(image: LG Electronics)
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — LG Electronics Co. said Wednesday that it will begin sales of its latest high-end smartphone, the V30, this week in South Korea, to compete with the Galaxy S8 series and the Galaxy Note 8 by Samsung Electronics Co., and other rival models.
Customers who made preorders through the country’s mobile phone operators will get the new smartphone starting Thursday, according to LG.
The company set the price tag of the base 64 gigabyte V30 at 949,300 won (US$841) and the 128 gigabyte version at 998,800 won.
LG Electronics said it will expand the V30 sales to countries in Europe and the United States next month.
The LG V30 is significant for LG Electronics as its mobile business has been posting operating losses for nine consecutive quarters as of the April-June period. LG Electronics expects the device to help it improve its mobile unit’s performance.
The tech giant focused on enhancing the visual- and audio-related features over testing new platforms or services.
One of the most significant developments of the LG V30 is the dual-lens rear camera with one of the lenses adopting an aperture of F1.6. This represents the fastest lens setup among the flagship smartphones currently being sold in the market.
LG Electronics said the rear camera also comes with what it calls a Crystal Clear Lens for the first time in the industry, claiming the lens permits users to capture more details compared with other plastic-based lenses.
The resolutions for the back-facing wide-angle and general cameras stand at 13 megapixels and 16 megapixels, respectively. The camera also supports Electronic Image Stabilization and Optical Image Stabilization. The front lens has a 5-megapixel resolution.
LG said the 120-degree field of view provides a wide-angle, clear photo experience without distortion in the corners.
LG claims that its new handset boasts improved sound-related features, helping users optimize their sound simply by touching displays and adjusting the tone depending on the genre.
Through the Sound Preset, users can optimize tone into four categories, namely balanced, clear, live and low-pitched. The Digital Filter also allows users to choose echo in three categories: short, slow and sharp, it added.
LG Electronics said the V30 will become the first smartphone to support the Master Quality Authenticated format, a technology for high-quality streaming. The device will also come with an earphone designed by B&O Play.
The V30, in line with the latest industry trends, reduced the bezel by 20 percent and 50 percent at the top and bottom, providing users with a wider screen. The display ratio stands at 18:9. The OLED Full Vision display will help users enjoy better virtual reality content, it added.
The device is also the first to adopt the Korean-language edition of Google Assistant. Its predecessor, the V20, only had the English version.
For South Korean users, the device comes loaded with the mobile payment system LG Pay, which connects to all local credit cards.
As with the V20, the new device earned the “MIL-STD 801G” certificate issued by Maryland Electrical Testing by meeting tough security requirements approved by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The LG V30 is rated IP68, certifying that it is both water and dust resistant.
(Yonhap)
