The highly anticipated iPhone X is finally up for preorder, and it's been almost as exciting as we expected. With the dual cameras, bezel-less display, and high-tech facial recognition, there's almost nothing on the iPhone X that won't be liked. But around the same time as the iPhone X's announcement, another phone was revealed, and almost everyone seems to have forgotten about it. We didn't.
The LG V30 was shown off shortly before the iPhone X showed up and stole the stage. While the hype might not be as strong, the V30 is perhaps the iPhone X's strongest competition. They're two phones rocking very close screen sizes and price tags, and though we still haven't got our hands on an iPhone X, we do have all of the necessary specs to make educated assumptions on how these devices will perform when thrown into a ring against one another.
The Specs
Take a look at the chart below to get a good idea of how these two industry-leading phones stack up against one another. But while you're reading, keep in mind that these are just specs, and a lot more goes into a phone's overall user experience than what appears on paper.
What the LG V30 Does Well
Some of the most prominent features in LG's latest flagship include a dedicated headphone DAC and amp combination, which brings loud, crisp, and authentic audio quality to your favorite pair of headphones. Considering this, we're fully expecting the V30 to usurp its predecessor as the best phone for audiophiles.
LG's IP68 water-resistance rating will allow you to go deeper underwater than the iPhone X's IP67 rating would permit. The dual camera setup on the LG V30 has some killer specs, too, including the first-ever sensor with an f/1.6 aperture in a smartphone, which should translate to superior low-light performance and better dynamic range. Another pair of wins for the V30 is the hybrid dual-sim/expandable storage slot and a screen with significantly higher resolution.
What the iPhone X Does Well
One of the major advantages for the iPhone X is that it's already running iOS 11, the latest operating system version available, while the LG V30 is currently one version behind Android Oreo. In general, Apple is much faster than LG when it comes to issuing OS updates and security patches, and we expect that trend to continue here.
The front-facing camera has a higher resolution than the one found on the V30 — this, coupled with Apple's TrueDepth 3D sensing technology, should give it the landslide win in that category. We've yet to see how Apple's fast charging compares to the Quick Charge 3.0 on the V30, but one more clear win is the stereo speaker on the iPhone X.
Conclusion
It's a very well-known fact — iOS and Android have a longstanding battle, but neither side is willing to give way. One thing to note is that LG puts a skin on top of Android before shipping out their phones. This skin gives LG phones a unique look and extra software features, which used to be pretty bloated, but was never despised like the skins some other OEMs put on their devices. I say "used to" because LG has toned down everything except for their theme and the LG-only Smart World app store, so performance doesn't really suffer like it does with TouchWiz.
The iPhone X, however, will come with iOS 11, which doesn't match LG's UX in terms of the sheer number of features but offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Since Apple has designed both the software and the hardware, the two work in harmony and typically offer a slightly smoother experience than LG's flavor of Android.
Overall, there's plenty of room for debate, and we'll know more when we can get our hands on both phones. But on paper, at least, the LG V30 appears to have more skin in the game, so we'll anxiously await some real-world testing to see if our assumptions and expectations are met.
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1 Comment
I may be one of the few regular consumers to own these 2 phones (my delivery on the X is Nov. 17). The V30 will be tough to beat. It has face recognition and it works really well. It's a bigger screen with beautiful display, much faster connectivity (especially on T-Mobile) and sound quality with headphones that is second to none. I love the look and feel as well. Not as flashy as a galaxy s8 but I find it more elegant with a lightweight but very solid build. I hate to put a case on it as it's so refined. I've been in the Smartphone market since Palm Treo 600 and Kyocera pre iPhone smartphones. The LG V30 is the best I've ever owned.
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