Lg K30 – 32 Gb – Unlocked Reviews
The LG K30 is an interesting phone to review, if not necessarily to utilise. We tested the unlocked model, which is available for $179.99 on Amazon (or $139.99 for Prime number members). It's built solidly, just offers pretty low-stop specs and performance for the price, and lacks LTE Band 71. Compared with devices like the Motorola's Moto G6 Play and E5 Play, it simply doesn't offer enough value for the money. Here's where the interesting part comes in: T-Mobile also sells a model of the phone for $200 that comes with Ring 71, as well equally a higher-resolution photographic camera. If you're ownership this phone on T-Mobile, add half a star to the score at the superlative of this page.
Pattern and Brandish
The K30 is made of a sturdy mix of plastic and metallic, with a smooth metal dorsum panel that hosts LG'due south traditional rear fingerprint sensor/power push. The phone has a sixteen:nine form factor with a 5.3-inch display, resulting in somewhat squat dimensions of five.ix by four.0 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and a weight of five.nine ounces. T he wide trunk makes information technology hard to use with one paw and attain across fully with your thumb.
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The screen is a adequately clear 5.3-inch, 1,280-past-720 IPS panel with 277 pixels per inch (ppi), nigh the same equally the G6 Play (282ppi). Text and graphics wait fine and viewing angles are decent. Colors can seem a petty faded, however; we prefer the brighter and more accurate colors on the G6 Play. Maximum screen effulgence could afford to be college as well, and the panel gets too reflective to exist used in direct sunlight.
A 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro USB charging port are on the bottom, a pair of volume buttons are on the left, and the SIM/microSD card slot on the right worked fine with a 256GB carte.
Network Functioning and Connectivity
The K30 is compatible with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, but not Sprint. Unlocked it supports LTE Bands 2/4/5/12/13/66. Missing here is Ring 71, which allows for improved rural coverage and roaming. You lot get it on the T-Mobile model, which gives you lot a squeamish coverage boost. We tested the unlocked K30 on T-Mobile and recorded average operation in midtown Manhattan.
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Wi-Fi on the ii.4GHz and 5GHz bands is bachelor, forth with Bluetooth 4.2 for audio. VoLTE is too supported.
Telephone call quality is decent. Transmissions are on the robotic side, though voices come across clearly enough to be understood. Noise cancellation is passable at blotting out some background noise, just you lot'll notwithstanding get a fair amount of ambience clatter coming through, along with some skipping and crackling. Earpiece volume is fine.
Processor, Bombardment, and Photographic camera
The K30 is powered by an entry-level Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor clocked at 1.4GHz. In the PCMark benchmark, which measures a variety of tasks like web browsing and video editing, it scored 3,380, similar to the Moto E5 Play (3,477).
The phone has 2GB of RAM, compared with 3GB on the G6 Play, so it'south not as capable at multitasking. There are noticeable instances of sluggishness when launching new apps, besides as animation lag when swiping between screens or pulling downward the notification shade. As y'all might expect, the K30 isn't much of a gaming phone.
Battery life is solid, at 5 hours, 41 minutes of streaming full-screen video over LTE at maximum screen brightness. It'south no lucifer for the 4,000mAh Moto G6 Play, which outlasted our 12-hr test video, just it beats the E5 Play (4 hours, viii minutes). It doesn't support fast charging or have a replaceable battery, but information technology should manage a full day of normal utilize without consequence.
Camera quality is unimpressive, fifty-fifty for an entry-level device. The 8MP rear camera (down from the 13MP sensor on the T-Mobile model) does okay in good lighting, but tends to struggle in any challenging weather condition. Generally, it'southward not very precipitous, tends to blur indoors, and records jittery 1080p video at 30fps that drops frames in lower low-cal. The 5MP forepart photographic camera takes soft shots regardless of lighting conditions.
We oasis't tested it, but nosotros expect the 13MP rear sensor on the T-Mobile model to offering better clarity in general.
Software
The K30 comes running Android 7.i Nougat . LG's custom UI layer makes several visual changes to the abode screen, app icons, notification shade, and menus. Out of the box, apps are splashed across the chief screen and the app drawer is removed, but that tin can exist changed in the Settings menu.
The Amazon Prime model of the K30 features some Amazon advertising in the form of button notifications. A full suite of Amazon apps comes preinstalled, along with Dropbox, Facebook, Instagram, LG SmartWorld, and QuickMemo+. None of the apps tin can exist removed, leaving you with 6.09GB of available storage out of 16GB. A microSD card can give you more space for photos and video.
Conclusions
The unlocked LG K30 has decent battery life and a sturdy build, only it simply doesn't offer equally much value as similarly priced phones. T-Mobile customers who alive in rural areas may get more value out of the carrier's own model, fifty-fifty if they have to pay a chip more than. But if you're buying unlocked, there are improve options out there, like the Moto G6 Play, which works on all major US carriers and has superior hardware across the board. On the even more than affordable stop, we like the Moto E5 Play, which offers nigh of the aforementioned features as the K30 for a fraction of the price.
LG K30
The Bottom Line
The unlocked LG K30 is a reasonably capable Android phone, but it'south priced likewise high for what information technology offers.
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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/lg-k30