[LG V30 Guides, News, & Discussion] CharlzO_2000:
Well, I started this about eight different times, and decided I'd finally actually write down my thoughts and hit send.

I've had the phone for a week now, upgraded on Friday from my rooted (stock ROM) V20, on Verizon. My main reason for staying on the V20 was to keep root for my hotspot as I was one of the lucky ones with the old unlimited plan (the one that VZW kept jacking the prices up on). Well after getting my girl an iPhone X, and knowing I was going to need to feed that thing a lot more data than a 2GB plan, I bit the bullet and changed to the "new" unlimited (ugh, I know). And then after having my V20 start exhibiting some random power off's in the middle of the day at 50+%, I decided to see what was out there. I compared the V30 to the S8+, Note 8, and Pixel 2XL.

The Pixel, while a great device, lost out with the lack of an SD card, headphone jack and wireless charging. I missed using the wireless charging on my old LG G2, and having a nice plump SD card already, seemed a waste to drop that. Yes I can use a dongle to plug in headphones for listening at my desk at work, but I lose sh*t left and right enough as it is. The Note 8 is amazing, but just a touch larger than I wanted to hold full time. I wouldn't use the pen, and comparing it to the S8+, you lose a tiny bit of screen density for... largeness. And that wouldn't have been noticeable anyway, but I would need something I could hold comfortably. Over to the S8+, then. Nice phone, great build quality, and I've never had an issue with Samsung phones before. Before my V20, I had an S6 Edge, and that's still on my plan as a backup phone. Which is actually one of the reasons why I decided against the S8+ - it looks too familiar now. Other than a little length and the lack of a physical home button, it just reminds me of my Edge. That's not to say it's a bad thing, but the design of the V30 was a refreshing change from anything else. I knew I'd lose selfie quality (the horror!), but I figured how bad could it be? Though, a little interesting that the S8 having been out so much longer than the V30, and they are almost identical in spec. So was Samsung that far ahead back then? Or are we just slow on the take? Well whatever. So I picked up the V30.

First, yes, the selfie camera is lackluster. In good light, and if you can hold your hand steady enough, it's ok. It won't win awards. There's the Google Camera Mod floating around that people enjoy. A little on that- it's fine for what it is, and adds a few neat features. And I haven't found a mode that will let you record higher than 1080 video, either. Not that I'm making movies but I will be using it for video so the higher resolution on the stock cam is preferred. I took a pair of pictures on the LG camera on Auto, and the Google camera on default settings, and they both look close enough to not make a difference. I did notice that the selfie camera seems to be better in the actual camera apps but inside other apps (Snapchat, IG, ect), they seem to lose quality. Or rather, did. Randomly today, it seems to be a little better, but who knows. For all I know, maybe I had a tiny smudge on the front camera the whole time? But I'm ok with it now. HOWEVER: Holy crap the rear camera glass scratches easily. I bought the phone, and refused to spend 50 dollars on the limited cases at the store. I ordered one Saturday, it got here today. And in five days, it's noticeable to look at, scratches on the camera glass. That's from a pocket with no other items, and from sitting on my desk at work. Not playing hockey with my phone. Recommendation: Get a freaking case ASAFP if for nothing else than to protect your back camera. Spend 5 bucks on Amazon for a cheap pos if you have to, but get something on it. It isn't bad enough to effect the camera in any way that is noticeable, but man it's going to bug me now, just knowing.

The home buttons are a pain in the a$$. I mean, they work fine, but the showing/hiding tricks take some getting used to. I've found some apps are a lot less receptive to working with it. Snapchat (yeah, I know) is notorious for it. You send someone a message, and then try to swipe up from the bottom to bring up the buttons to go home, and it does - while swiping all over the keyboard again, so then you have unwanted characters coming up, people are waiting for whatever you're "typing" to send, etc. So you have to go into the settings and disable that for certain apps. Side note on that: Apps that you've changed that for, you have to go BACK and change the setting for that app any time it's updated. So if you update the app, you have to go back and turn off the home button hiding for that app again, it seems to reset every time.

This isn't so much on the phone, but the Tempered Glass protector from Verizon is garbage. All $35 worth of it. Leaves a massive air spot under most of the phone, so tapping on the phone results in a lot of audible clicking sound and less precise sensitivity. Just throwing that out there. I normally wouldn't have, and I'll be taking this off if I can find a case I like better. The one I got, is nice and slim, but doesn't protrude tall enough to protect the screen if set face down. This is 6 dollar insurance for the interim.

The fingerprint sensor so far is snappy as can be. Even to a point that when I just want to light the screen up to check a notification (had Always On disabled), and it would actually unlock just trying to tap the power button half the time. Not a bad thing, just surprising. Volume buttons feel great, as does the rest of the phone. It might lack the feel of the Samsungs, but it does feel decent. Slippery as hell though, another reason to keep a case on if you're even remotely clumsy. The screen itself is wonderful to look at, and I think it's only a matter of time and tweaks as apps catch up to full Nougat and extended ratios and things, between apps and phones where things look better.

Obviously there are still a lot of things I haven't gone through in the settings to find and personalize, but so far, I'm loving the upgrade. Feels good in the hand, more comfortable being a little smaller than the V20 was. Battery life so far has been good, but I do watch a lot of videos and listen to alot of music at work, so I tend to burn through it quick. The quick charge is a godsend coming back up. Other than the frail camera glass on the back (and really that seems to be a common complaint with a lot of phones) and the weaker than expected front camera, I'm glad I picked it. It stands out design-wise, and it's right up there in spec with everything else out there. Not massive to hold, quick and snappy, and with your launcher of choice, worth the investment so far.