LG at MWC 2018: Did anyone even think for three seconds? // Update 27.02.2018: LG V30S ThinQ available to order
26.2.2018
Translation: machine translated
Video: Stephanie Tresch
The LG V30S ThinQ is confusing. Not because it is a bad device, but because it is the device that fans have been waiting for. Two months after the inferior version of the V30 was launched. What's the point?
I've been an avowed LG fan since I tested the V20. The V30 is still good, but it didn't knock my socks off. Neither in the normal version nor in the imported Plus version. Nevertheless, the V30+ is my trade fair phone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Dual SIM, extremely light, extremely good camera, extremely good battery life. Everything I need.
And then LG goes and makes such rubbish.
What's the point?
When I look at the LG V30S ThinQ, I realise that this might be the phone I would have liked to have had when I first had a package with the V30 logo on my desk in Zurich.
The new old one with the awkward name
The LG V30S ThinQ has a rather awkward name and will probably go down in the annals of smartphone history as the V30S. One of the reasons for this is probably because some buyers now feel like they've been taken for a ride. A few months ago, they paid a lot of money only for the manufacturer to later come up with an almost identical phone that offers some really strong advantages.
- 256 GB of internal memory instead of 64 or 128 GB
- 6 GB RAM instead of 4 GB
- The better camera software
I'm particularly annoyed by the latter. LG may not have the best camera on the market, but it is extremely good at doing things that other cameras can't do very well or at all. The wide-angle shots in particular are always eye-catching.
Now LG has gone and improved the software behind it. With artificial intelligence, the camera can recognise what is happening in front of its lenses and adapts the settings accordingly. In other words, if you have a plate of pasta in front of you, the camera switches to a kind of food porn mode. If you have a person in the picture, the camera recognises this and follows them, focusing on where they are.
These are features that I would have loved to have in my V30. Intelligent cameras are not exactly something outstanding or new. Practically every flagship of the season offers something comparable - most notably the Huawei Mate 10 Pro - but hey, we're talking about LG's V-series here. This is the smartphone series for early adopters, tinkerers and hobbyists.
Does it work any more?
Since I saw the LG V30S ThinQ at MWC, I've been a little sour about the V30+ in my trouser pocket. Sure, it performs well, but I've seen what the device could have been. What it should have been for it to have been truly impressive.
Who thought that was a good idea?
Okay, assuming the smart camera wasn't ready at the launch of the V30 and V30+, would really need the 6GB and couldn't do without the 256GB of storage either. Assuming the QLens camera needs the whole package. Why not make a new phone out of it? Bring the LG V40 in the summer. Not two months after LG fans have upgraded to the V30. Nobody will go along with it. Especially not because the LG V30S ThinQ doesn't offer enough to justify an early upgrade.
LG seems to have recognised this, however, and the QLens camera is also being rolled out to older devices. At least that at least.
But that raises the question again: If the smart camera also runs on the other V30 models, why the hell is a new version of a phone being launched? Why not wait and then bring out the V40 and impress there? Now this is so the slightly updated version of the part that somehow wasn't that awesome.
How many decision-makers made the wrong decision here? And then they went one better by not launching the LG V30S ThinQ in Europe, according to all indications at the LG stand at the MWC. So why is it being presented in Europe? "Here's something for you to look at, but you can't buy it anyway"?
Honestly, think about it before you do something, dear LG. I really like your phones, but that was really a lot of bollocks.
So, that's it. I'll see if the QLens upgrade has gone in yet. I very much doubt it, because otherwise I have no reason to upgrade to the V30S ThinQ. I haven't even with QLens on the device, but hey, some business strategist is probably delighted that his completely unrealistic nonsense plan has actually become reality, contrary to common sense.
I'm waiting for the V40, if it ever comes out.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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