At Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona this weekend, LG will be unveiling the LG V30S ThinQ. We got a peek at the release a bit early — here is everything we know, minus pricing and release details.
As the name implies, the new device does not look significantly different than the LG V30 it succeeds. Instead, the company is making internal hardware upgrades and emphasizing artificial intelligence features named Vision AI and Voice AI.
This year, LG is making a point to shun the smartphone industry’s annual release cycles, retaining existing models for longer. Indeed, its next flagship that will succeed the LG G6, codenamed Judy, is not being unveiled at MWC. The company is focusing instead on variant models with the same look and feel, upgrading only a handful of aspects. The V30S ThinQ is the first instance of this strategy.
"The S is for Surprise!" pic.twitter.com/E0KgcHUE8u
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 24, 2018
Hardware changes
When LG unveiled the V30, the company called it “the lightest among smartphones in the 6-inch and over category.” LG is meanwhile saying the V30S ThinQ is “still the thinnest and lightest among smartphones with displays of 6 inches or more.”
Fans will be happy to hear that RAM has been upgraded from 4GB to 6GB. There are still two storage variants, and both have been doubled: 128GB for the V30S ThinQ and 256GB for the V30S+ ThinQ. And yes, there’s still a microSD slot.
Here are the phone’s official specs:
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon
835 Mobile Platform - Display: 6.0-inch 18:9 QuadHD+ OLED FullVision Display (2880 x 1440 / 538ppi)
- Memory: 6GB RAM, 128GB ROM (256GB ROM for V30S+ ThinQ), microSD (up to 2TB)
- Rear cameras: 16MP Standard Angle (F1.6 / 71°) / 13MP Wide Angle (F1.9 / 120°)
- Front camera: 5MP Wide Angle (F2.2 / 90°)
- AI: AI CAM, QVoice, QLens, Bright Mode, AI Haptic, Google Assistant
- Battery: 3300mAh
- Operating System: Android 8.0 Oreo
- Size: 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm
- Weight: 158g
- Network: LTE-A 4 Band CA
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 5.0 BLE / NFC / USB Type-C 2.0 (3.1 compatible)
- Colors: New Moroccan Blue (V30S ThinQ) or New Platinum Gray (V30S+ ThinQ)
- Other: 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC, HDR10, Google Daydream, and UX 6.0+
Just like its predecessor, the phone has IP68 certification (water- and dust-resistant), is MIL-STD 810G compliant, and features voice recognition, face recognition, and a fingerprint sensor. Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Technology and wireless charging are also both included.
Vision AI and Voice AI
ThinQ is LG’s brand for home appliances, consumer electronics, and services that feature artificial intelligence. The V30S ThinQ is LG’s first ThinQ mobile device, which will set the bar for its AI efforts in smartphones. In a nutshell, Vision AI means a smarter camera and Voice AI means more spoken commands.
Vision AI can be broken down into three camera features — AI CAM, QLens, and Bright Mode:
- AI CAM analyzes subjects in the frame and recommends a shooting mode out of eight categories: portrait, food, pet, landscape, city, flower, sunrise, and sunset. “Each mode enhances the characteristics of the subject taking into account factors such as the viewing angle, color, reflections, lighting, and saturation level.”
- QLens uses image recognition to scan QR codes and get shopping information or to describe landmarks in the scene. “Perform an image search with QLens to see matching or similar images of food, fashion, and celebrities or detailed information of landmarks such as buildings and statues.”
- Bright Mode is meant to help with low light photography: “Instead of measuring only ambient light like most smartphone cameras, this AI feature uses algorithms to brighten images by a factor of two for better looking photos without the noise.”
Voice AI meanwhile consists of a tool called QVoice that includes over 50 functions (there are 32 LG-exclusive commands). It works in conjunction with Google Assistant to access popular smartphone options without having to tap through multiple menus. LG has been toying with augmenting Google Assistant for a while now, and Voice AI on the V30S ThinQ is merely the latest evolution.
While the V30S ThinQ ships with these “AI features,” LG is promising to bring (some of) them to the LG G6 and LG V30 via over-the-air updates. Additional LG smartphones could also get future AI upgrades, but LG isn’t committing to any other models just yet.
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