LG announced its second flagship of 2017 at consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin. The company revealed the LG V30 during its press conference on 31 August, offering a great design and great specs.

Question is, how does it compare to LG's current flagship smartphone? We have put the specs for the LG V30 up against the five-month old LG G6 to see how they stack up against each other.

LG V30 vs LG G6: Design

  • V30 slightly bigger but lighter
  • Both have metal and glass sandwich designs
  • IP68 waterproofing and STD 810G drop protection on both

The LG V30 follows a similar design to the LG G6. It carries a metal and glass premium design that features a horizontal dual-rear camera setup on the rear and a circular fingerprint sensor beneath, though the flash module for the camera is positioned on the right of the camera lenses rather than in the middle of them like the G6.

An almost all-screen design dominates the front, while a USB Type-C port is situated at the bottom and a 3.5mm headphone jack on top, all of which mirror the G6. The LG V30 measures 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.6mm, weighs 158g and IP68 waterproofing is present, along with STD 810G drop protection.

The LG G6 features a metal and glass sandwich design, measuring 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9mm and weighing 163g, meaning it is smaller but heavier than the V30. The G6 has a dual-rear camera setup on the back too, with a flash module positioned between the two lenses and a circular fingerprint sensor beneath.

The front is almost all-screen like the V30 but with a small LG logo at the bottom. USB Type-C sits at the bottom and a 3.5mm headphone jack is at the top, just like the V30. There is IP68 waterproofing on board the LG G6 and STD 810G drop protection too, meaning the V30 and the G6 offer very similar specs when it comes to design aside from a slight tweak in the dual camera layout and branding positioning.

The LG G6 comes in six colour options but not all are available in every region, while the LG V30 does in four colour options.

LG V30 vs LG G6: Display

  • V30 has slightly bigger display
  • Both FullVision screens with 18:9 aspect ratio and HDR
  • V30 OLED, while G6 LCD

The LG V30 features a 6-inch FullVision OLED display, meaning it adopts the 18:9 aspect ratio found on the LG G6. It is the first LG device to offer an OLED display so the colours should be richer and punchier than they have been on previous LG flagships, even if a little more unrealistic.

The V30's display resolution is 2880 x 1440 pixels, which results in a pixel density of 537ppi and both Dolby Vision and HDR 10 are on board the new device. There is also a secondary display in the form of a Floating Bar on the V30, which users will be able to customise and swipe off the main screen when not in use.

The LG G6 has a 5.7-inch display, making it a little smaller than the V30. It too has a FullVision display with a 18:9 aspect ratio, as we mentioned, but it has an IPS LCD panel rather than OLED.

The resolution is the same as the V30 at 2880 x 1440 pixels, but because it is slightly smaller, its pixel density is a little higher than the V30 at 564ppi. A difference this small won't be noticeable to the human eye though, whereas the OLED display over LCD display should be. The G6 is also HDR10 and Dolby Vision compliant.

LG V30 vs LG G6: Camera

  • Same 5MP front camera
  • Dual-rear snapper on both
  • V30 places big focus on video recording and audio support

The LG V30 comes with a dual camera setup on the rear, made up of a 16-megapixel normal lens with a 70-degree field of view and a 13-megapixel wide-angle lens with a 120-degree field of view.

The standard lens has optical image stabilisation on board, along with an aperture of f/1.6, while the wide-angle lens has an aperture of f/1.9 and no OIS. The front camera meanwhile is a 5-megapixel sensor that is capable of facial recognition, even when the display is off.

The LG G6 has two 13-megapixel sensors on the rear, one of which is a standard-angle lens with an aperture of f/1.8 while the other is a 125-degree wide-angle lens with an aperture of f/2.4. There is optical image stabilisation on board, along with phase detection autofocus and manual mode for adjusting shutter speed, ISO, exposure and white balance, all of which the V30 has too.

On the front, the LG G6 has a 5-megapixel wide-angle lens with a f/2.2 aperture. The rear cameras are capable of 4K video recording, while the front is capable of 1080p video recording. 

Meanwhile in terms of audio, the LG V models have been all about video capture in the past and the V30 follows suit, offering a new mode that allows for 15 colour presets in video that can be changed to grade the look of your video. There is also strong audio support too with a Quad DAC on board, as well as an MQA player. The G6 offers support for 32-bit audio but some regions also offered a Quad DAC too.

LG V30 vs LG G6: Hardware

  • More advanced processor on V30
  • Same battery capacity on both
  • Same RAM but more storage on V30

The LG V30 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform under its hood, along with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage and microSD support. It also comes with a 3300mAh battery capacity, which is non-removeable and charged via USB Type-C or wirelessly.

The LG G6 opts for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, supported by 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage with a microSD slot for storage expansion up to 2TB.

There is also a 3300mAh non-removable battery capacity on board, which too is charged via USB Type-C or wirelessly in some regions. The G6 and the V30 have the same battery capacity but the V30 offers a more advanced processor which means the battery life is likely to be improved on the newer device.

LG V30 vs LG G6: Software

  • V30 launches on Android Nougat with LG UX 6.0+
  • G6 runs on Android Nougat with LG UX 6.0
  • Extra features on V30

The LG V30 arrives on Android Nougat with LG's UX 6.0+ user interface over the top, meaning a couple of extra features compared to the G6.

There are upgraded security measures on board, including facial recognition and voice recognition for unlocking, as well as new feature within the manual camera settings called Graphy.

Aside from the extra features though, the V30 will offer a similar experience to that of the G6, with both offering Google Assistant.

LG V30 vs LG G6: Conclusion

The LG V30 brings with it a similar design to the LG G6 but it offers a larger display, slightly different camera setup, a more advanced processor, double the storage and improved audio and video functionality.

It is the larger device however, even if it is lighter than the G6, and it is also likely to be more expensive than LG's first flagship of 2017. Despite this though, on paper, the V30 appears to be the winner. 

We will update this feature as soon as we have reviewed the V30 in full to let you know how it compares to the G6 in the real world.