[LG V30 Questions & Answers] ChazzMatt:
Somebody asked me a question in a PM which is worth discussing. My answer is easy -- LG V30. But my priorities may differ from others, so the answer may be different for you.

LG V30 or 2018 LG G7?

I would choose the LG V30.

FIRST, it has all the specs (except for front facing stereo speakers) I desire in a phone.

OK, maybe it could have more RAM, maybe an LED notification light, maybe a slightly larger battery (even though this one is getting good reviews). But the LG V30 hits most of the boxes I wanted:

Qi wireless charging (which I have now),

1440p OLED display (which I have now),

at least 64GB internal memory (which I have now),

headset jack (which I have now) +

Snapdragon 835 (which is a next gen

gigabit LTE chipset

) and

high IP rating (which is requisite now for 2017 top-tier smartphones). Those that don't have that -- cough -- Essential, OnePlus are pretenders.

Even though I have a 2014 Moto XT1225, thanks to the stellar specs it had, it really kept pace with phones through 2015 and 2016. (Snapdragon 805, 3GB RAM, 64GB internal memory, 3900 mAh battery, 1440p AMOLED display, Qi wireless charging, 21MP rear camera, 3.5mm headset jack).

Sure, each year brought iterative CPU updates, but only with the 2017 phones was there a feeling I needed to update. A lot of it was cumulative: stuff like fingerprint sensors, more RAM, and high IP ratings which became common (Motorola, Samsung, LG, Pixel, even iPhone). But suddenly with Snapdragon 835 was there a real "next gen" difference not only in computing speed but also LTE download speeds.

But I didn't want to give up what I already had. Qi wireless charging was my line in the sand. Laugh at that, but it's a real convenience for me and my wife.

Point is, the LG V30 is the first phone that makes me want it as bad as the when I bought three of the 2014 Moto XT1225 phones. (I bought two for me and my wife and later bought a 3rd for emergency backup purposes.)

SECOND, why not the LG G7? Won't it be better than the LG V30?

1) Tell me how it will be better?

Front facing stereo speakers would pique my interest. Yes, more RAM would be nice.

Yes, it will probably have Snapdragon 845, but that's just an iterative update -- much like the Snapdragon 820/821. The Snapdragon 835 was the "next gen" chipset (in manufacturing process, CPU speed and LTE speed). 845 will be a slight improvement, but not earth shattering.

2) But, did you see how LG screwed up the release of the LG G6?

I don't trust them to do any better with the LG G7. They will have a nice phone "on paper" but somehow manage to mess it up.

The real problem with the LG G6 was the STUPID regionalized specs scheme.

Want more than 32GB internal storage? Only some of the Asian variants had that.

Want Quad DAC? Out of luck if you live in Europe or U.S.

Want Qi wireless charging? Better move to the U.S.!

WHY? I want more storage, better audio AND Qi wireless -- but there was no LG G6 with ALL the specs. The

U.S. unlocked and European unlocked did also qualify for official bootloader unlock, but those were limited to 32GB models only.

And the U.S. was the only LG G6 sold world-wide that had Qi wireless. Yes, they all have microSD card expansion -- but only the Asian models had 64GB internal memory + microSD card and then even fewer Asian models had Quad DAC. NONE of the the "better" LG G6 was on the bootloader unlock list, and NONE had "all" the specs.

LG had a winning phone on paper, but they cut that paper up and shipped it to various parts of the world. :rolleyes: You could not tape it all back together to get the FANTASTIC phone that could have competed with the Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+. (Plus, it used "last year's Snapdragon 821.)

Only with the LG G6 Plus (which was NOT bigger, just had more specs) -- released MONTHS later as a follow-up to the LG G6 -- did LG include quad DAC and more storage for ALL countries where it was sold. It was the LG G6 they should have sold in the first place! The mid-year LG G6 Plus (South Korean edition) was the phone LG should have released at the BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.

BUT even then,

only the South Korea LG G6 Plus also had Qi wireless charging

-- but NOT the European LG G6 Plus or Taiwan variant or others. WHY? (Apparently the LG G6 Plus was not released in U.S. markets officially.) And the super-duper South Korea LG G6 Plus was not on the official bootloader unlock list.

NONE of the LG G6 Plus

are on the bootloader unlock list.

Also by this time (mid year 2017) when the LG G6 Plus was released, there was no excuse not to have Snapdragon 835. The South Korea LG G6 Plus (with Qi wireless charging, quad DAC, 64GB memory) was the phone LG should have released back in the beginning to the ENTIRE WORLD. At that point (early 2017, with the LG G6) they were beating Samsung to market and had to go with last year's Snapdragon 821. Even with "last year's" Snapdragon (which the Pixel XL also has), at the point in time (early 2017) the LG G6 Plus would have been a winner.

Instead they released parts of the phone to various parts of the world as various crippled flavors of LG G6, then later released the LG G6 Plus -- which not only made LG G6 buyers feel STUPID (they should have waited for the BETTER phone)... but then LG then still didn't fix the "last year" Snapdragon issue. Who is going to pay NEW prices for a Snapdragon 821 phone in mid-2017, MONTHS after other phones with Snapdragon 835 is on the market?

The mid-2017 LG G6 Plus should have had Snapdragon 835, and Qi wireless for all countries, as well as bootloader unlock at least for U.S. and Europe (like the LG G6). Maybe LG felt that would step on the release of the LG V30, but so what? It would have made amends for their very idiotic "regionalization" specs scheme for the LG G6 at the beginning of the year. Also, the LG V30 has AMOLED with a bigger display, so they would not have been identical phones.

OK, rant over about the LG G6 -- but LG has said over and over that now with the "V" series, the "G" series is no longer their premier phone. And how they treated the G6 really proved that point. I'm afraid they will do the same with the G7, and you would say, "I should have gotten the LG V30".

I think LG's attitude is wrong. I think they should release TWO top tier flagship phones per year, like Samsung does.

THIRD, bootloader unlock and root.

For the LG G6, LG did not release the "open market" variants (which are eligible for bootloader unlock) until several weeks later, and only placed them on bootloader unlock list in June 2017. June 30, for the LG G6 US997, practically July 1!

Already I'm waiting until DECEMBER for the LG V30 US998, and hoping it will be placed on the bootloader unlock list by the end of the year. But could be even January 2018.

For those who don't care about root and buy from carrier stores, this third point may not matter. You'll have your LG G7 by March 2018. For those who care about specs, you can always order from South Korea -- but you'll pay full price. Unless LG messes up again and waits to release the "super duper" spec "LG G7 Plus" in mid-2018.... even the one from South Korea -- like they did with the LG G6 Plus.

CONCLUSION

So, even though the G7 will have some slight improvements, I'm afraid LG will mess it up with stupid "regionalized" specs scheme again. Even if they don't, still the version that I want (open market) would probably not be available until mid-year.