Smartphone LG W30 - advantages and disadvantages

Today, most people do not care about the origin of electronics and even the brand under which it is produced - the main thing is an acceptable price and decent performance. Proof of this is the enormous popularity of Chinese goods of a wide variety of firms. However, this review will focus on the South Korean manufacturer, whose name is known to the whole world, despite some setbacks. We will talk about the smartphone LG W30 - advantages and disadvantages, which is very interesting to consider against the backdrop of the success of younger popular brands.

It should be said right away that the new smartphone turned out to be really interesting and it can be considered as a purchase. Despite a long series of failures, the company finally found the right path and released a new W-series of Android phones that managed to stir up public interest.

First successes

While Europe is in full swing discussing the cameras of the notorious Asus ZenFone 6, an event has occurred in India that could change the fate of the whole company. As you know, at the end of June, the Koreans were scheduled to officially introduce the LG W smartphone line in India. So, contrary to many skeptical statements, this event became a landmark - the entire starting batch of brand new smartphones sold out in just twelve minutes. It is also noteworthy that LG India has already named the W-series the best-selling devices of the year in the country.

On the network, such a statement caused only chuckles - after all, in comparison with the sales of Redmi and Huawei, this victory looks insignificant. However, it is worth recognizing that the brand is gaining popularity again and, with skillful management, will be able to achieve good sales and, as a result, gain a foothold in the smartphone market (now, thanks to the Internet and public interest, there is every chance for this), even if not in the most honorable places.

Table with brief characteristics of the device:

New design

From July 3, official sales on Amazon.in started and a huge number of real photos of the model were leaked to the network.As expected, the company tried to make the design according to modern trends, while adding a little corporate uniqueness.

The screen of the smartphone has a diagonal of 6.26 inches and is made in the style of frameless displays. However, the frames are clearly visible, and in all colors. At the same time, the “chin” and “eyebrow” look an order of magnitude better and fully comply with established standards.

The case itself looks stylish, the device is pleasant to hold in hands. The front camera on the front panel is located in the middle in a teardrop-shaped cutout, a microphone is located above it.

The back panel turned out to be brighter, due to the triple camera in the upper left corner. It is worth saying that the red rim around the third sensor from the top looks original and out of place. A flash is located a little lower, and to the right of it is a fingerprint scanner - whether such an arrangement is convenient or not, everyone decides for himself. Going down from the scanner, we have the company logo, which looks very good. Only one moment spoils the picture a little - the WEEE icon. Many did not like the crossed-out urn, but since it is present on many smartphones, it cannot be called a minus.

All the buttons on the novelty are located on the right side. The volume rockers are on top, and the power button is below. There is also a 3.5 mm jack on the top end, which is also not very fashionable and modern, but at the same time convenient.

Separately, I want to say about the colors of phones. They will be available in three options: Thunder Blue, Platinum Gray and Aurora Green. They all look really good, but the main plus is that you can really choose a model to your taste from classic black to rich greens and blues.

As a result, we can state that LG for the first time in a long time has done something interesting and original in the setting of mobile devices.

Camera features

Finally, the time has come when absolutely any user, when buying a smartphone, can not be afraid for the quality of the camera. Yes, of course, time dictates its own rules, and everyone wants to have a sensor that allows you to shoot in 4K, but we have to admit that all modern smartphones, including budget ones, shoot very well.

With the W30, there was no sensation in this regard. No revolutionary and extraordinary solutions - everything is simple and practical. So, the device has a main triple sensor of 13, 12 and 2 megapixels. Now more specifically about each:

• The first 13 MP module is a wide-angle camera;
• The second 12MP module is the main one and uses the popular phase-detection autofocus (PDAF) technology. This solution allows you to quickly adjust the focus and allows you to follow moving objects;
• The third 2-megapixel module is optional and is equipped with a depth sensor function (depth sensor).

Among other features, it is worth highlighting support for LED flash, panoramas, HDR and video recording in 1080p (30fps). Nothing outstanding, however, for a budget smartphone is enough. The first tests show that the smartphone shoots well during daylight hours. How it shoots at night is another question, the answer to which is obvious - much worse than during the day. You can take a photo if you try, it will turn out even good, but in everyday life the insufficient level of the camera will be noticeable.

Things are better with the front. It has a 16 MP sensor, which allows you to take high-quality selfies and communicate via video calls without any problems.

Conclusion - the new LG does a pretty good job of performing basic photo tasks, but you should be prepared for minor problems and shortcomings, like all state employees, the B 30 has weaknesses regarding night shooting.

Internal compromise

Remembering the distant times, it can be argued that before the Koreans were perfectly able to find a balance between the characteristics and cost of their new products. In recent years, this has not been observed, but 2019 managed to return long-forgotten talents to the engineers and experts of the company. From a technical point of view, the LG W30 looks quite interesting, because it combines good power, efficiency and has a democratic price tag of 130-150 euros.

Performance

Today, every smartphone owner, regardless of the purpose of buying a new gadget, wants to have powerful and productive hardware. Everyone wants to have a modern processor, good graphics and enough RAM, because the speed of work and the quality of the picture in games and movies directly depend on this. Also, do not forget about optimizing the device - excellent performance on paper can show a completely unexpected result in benchmarks and, as a result, disappoint if a smartphone was bought for active games. I am glad that LG specialists understood all these key user requirements and equipped the model with suitable components.

The device is powered by a 12nm octa-core Mediatek MT6762 Helio P22 chipset. The model is quite popular and is famous for energy efficiency and power due to high-performance Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of up to 2.0 GHz. It is also worth noting that, despite the good performance, the chip has an attractive price.A rather old PowerVR GE8320 with a speed of 650 MHz was chosen as a graphics processor. Despite this, it still supports modern standards such as OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, OpenCL 1.2, Android NN HAL API Support. In games, the following results are observed: Shadow Fight 3 averages 50-53 fps at medium settings; PUBG Mobile will be able to play only at the minimum of 25 fps (at high the device will not be able to run the game).

The speed of the smartphone is at a decent level due to 3 GB of RAM, which makes it possible for the new product to quickly cope with copying, archiving and moving operations. However, you should immediately take into account that today 3 GB of RAM is the minimum that you should pay attention to if you need a productive phone (at the same time, it will naturally not have a solid supply of power).

Summarizing the data, it can be argued that the novelty is perfect as a budget gaming smartphone. However, you should not count on high fps in modern games - the maximum of this device is the average graphics settings in new, not too demanding games.

storage

The smartphone has obvious problems with the built-in memory, because in 2019 the indicator of 32 GB of ROM is quite rare (it is worth considering that about 22 GB of memory will be available to the user, because the operating system takes up a certain amount of disk space). Only one thing pleases - LG engineers clearly foresaw the dissatisfaction of customers and equipped the device with support for external memory cards such as MicroSD. The maximum amount of external ROM should not exceed 256 GB, which is the standard for modern mobile devices in the budget segment.

There is no information about versions with different amounts of RAM and ROM, so the novelty will be presented in one form.

Operating system

Despite the budget of the smartphone and a certain backwardness of the company in the mobile segment, the W 30 will be equipped with the current version of Android 9.0 Pie. And this is an absolute plus, given that Android 9.0 comes out of the box, because it is not known how long users would have to wait for the update.

There is no information about any branded shells of the manufacturer, which means that a phone with a clean ninth android will fall into the hands of buyers.

Display

The screen today is everything, and manufacturers, realizing this, take the most desperate steps, trying to increase the usable area or add proprietary technology. And in the new LG device, everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance. On the one hand, the currently popular form factor and display size of 6.26 inches are chosen, on the other hand, there is a rather strange choice of screen resolution of 720 × 1520, which is certainly not enough for this size, and a smaller percentage of usable area compared to competitors (76.3% ). The low 269 ppi, which is responsible for detail and shows the number of dots per inch, should also be included here.

However, in the end, the picture still turns out to be quite colorful and lively due to the IPS LCD matrix, naturally yielding to more expensive counterparts.

When buying a phone for watching videos and movies, you should immediately understand that a smartphone is not able to produce a really high-quality picture by the standards of 2019. However, it is quite suitable for active everyday use by unpretentious users who love to listen to music and play games.

autonomy

This section almost always writes down another minus in the piggy bank of new smartphones.But this will not happen with the W30, because it is equipped with a good Li-Po 4000 mAh battery and energy-efficient hardware. This combination allows users to use their phone to the maximum and not worry too much about the charge level - it should definitely last for one working day even with active use.

Unfortunately, the possibility of fast charging is not provided in this model, however, for this price, the device can be put in the rating of high-quality smartphones with good autonomy.

Technologies, communication standards, dimensions

When choosing a budget phone, you should always pay attention to this section, because, as a rule, manufacturers like to save on these characteristics, underestimating or even removing some sensors and functions.

• Wireless technologies: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.2 (LE, A2DP functions);
• Network and Internet: GSM, HSPA, HSDPA, LTE (LTE-A);
• Navigation: A-GPS, GLONASS;
• Sensors: Fingerprint (rear), accelerometer, proximity, lighting, gyroscope;
• Dimensions: 7 x 78.8 x 8.5mm;
• Optional: microUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go, Jack 3.5.

In general, all indicators are normal, and only the outdated version of Bluetooth v4.2 is surprising. It is also worth noting that this device does not have NFC, which means that it will not work to pay contactlessly using a smartphone.

Summing up

No high-profile novelties have been heard from LG for a long time, and many began to attribute the brand to an early demise and exit from the mobile market. However, 2019 was very successful for many companies (Lenovo Motorola, Nokia appeared after a long lull, interesting models appeared), and the South Korean brand was no exception.The new series of W-devices has already been able to interest the public, and although it is too early to talk about success, a certain reserve has already been created for this.

As for the W 30, this is definitely a youth budget smartphone aimed at young people who want to get a good screen and a good camera and the ability to play modern games for little money. And as practice has shown, the public met this line with great interest. The review of the novelty showed that LG created a rather controversial product, however, in such moments as design, performance, autonomy and price, the engineers hit the top ten, knocking out a real surge in sales for the company, given the deplorable state this niche has been in for the past few years.

• Affordable price;
• Stylish design;
• Economical, but productive processor;
• Good selfie camera
• Support external flash memory;
• Excellent autonomy;
• Current version of Android.
• The presence of a mini jack 3.5 mm.

• Sufficiently wide frames;
• Screen detail;
• ROM 32 GB;
• No NFC module;
• Bluetooth v4.2.

Analyzing the list of advantages and disadvantages, we can conclude that if the W 30 has any serious drawbacks, then this is only the amount of ROM and screen detail. Otherwise, the cons of the device directly depend on its cost and, for example, it simply does not make sense to seriously scold the company for the lack of NFC.

Summing up, it is worth saying that a smartphone has every chance of becoming popular with young people who are focused on buying a reliable smartphone at a low cost.