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LG V30S ThinQ review: A solid but pointless phone
It had its fair share of flaws, but last year's LG V30 might have been the finest phone the company had made to date. Rather than wait the usual year for an official sequel, though, LG decided to spice things up a bit by unveiling a tweaked version of the phone at Mobile World Congress. Interestingly, the AI-fueled camera features that make the new V30S ThinQ special will also wind up on the original, rendering most arguments for buying this updated model moot. Despite being a perfectly solid smartphone with some notable improvements over the original, I can't help but think the V30S ThinQ is ultimately pointless. Oh, and one more thing before we dive in: This isn't a typical review. We received this preproduction V30S ThinQ during the tail end of MWC, and it's running a Korea-specific build of Android 8.0 Oreo. It's been enough to get a feel for what the V30S experience is all about, but we'll update this story with firmer conclusions when a retail-ready US model becomes available. Actually, I should say "if" a US model becomes available: The phone is already available for a hefty sum in its native South Korea, but with the G7's global launch coming quickly, it's possible we won't see the V30S in the US at all.
Testing LG V30S ThinQ's hit-or-miss camera tricks
The LG V30S ThinQ isn't a completely new phone, but there are enough new goodies to warrant taking another look at its camera, ahead of a deeper dive on the phone in its entirety. We know it has a fantastic range of features for mobile videographers and vloggers -- arguably the new 256GB storage option is aimed at these users. But how about these newly introduced camera features? Are they worth having? Is the AI cam better than my own judgement? And what about Bright Mode? Can algorithms save blurry night shots? We went out on an (inadvertently) wet and chilly Barcelona walking tour one evening to test these new camera tricks. Are they' enough to dethrone the likes of the Pixel 2, or at least reassess the V30 series when it comes to low-light photography?
LG’s V30S ThinQ is the AI-fueled phone the V30 should’ve been
In the midst of a tricky fiscal year, LG decided to run with a new strategy: cook up interim smartphones to sell between its major flagship releases. The plan was based in part on the surprising success of phones like the X cam, and since the company needed to try something different, it pressed on with its experiment. And lo, the LG V30S ThinQ was born.
