The V30 rumoured battery: Disappointment or a non issue?

[flyingkytez]

You can't tell the difference between those devices? There's a HUGE variety there - you have to look past the ugly glass bodies though.

Not really. U11 and S8 have dual pixel shooters. Both are glass. Both are great performers. At this point, I wouldn't really care anymore because they're all good and pretty similar.

 

[Guyinbox]

I don't know many that actually liked Touch Wiz. Samsung has included much more in their new phones like Bixby. I know the S8 is very speedy but only time will tell. I've used a S6 not too long ago and it was lagging like crazy, still had 3GB of RAM.

Touchwiz has some useful features, but optimization has always been a problem. My s7e had animations turned to .5 to try and make it feel faster, but it's nowhere near as smooth as the v20. I really miss Samsung's theme store for their phones though lol.

The thing i like about LG is at least they're integrating some stock Android features. I love that i can use the "ok Google" assistant command with the screen off on my v20, and they talked up the Google assistant integration when the g6 was released. I believe the v20 was the first non pixel phone to run nougat as well.

Samsung is going the opposite direction. They're also including their own half baked assistant (complete with it's own button) on their devices now. From what i can remember on the s7, at least they're ditching some of its services nobody ever seemed to use like Samsung milk, but I'd rather have a device be a little closer to stock than one that's trying for it's own ecosystem outside of Google's.

 

[monsieurms]

Some reviews say that 2700 mAh and a Snapdragon 835 can still be a one day use phone. 3200 is OK for the V30.

But that posits constantly running batteries all the way down to get that much time on one. Short lifespan. Hope they have removable batteries.

Lg doesn't have to worry about the masses in shedding features. They don't have enough market share to do so. However, congrats to them for alienating customers that they do have. So, the question becomes: how do these changes HELP increase market share? If they decrease it, that's going to be a problem.

 

[pankaj981]

It has gotten better. But I'm seeing mostly S6 and some S7 lagging sometimes, don't know if that's normal. Too early to tell about the S8, it does have a crap load more software like Bixby. Samsung phones are notorious for slowing down after OS updates. I'm seeing people asking how to downgrade their phones on forums because of the change in speed.

I am not sure if having an Exynos vs Snapdragon variant mattered as my Exynos S7E stuttered sometimes but never lagged. It did receive software updates every month and every update improved performance, it might be cleaning orphaned processes during the update..not sure.

I don't know many that actually liked Touch Wiz. Samsung has included much more in their new phones like Bixby. I know the S8 is very speedy but only time will tell. I've used a S6 not too long ago and it was lagging like crazy, still had 3GB of RAM.

I didn't like the old TouchWiz either...especially the launcher. I used Google Now launcher and eventually switched to Nova and have been using it ever since. Except the launcher, the phone always felt snappy and the experience on the S8 Plus is only better. I don't use Bixby but Google Assistant and it works well.

 

[flyingkytez]

I definitely have no interest in any buttons on the front. That's a feature that died in 2011 and it took until 2017 for Samsung to catch up to the times. LG was early to get onto the trend of getting rid of those archaic blemishes on the faces of our devices. Why on earth would anyone want to bring that nonsense back? It sucked before, it would still suck now.

Either add buttons or speakers or chop those bezels off. HTC/Pixel is still far behind with bezelless displays. People said the Pixel looked like a phone from 2014. At least the U11 has a front FPS, made use of that empty space.

BTW the Pixel 2 has front facing dual speakers now after the criticism. Bezels are still huge, and ironically headphone jack is gone.

 

[Aquila]

Either add buttons or speakers or chop those bezels off. HTC/Pixel is still far behind with bezelless displays. People said the Pixel looked like a phone from 2014.

BTW the Pixel 2 has front facing dual speakers now after the criticism. Bezels are still huge, and ironically headphone jack is gone.

So where do you want to put those components that live under the bezels? Also, why do people think bezel-less is a good thing? I understand it's a trend, but what makes it better or worse?

 

[Ry]

HTC 11, S8, G6, V30, what's the difference? All phones are pretty much similar now. It's like selling burgers and no vegetarian options. You're forcing vegetarians to eat burgers. Variety and choices are needed.

You can stick with a V20 if you don't like the V30.

 

[Ry]

But that posits constantly running batteries all the way down to get that much time on one. Short lifespan. Hope they have removable batteries.

Lg doesn't have to worry about the masses in shedding features. They don't have enough market share to do so. However, congrats to them for alienating customers that they do have. So, the question becomes: how do these changes HELP increase market share? If they decrease it, that's going to be a problem.

Speaking only for the US market since I don't necessarily care about phones I don't have immediate access to (Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi), in a report in May 2017, LG grabs record 20% of US smartphone market. What the masses prioritize is more important than what the enthusiasts prioritize.

 

[Ry]

Either add buttons or speakers or chop those bezels off. HTC/Pixel is still far behind with bezelless displays. People said the Pixel looked like a phone from 2014. At least the U11 has a front FPS, made use of that empty space.

BTW the Pixel 2 has front facing dual speakers now after the criticism. Bezels are still huge, and ironically headphone jack is gone.

In my experience, people think that the Pixel is an iPhone. Then they see Android on it. Then they see the photos and video it takes and are amazed.

The war on bezels is silly.

 

[monsieurms]

Speaking only for the US market since I don't necessarily care about phones I don't have immediate access to (Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi), in a report in May 2017, LG grabs record 20% of US smartphone market. What the masses prioritize is more important than what the enthusiasts prioritize.

Sorry, but I think you have this backwards.


--Losing features does not attract the mass market, even if one presumes it does not detract from it.
--it may well alienate enthusiasts, however, when high end features are lost.
--Even if--and I don't really believe it--enthusiasts end up with no other choices until the end of time, the mere fact that LG has eliminated distinguishing features means they/we/I am not locked in to LG any more. I'm indeed a very good example. I was dead certain to buy a V40. Now--I will probably wait until my V20 dies. When it does, I'll look at other manufacturers, too. After all, what does LG give me now that I can't get elsewhere? Zip, zero. Customer loyalty is a great thing to squander. The last thing any intelligent vendor wants is to have their clientele demo'ing other products. Some won't come back. Playing copycat does not mean they are smart.

At this point, everyone does a pretty good job of the basic features. If they have nothing important to distinguish them, I'm no longer locked in. I'm a free agent.

To summarize:
# of customers you attract by losing a distinguishing feature: 0
# of customers you lose by losing a distinguishing feature: they'll find out the hard way. At best, they took a gamble for no really good reason.

As for your article link, it's hard to compare high-end to high-end statistics, since the Note 7 disaster interferes with recent statistics, as the article you cite makes clear. If LG is indeed making some huge surge, good for them, but it might be temporary, not permanent. Let's see them do it again, in other words, and at the high end, not the junk end.

 

[recDNA]

I'd prefer a thicker tougher phone with 4000 mAh battery. Flat screen. Dump second screen. Wireless charging. LED notifications

 

[Ry]

--Losing features does not attract the mass market, even if one presumes it does not detract from it.

An oversimplification but -

if the masses didn't buy a V20 because of the second display, not including it in the V30 could cause them to reconsider.
if the masses wanted "a phone that looks nice, good enough to compare to Samsung in aesthetics", going sealed/glass on the V30 could cause them to reconsider.

--it may well alienate enthusiasts, however, when high end features are lost.

Relative to the market though, what's a high-end feature? Removable battery? Second display? I'll give you second-display - that is a differentiator.

But let's take a look at LG's homepage for the V20. What are the tent-pole features of the V20?

LG V20™: Superior Video, Photography, & Next-Level Audio | LG USA

Page title: "LG V20 Superior Video, Photography, and Next-Level Audio"

• Steady Record 2.0: Clearly Capture Life in Motion
• Hi-Fi Video Recording: True-to-Live Sound
• HD Audio Recorder: Studio-Quality Sound
• Hi-Fi Quad DAC: Let Every Detail Move You
• Front Wide Angle Lens: Fit More into the Frame
• Rear Wide Angle Lens: Get More In, Leave Nothing Out
• Dual Rear Cameras: Tell a Bigger Story
• Android 7.0 Nougat: You're in for A Real Treat
• 5.7" Quad HD Display: Innovation On Display
• Second Screen: Stay On Top of It

Besides the second screen, what is the V30 losing in terms of high-end features?

 

[Ry]

I'd prefer a thicker tougher phone with 4000 mAh battery. Flat screen. Dump second screen. Wireless charging. LED notifications

And IR blaster.

 

[recDNA]

And IR blaster.

LOL. Damn right but I've heard there is no chance. I'm keeping my V20

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

In my experience, people think that the Pixel is an iPhone. Then they see Android on it. Then they see the photos and video it takes and are amazed.

The war on bezels is silly.

Pixels and iPhones currently look terrible compared to other phones. The war on bezels is justified. Phones with bezels are unnecessarily large. Based purely on use of space and design, why would you want a phone with 5.5" display when you can get a phone with a 6.2" display that is virtually the same size?

 

[Ry]

Pixels and iPhones currently look terrible compared to other phones. The war on bezels is justified. Phones with bezels are unnecessarily large. Based purely on use of space and design, why would you want a phone with 5.5" display when you can get a phone with a 6.2" display that is virtually the same size?

Doesn't seem to be hurting iPhone sales significantly.

 

[Aquila]

An oversimplification but -

if the masses didn't buy a V20 because of the second display, not including it in the V30 could cause them to reconsider.
if the masses wanted "a phone that looks nice, good enough to compare to Samsung in aesthetics", going sealed/glass on the V30 could cause them to reconsider.



Relative to the market though, what's a high-end feature? Removable battery? Second display? I'll give you second-display - that is a differentiator.

But let's take a look at LG's homepage for the V20. What are the tent-pole features of the V20?

LG V20™: Superior Video, Photography, & Next-Level Audio | LG USA

Page title: "LG V20 Superior Video, Photography, and Next-Level Audio"

• Steady Record 2.0: Clearly Capture Life in Motion
• Hi-Fi Video Recording: True-to-Live Sound
• HD Audio Recorder: Studio-Quality Sound
• Hi-Fi Quad DAC: Let Every Detail Move You
• Front Wide Angle Lens: Fit More into the Frame
• Rear Wide Angle Lens: Get More In, Leave Nothing Out
• Dual Rear Cameras: Tell a Bigger Story
• Android 7.0 Nougat: You're in for A Real Treat
• 5.7" Quad HD Display: Innovation On Display
• Second Screen: Stay On Top of It

Besides the second screen, what is the V30 losing in terms of high-end features?

The V30 is losing nothing useful and gaining what LG believes is an attractive design aimed at attracting mainstream consumers.

 

[Aquila]

Pixels and iPhones currently look terrible compared to other phones. The war on bezels is justified. Phones with bezels are unnecessarily large. Based purely on use of space and design, why would you want a phone with 5.5" display when you can get a phone with a 6.2" display that is virtually the same size?

For content consumption, 16:9 is still the standard and we haven't seen a shift away from it yet. When it comes, then the new aspect ratio will be preferable, but for the time being that's not the case. I think it's hilarious to say that iPhones look terrible. Those are still the standard for what a "well designed" phone looks like. Check out iMore and all the griping about the rumored fullscreen design. They seem to hate it! I personally not the biggest fan of what iPhones look like, there's a giant garish button on the front and they're nothing special - but the market as a whole loves what they look like. This is another case of the inability to logically be able to honestly take the opinions of a few supernerds over the roar of the market. We, all the folks at AC and all the blogs combined, are not a market. We buy so few phones that it could not matter less to the OEMs what we want. We're loud and vocal and ultimately our voice is heard so we do have a tiny bit of influence... but that influence pales to the power of the dollar. The company wants their money, not our respect or admiration.

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

For content consumption, 16:9 is still the standard and we haven't seen a shift away from it yet. When it comes, then the new aspect ratio will be preferable, but for the time being that's not the case. I think it's hilarious to say that iPhones look terrible. Those are still the standard for what a "well designed" phone looks like. Check out iMore and all the griping about the rumored fullscreen design. They seem to hate it! I personally not the biggest fan of what iPhones look like, there's a giant garish button on the front and they're nothing special - but the market as a whole loves what they look like. This is another case of the inability to logically be able to honestly take the opinions of a few supernerds over the roar of the market. We, all the folks at AC and all the blogs combined, are not a market. We buy so few phones that it could not matter less to the OEMs what we want. We're loud and vocal and ultimately our voice is heard so we do have a tiny bit of influence... but that influence pales to the power of the dollar. The company wants their money, not our respect or admiration.

iPhones haven't been the standard for a well designed phone in years. That honor goes to Samsung. The market doesn't think iPhones are better looking than Galaxy phones and others. They just want pretty colors.

 

[monsieurms]

An oversimplification but -

Well, yes. Because you list the V20's features, but not the Note 8's compared to the presumed V30. That's really the point. Which of those LG V30 features really distinguishes the phone? Sound? (Personally, I use wired headphones about 3x per year these days...)

Who doesn't have a good screen, a good camera, good sound? The point is...no one is taking the camera away. You like LG's camera better? Great. Others may like Samsung's better. (I'm about 50-50.) BUT the camera is there on each phone--and a good one. Arguing over incremental changes to common features is a different issue than noting that some features disappear entirely. It's the difference between "deal breaker" and toting up a zillions pros-and-cons when making a decision.

Besides the second screen, what is the V30 losing in terms of high-end features?

removable batteries
second screen.

Pretty good starting points for something really different that no longer is.