The LG G6 was LG’s first flagship of 2017, and we were big fans (although it was outshone, we ruled, by the Samsung Galaxy S8). But smartphones today are expendable, and the furore dies down quickly, hence LG’s announcement that they’ll be unveiling their second flagship of 2017 – the LG V30 – today, 31 August.
We’ve rounded up all the information you need to know about the imminent arrival of the LG V40, including specs, features and price. Read on to find out about LG’s second flagship of the year, the LG V30.
LG V30 UK release date
LG has now confirmed that the LG V40 will be announced on 31 August ahead of the 2017 IFA technology trade show in Berlin. The company sent out save-the-dates for the 31 August – press day for IFA 2017 – which were emblazoned with a luminous, not to mention portentous, letter ‘V’.
In terms of actual release date, things are a little hazier. Back in 2010, LG released the LG V10, which saw a September announcement and an October release date. The V10’s successor, the LG V20, was announced in September, and was launched by the end of the month, on 29 September.
Given that the LG V30 will be unveiled before August is officially up, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it debut in late or possible even mid-September. Here’s hoping…
LG V30 design
Interestingly – and dubiously – rumours have circulated that the LG V30 might sport a slide-out display, in a nod to the smartphones of yore. Reputable smartphone leaker Evan Blass released this concept mockup of “Project Joan” otherwise known as the LG V30.
Blass flagged up his reservations about the likelihood of the mockup coming to fruition, stating that it was “not clear if the project is still headed in this direction”.
A more recent leak didn’t even nod to the slide-out display, instead debuting a sleek, black handset sporting a curved-edge screen.
Steve H (otherwise known as @OnLeaks) followed this up with a correspondingly pared-down design mock-up which he leaked on Twitter.
We can make an educated guess on the LG V30’s design by comparing the hypothetical model to two of its recent predecessors: the LG V20 and the LG G6. The former of the two was a lightweight aluminium handset with tiny bezels, whereas the LG G6 was a premium handset sporting a nearly all-screen front and a dual-rear camera system. We’d expect the LG V30 to comprise the best elements of these two handsets, with a premium, almost bezel-less screen, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and dual-rear-camera setup.
LG V30 features and specs
Buckle up, because Google’s already announced that LG’s next flagship is going to be Daydream-ready, meaning it’ll sport the former’s virtual-reality (VR) platform. The prerequisites for smartphones housing Google’s Daydream VR are threefold: you’ll need a powerful phone, a speedy processor and a high-density display. In this light, news that the LG V10 will be supporting Google’s Daydream also fills us in on a slew of other (aforementioned) features.
In terms of operating system, LG V30’s predecessor, the LG V20, was the first handset to run Android 7 Nougat – at the time Google’s latest operating system. In this light we can predict that the LG V30 will run Android O, expected to launch later this summer. What with the news about the LG V30 supporting Daydream, it would make sense for Google’s collaboration with LG to extend to Android O too.
In terms of chipset, it’s likely to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835, as seen on (or rather, in) high-spec, high-end competitors such as the Samsung Galaxy S8, HTC U11 and the Sony Xperia XZ. The LG G6 was released too early in 2017 to sport the Snapdragon 835, leaving it saddled with the Snapdragon 821. The latter operates at speeds 27% faster than that of its predecessor, which looks promising for the LG V30’s performance.