Paul Briden 04/09/2017 - 3:14pm

LG has now revealed the LG V30 to the world

LG has officially announced the LG V30, the successor to the LG V20. However, in some respects it could be said the LG V30 is LG's true 2017 flagship, as it has  a superior spec to the LG G6 launched earlier in the year.

How's that? Well the LG G6 came to market during Q1 and arrived with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor - last year's lead CPU model. That happened because the logical upgrade for a flagship of this caliber would have been the Snapdragon 835, but Samsung nabbed all the stock for the Galaxy S8, meaning no-one else could use the chip in their phones until after April.

Consequently, it was difficult for many reviewers, us included, to recommend the LG G6 in spite of its many other admirable qualities; the simple fact was that it was using last year's tech in a brand new flagship.

But enough of the history lesson! The LG V30 is here now to restore the balance, and it's looking very handsome indeed, equipped as it is with an OLED display, an impressive new dual-camera array, and, of course, that Snapdragon 835 at long last.

A dual-camera on an LG phone isn't exactly new, but it would seem LG has really honed in on the hardware this time around in a bid to compete directly with all the other big dogs. The LG V30's dual-setup has one sensor with an f/1.6 aperture (wider than the Galaxy S8's f/1.7, even) and another wide-angle one with an f/1.9, which means both should allow a ton of light in for some excellent quality snaps. This is a considerable step up from the LG G6's f/2.4 setup.

The display, as mentioned, is OLED, specifically a 6in P-OLED edge-to-edge affair with an 18:9 aspect ratio that covers virtually the entire front fascia, as is the current trend; in fact 82% of the phone's face is display. Features include HDR10 support and Always-On functionality, just like Samsung. Unlike previous LG V-series phones this one doesn't have a secondary ticker display, but we can't say we'll miss it.

And the internal hardware? The Snapdragon 835 is backed up by 4GB of RAM and you have options for either 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage, with microSD card support for expansion if you need it.

The LG V30 also follows the LG G6 in having a sealed battery rather than a removable one like the LG G5 and LG V20, which is sure to annoy some die-hard fans of swappable batteries. The cell is rated at 3,300mAh, supports fast charging via Type-C USB, and supports wireless charging.

Another signature feature of the V-series is the MIL-STD rugged certification (surprising considering how it looks so refined on the outside), which has made a return here. Additionally, it now has even more added protection with IP68 water and dust resistance, something the V20 didn't have.

Other hardware specs include QuadDAC audio, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Acoustic Overload Point microphones, and Bang & Olafsen headphones (some of these are region dependent, however). Oh, and it's also compatible with the Google Daydream View VR headset.

The LG V30 will be available in silver or blue in the UK, however, LG is yet to announce pricing or release dates just yet. Naturally we'll keep you posted as the RRP is revealed and deals start emerging.