the 15, but the new iPhones and Pixels are right around the corner. The new iPhones will be debuted on September 12 and the Pixels will follow on October 5.
iPhone sales are rumored to commence on September 22, well ahead of the LG V30 going on sale in the States. The Pixels will most likely go up for pre-order right after their unveiling. That means LG could very well lose out on V30 sales to the Pixel 2 XL – a device based on the V30.
With all that in consideration, LG fans will still stick with the V30 regardless of the competition. The issue is LG won’t sway as many potential buyers as they would if they launched the device sooner. Why wait for the LG V30 when you know the Note8 is available and the iPhone 8 and Pixel 2 XL are on the horizon.
No Android 8.0 Oreo for the LG V30 until 2018
Last year, the LG V20 made quite a stir when it was announced as the first Android device to launch with Android Nougat. It was even ahead of the Google Pixel devices. That was sort of misleading, as the V20 didn’t end up launching until October 28 (in the United states) – 52 days after original announcement. Technically, the Pixel and Pixel XL were available before that. Maybe that is why the V30 ships with Android 7.1.2 and not Android 8.0 Oreo.
I thought for sure the V30 would ship with Oreo as the V20 shipped with Nougat out of the box. After all, no OEM manufacturer is closer to Google than LG. Maybe the reasoning is they wanted to get the device out to the market sooner, in which case I respect that. But, Sony’s new phones are launching with Android Oreo, so it leaves more to be desired from one of the top smartphone manufacturers.
The LG V30 is a great device, just bad timing
I am sure the LG V30 will do well. It is an upgrade over the V20 in every aspect aside from a removable battery, but that is debatable. The device has top-notch specs and has LG’s first over OLED display in a flagship device. Switching away from LCD to LED is a huge selling point to me, but I will still hold off on buying the LG V30. If the V30 came out against the S8+, I’d most likely choose the V30. The V30 vs. the Pixel 2 XL though, that’s a no contest for me. LG needs to work on their launch timing.
