[LG V30 Guides, News, & Discussion] ChazzMatt:
I'll be the first to admit where LG fails, but I'll also brag on their successes.

Back in 2010, before Samsung became the juggernaut it did, LG and Samsung were more like competitive step-brothers from Korea. LG phones were innovative, excellent and as good as or BETTER than Samsung.

My first Android (2010) was an LG Optimus M.

Then, in 2011, an LG Esteem (clone of the Verizon LG Revolution) but for regional carrier.

After that I in 2012 I went to gen3 Galaxy Nexus (Samsung + Google) yet after that was 2013 gen5 LG Nexus 5 (LG + Google).

There was a reason Google used LG for the Nexus 5 even though they owned Motorola at the time -- LG was innovating the heck out of phones. They had used LG for the Nexus 4, also.

After that in 2014, I went to the Moto Quark -- which was basically the UNofficial 5.2" Moto Nexus 6. (the number was ALWAYS the gen number, NOT the screen size). Google had 5.2" and 6" prototypes (as late as mid-August 2014) -- and chose the 6" version for Nexus 6. I think that was a mistake as most people didn't want 6" display phones on 2014. It was even bigger than Samsung Note. Google should have released BOTH or just the smaller one.

Motorola repurposed the 5.2" to be the Quark (Droid Turbo XT1254/Moto Turbo XT1225/Moto Maxx XT1225, XT1250). That's been my daily driver for 3 years.

But I still kept track of LG...

2012 LG Optimus G (aka G1) -- LG Nexus 4 was basically clone of this phone

2013 LG G2 (first 1080p HD display) -- LG Nexus 5 based on this phone.

2014 LG G3 (1440p, laser auto focus camera)

I did own some G2 phones as "backup" phones and worked on lots of G2 and G3 phones for friends.

However, 2015 LG G4 was just iterative update to the LG G3. (I won a 2015 LG G4 from AT&T, but sold it to buy my 3rd Moto XT1225.) This was when LG quality problems really hit hard, with bad motherboard connections. This was also the year LG introduced the V10 -- which in hindsight was a mistake.

Hear me out on this. Yes, Samsung has two flagship models per year, but for LG's iteration of the "two flagships per year" their V-series (until the V30) was this quirky, TOO BIG mess. The G series was the more "mainstream" model. In the same way, I've NEVER desired a large Samsung Note phone. But by introducing the "new kid on the block", the V-series, LG mentally demoted the G series, and it showed. Samsung never did that to the Galaxy S series.

Starting with the 2015 LG G4 (because they were already working on the V10), they didn't want to make the G4 "too good". It showed. It's basically the G3, again.

With the 2016 G5, they made the screen SMALLER. Who does that? They also made those stupid mods nobody wanted. A mod is admission you are leaving SOMETHING out of the phone that would make it better. Nobody wants to carry that crap around.

So, they lost two years there, RUINING the G series reputation.

And while the 2016 V20 is supposedly an excellent spec phone, I never wanted to buy it. It looks ugly with that stupid second display and is just too large. :rolleyes:

Here's the V20 vs the V30. The V30 is better in every way.

Only with the 2017 LG G6 did LG start get back on track, with innovative designs. But they STILL screwed up with the mentality "We can't make it too good. It's only the G." So, they regionalizedthe specs -- because a FULL fledged G6 WITH ALL THE SPECS, would be BETTER than the stupid V20 they had just released... [emoji14] You couldn't buy a G6 with all the specs listed. That was truly pure idiotic marketing strategy.

Then, the 128 G6+ (with all the specs) LG released in JULY 2017 was the "G6" they should have released in early 2017. But it was "too little, too late". They released a flagship style phone in JULY 2017 with Snapdragon 821 -- when half a dozen competing OEMs had already released next-gen Snapdragon 835 models? I can't figure out if LG is just truly that stupid, or they think their customers are. :rolleyes: I do understand, in a way -- if they had thrown in a Snapdragon 835 to the G6+, then it would be TOO much like the upcoming V30/V30+. The problem is LG is the one who backed themselves into that corner in the first place -- with the laughable regionalization of specs scheme in the first place. There would have been NO NEED for an "all spec" G6+ if they had simply released the BEST G6 in early 2017.

Then the latter 2017 V30+ was an evolved G6+ -- just made better. They also seem to have solved their motherboard/welding issues, etc. No hardware overheating/boot loops with V30, right? Plus, with the V30, LG DOWNSIZED the phone (compared to the V20), but kept the display larger. It's a more "mainstream" sized phone.

Also, Google has gone back to LG yet again -- for the 2017 Pixel 2 XL, which has gotten good reviews.

So, anyone wants to criticize LG for the 2014 - 2016 years and all that mess (LG G4, V10, G5, even V20), I'll be glad to pile on. ;) You can even throw in the idiotic 2017 LG G6 regionalization and the mid-year G6+ (but still with Snapdragon 821) debacle.

But the V30/V30+ is an example of exceptional design and hardware specs.

Yeah, the selfie camera should be better.

Yeah, for me stereo speakers would be better.

Maybe 6GB RAM.

Maybe some kind of portrait mode on the rear camera in addition to the wide angle lens.

But overall, it's an "A". I think it's either the best phone of the year, or tied for best phone of the year (with the Note 8, which is still too big for me.)