On August 31, LG has announced that it’s going to announce something new. It’s technically possible the company could just surprise everyone and announce a new tablet or something, but the safest bet is it’s going to be a new smartphone. A new flagship phone, too, and under the V-series banner. Rumor has it that it’s going to be called the V30, which wouldn’t be too surprising considering the V20’s launch last year.
The rumor mill has revealed some of the specs we can expect to see in the handset, and they shouldn’t come as too big a shock: A Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, a big, thin display with rounded corners (similar to what we saw in the G6 earlier this year), and a metal frame that will include a non-removable battery. It will more than likely also boast an OLED display, a distinct change in routine for LG, but a welcomed one by most onlookers, probably.
The handset is also supposedly going to drop the secondary screen, too.
The V-series has made a name for itself, in part, for being high-end devices, but, perhaps even more than that, because the devices have had that secondary display, which has served its purpose better in the 2016 model than it did in the 2015 option. But if the V20 showed us anything, it was that LG could improve upon the things some folks called a misstep in a previous device, and capitalize on it. The V20 was a good smartphone, certainly worth the dollars anyone forked over for it, even if it didn’t pick up all the admiration of other handsets of that year.
But if the rumors are true, and LG is planning on ditching that specific feature, I can’t help but wonder why. Other than the switch to an OLED panel for the main screen, which is a big change from all of LG’s previous major handsets, I can’t help but wonder why they’d decide to remove one of the things that helps that device stand out in a crowded smartphone market.
The argument might be that the secondary display just wasn’t a feature that people wanted, and maybe LG’s interpretation of lack of adoption of the device is that feature not pulling its weight to attract new buyers. Which is probably accurate. I can’t think of anyone I know, personally, that wants a phone with a secondary display. Then again, maybe you do, and maybe some of you even are the people who want a phone like that, which means you’re probably unhappy with the rumors regarding the Life’s Good crew’s upcoming handset.
While I’m scratching my head at this particular decision, I have to admit that it has me kind of excited to see what LG does, too. I hope the company isn’t just going to launch a slightly bigger version of the G6 and call it a V30, because that would be strange. And I can’t help but think there wouldn’t be a flood of people crashing down doors to get it, either. Even if it does have a bigger, more beautiful OLED panel.
So LG officially has me on the fence with this one. Are we going to see the company shake things up in a new way with the V30? Or are we going to see a basic follow up to a flagship smartphone they launched earlier this year, with one key difference? What do you think? Let me know!
