It was widely believed that the plus-sized LG V30 Plus would make an appearance at IFA 2017, but alas, that didn't happen.
Interestingly enough, that model has popped up today, but as a Sprint exclusive in the United States. The language used in the carrier’s press release states that it will be the sole provider of the phone “at launch”, which like the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, means it will likely make its way to more carriers (and more regions) eventually.
Carrier exclusivity deals aside, this is a heck of a bargain for what is building up to be one of 2017's best flagships. Sprint is taking full advantage of the spotlight by offering a buy-one-get-one for the V30 Plus, with both phones costing just $38 per month combined. That works out to roughly $900 for two phones, which is a staggeringly good deal considering that other carriers, like T-Mobile, are offering a single V30 (non-Plus) for $30 per month, or about $800 total after a two-year contract.
Not just that, Sprint is also offering a free Google Daydream View headset and a content starter pack along with purchase. The deal just gets better and better.
Great deal, confusing phone
Digging into what makes the V30 Plus unique, it isn’t a “plus” in the same sense as, say, the iPhone 8 Plus. It’s actually no bigger than the standard LG V30, which also features a six-inch AMOLED display.
What is different is the internal storage, which is doubled to 128GB, as well as the fact that LG is tossing in a set of its LG Quad Play wired headphones that are supposedly suited to take advantage of the Quad DAC built into the phone.
As the release of the LG V30 has crept closer with few details shared until recently, the announcement of an entirely separate model is somewhat confusing. This is compounded further by the fact that the Plus is not only the exact same size as the core V30, but also that the doubled storage doesn’t carry much weight as a selling point since both versions have a microSD slot.
I suppose the Plus-specific earbuds are a solid toss-in, assuming these are as good as the Bang & Olufsen earbuds that LG included with last year’s LG V20. But what does this mean for what’s inside of the standard V30’s box? We haven't received a final unit yet, so we're unsure of what buyers are in for when they buy in.
The LG V30 Plus comes after Sprint nabbed exclusive rights to sell the Essential Phone in its stores. Given that Sprint is the underdog of US wireless carriers, it’s definitely an impressive feat to nab not one, but two big hardware exclusives.
Via Engadget
