Apple iPhone X vs LG V30

Exciting, appealing, futuristic – these are just some of the words we’d use to describe Apple’s iPhone X. But so are “expensive” and “imperfect”, as those who have read our iPhone X review should know. Long story short, the iPhone X is a phone worth being thrilled about, but it doesn’t quite tick all the boxes that a $1000 phone should, and many rivals in the high-end space could give it a good run for its money. One of these rivals is the LG V30, which is no less rich in features, but comes at a considerably lower price. Let’s now dive deeper and see how these two phones compare.

Design

On the surface, the iPhone X and the LG V30 seem similar in many ways. They are both made of glass and metal, they are both designed around “bezel-less”, extra-tall displays, and they’re both water resistant. But the closer we examine the two, the more differences we encounter. The iPhone X, for instance, uses a stainless steel frame, and while steel is heavier than the aluminum used in the V30, it is also stronger. The V30, on the other hand, has a higher water resistance rating and retains the 3.5mm headphone jack which the iPhone lacks.

Both phones have a certain visual appeal to them – not only thanks to their stylish glass-and-metal construction, but also by the fact that their screens fill nearly all of their front areas. LG’s execution looks better, though. The iPhone X’s notch eats up screen space and simply takes away from the experience. But we must admit that the iPhone X feels better in the hand. It may be heavier than the V30, but it is also narrower, allowing for a firmer grip and more comfortable single-thumb navigation.

The dedicated mute switch is a nice perk you get only with the iPhone X. What you don’t get is a fingerprint scanner. In its place is Face ID, which is Apple’s facial recognition system – a facial recognition system that is difficult to fool and works reliably most of the time. Still, a fingerprint scanner is a fast and convenient alternative, and that’s exactly what we have on the V30, where a fingerprint scanner is embedded in the power button at the back.

Display

First things first, we must point out that the two displays we’re comparing here are based on the very same OLED technology, which is known for its greater contrast compared to traditional LCD panels. The screens are also packed with plenty of pixels: 1125 x 2436 pixels (459 ppi) for the iPhone X and 1440 x 2880 pixels (537 ppi) for the LG V30 is more than enough resolution to produce clear and sharp visuals.

Still, the iPhone X is superior when it comes to color reproduction. Colors are accurate and vivid, but without any of that artificial saturation boost OLED screens are known for. In contrast, the V30 produces colder whites and pumped-up colors. This is a look that some might actually find appealing, but it is unnatural nonetheless. Thankfully, color reproduction can be configured from the settings menu.

Despite its shortcomings, the screen on the LG V30 has a thing or two going for it. For instance, the Always-on Display feature is kind of neat, and the greater area has the potential to fit more content. But most importantly, it doesn’t have a notch getting in the user’s way.

Software and interface

Android vs iOS: it’s an ever-going rivalry of mobile platforms, and while labeling one as better than the other would be tricky, we can easily list a number of factors that set them apart. To put it briefly, the theme with the LG V30 is that it is a phone made for power users. LG’s software experience, running on top of Android 7.1, is highly customizable and packed with features, most of which would be appreciated primarily by enthusiasts: the Floating Bar and side-by-side multitasking, for instance, or the option to adjust the screen’s resolution to save battery.


The iPhone X, on the other hand, running iOS 11.1, has a much shorter list of bells and whistles. But Animoji is definitely on it, and by now we’re pretty sure you know what these are. Sure, they’re fun, and the face-tracking technology behind them is remarkable, but we feel like most people (read: people who can actually afford an iPhone X) would get tired of them quickly. Animoji aside, iOS 11 remains a fast and rich operating system acclaimed for its visual consistency and for being a gateway to a universe of quality apps and games.


You might have noticed that the iPhone X lacks a home button. There are no on-screen buttons either. To get back to your home screen, you just swipe from the bottom of the screen. New gestures for Reachability and for switching between apps are also implemented. Fear not, as these are mostly easy to get the hang of. Meanwhile, the LG V30 relies on familiar on-screen buttons. These do eat a small fraction of screen space, but can be configured to disappear when not needed. Also, it is neat that their arrangement can be modified, and a handy shortcut for pulling down the notifications panel can be added.

Processor and memory

Here we could have listed the technical specs of these two phones side by side: processor cores, clock frequency, amount of RAM and so on. However, we chose not to, as that wouldn’t be giving you the slightest clue as to how these two phones actually perform. In a nutshell, neither the iPhone X, nor the LG V30 feel slow in any way. Both are fast and responsive in real life and deliver performance of roughly the same level, although benchmarks indicate that the iPhone X has a greater potential as far as raw number crunching goes.


On-board storage starts at 64GB for both phones. Unsurprisingly, there is no storage expansion slot on the iPhone X, so if you need extra gigs, you will have to spend the extra cash on a 256GB model. The LG V30 offers a microSD card slot, which is nice having, but one should keep in mind that microSD cards are neither as fast, nor as reliable as on-board storage.

Camera

Both phones are playing the dual camera game, but with a totally different strategy. On the iPhone X we find a regular camera paired with a secondary telephoto shooter providing 2X optical zoom, bringing the subject in the frame significantly closer. Also, the arrangement enables Portrait Mode, which adds artistic background blur to images, and Apple’s software algorithms let us apply lighting effects to the image, even after it has been taken.

On the LG V30 we have a standard camera as well, but it is coupled with a wide-angle shooter, which fits much more in the frame than any other standard camera would. While image quality and detail suffer, the secondary cam allows you to fit epic sceneries, monuments, or parties without having to step back. In tight spots, this camera proves a valuable asset.


Both of these dual cam setups have their pros and cons and we can’t say that one approach is better than the other. It’s all a matter of what kind of photographer you are and what kind of situations you find yourself into. But no matter which side you’re on, regardless of which phone you pick, you’ll be definitely using its primary camera more often. Their secondary cameras just aren’t as sensitive to light as the normal ones are.


One thing worth mentioning is that the LG V30 comes with full manual camera settings out of the box. In other words, you can take full control of how images and videos look, which is great news for camera enthusiasts. On the iPhone X you need the help of a third-party app if you require manual adjustments of any kind.

Image quality

We recently featured the iPhone X and the LG V30 in a camera comparison across a number of situations. Both phones did well, especially in daytime and well-lit situations, where the two perform at the same level. But the outcome was in favor of the iPhone, mostly thanks to its consistent low performance and better handling of scenes where HDR mode is required. Low light images from the iPhone are livelier, with better colors and detail, while the V30 tends to leave such images a tad underexposed.