Here's what we know about the LG V30's availability.
When LG announces a phone it does things a little differently than, say, Samsung. Instead of offering pricing and availability details on day one, it prefers to put its product out into the world and wait for the carriers themselves to hammer down the details.
So when the was announced earlier in the week, we learned that carriers in LG's home country of South Korea would begin selling the phone on September 21, and that a number of carriers in the U.S. would be offering the phone sometime this fall. Similar promises were made from European and Canadian carriers, but the details are sparse right now.
Signs point to an approximate retail price of $749, as first seen in a , which seems likely given the G6's $649 price when it first came out. (The G6 quickly dropped in price, and you can right now.)
Let's break it down individually by country and carrier.
Note: This article is not complete and will be updated often once we learn more.
U.S. carriers
T-Mobile
Starting with T-Mobile, the instigator carrier will offer the V30 sometime this fall, and it will work with the company's newly-launched 600MHz network, offering better coverage and indoor penetration in big cities, and excellent reception in rural parts of the U.S.
AT&T
AT&T says it will offer the LG V30 sometime this fall as well. It will work on the company's so-called 5G Evolution network, which is equivalent to the fastest 4G LTE speeds today. That's because the V30 takes advantage of new technologies like 4x carrier aggregation, 256QAM modulation, and 4x4 MIMO antenna placements, as well as unlicensed spectrum standards like LTE-U and LAA.
Verizon
Verizon plans to offer the V30 in "early fall," which gives us the clearest indication of when the phone will be available in the U.S. — probably early October.
Sprint
Sprint didn't put out a press release, but CEO Marcelo Claure tweeted that it would be available this fall and that Sprint has the lowest prices for the high-end phone.
1/2 Yes, it’s true, will carry the new + from ! Amazing display + great speakers = win!
— MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure)U.S unlocked
LG didn't promise a U.S. unlocked version, but all indicators point to its existence. For starters, the review unit I'm using has a model number of US998, which follows the naming trend of LG unlocked phones — the .
there will also be a carrier-free variant, US998 USA, which will most likely get official bootloader unlock from LG Developer page.
— autoprime (@utoprime)
We've also seen tweets (h/t ) indicating that LG would offer an unlocked model.
If that model starts selling in early October for $749 as , it would be a very competitive price compared to the .
Other countries
Right now, besides South Korea, all we know is that the V30 will be available "this fall in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East." That's good news given that the V20 didn't get a wide release outside the U.S., so it's nice to know that will get its widest possible release — and a chance for success.
Stay tuned for more purchase details for the V30 in the coming weeks!
When LG announces a phone it does things a little differently than, say, Samsung. Instead of offering pricing and availability details on day one, it prefers to put its product out into the world and wait for the carriers themselves to hammer down the details.
So when the was announced earlier in the week, we learned that carriers in LG's home country of South Korea would begin selling the phone on September 21, and that a number of carriers in the U.S. would be offering the phone sometime this fall. Similar promises were made from European and Canadian carriers, but the details are sparse right now.
Signs point to an approximate retail price of $749, as first seen in a , which seems likely given the G6's $649 price when it first came out. (The G6 quickly dropped in price, and you can right now.)
Let's break it down individually by country and carrier.
Note: This article is not complete and will be updated often once we learn more.
U.S. carriers
T-Mobile
Starting with T-Mobile, the instigator carrier will offer the V30 sometime this fall, and it will work with the company's newly-launched 600MHz network, offering better coverage and indoor penetration in big cities, and excellent reception in rural parts of the U.S.
AT&T
AT&T says it will offer the LG V30 sometime this fall as well. It will work on the company's so-called 5G Evolution network, which is equivalent to the fastest 4G LTE speeds today. That's because the V30 takes advantage of new technologies like 4x carrier aggregation, 256QAM modulation, and 4x4 MIMO antenna placements, as well as unlicensed spectrum standards like LTE-U and LAA.
Verizon
Verizon plans to offer the V30 in "early fall," which gives us the clearest indication of when the phone will be available in the U.S. — probably early October.
Sprint
Sprint didn't put out a press release, but CEO Marcelo Claure tweeted that it would be available this fall and that Sprint has the lowest prices for the high-end phone.
1/2 Yes, it’s true, will carry the new + from ! Amazing display + great speakers = win!
— MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure)
LG didn't promise a U.S. unlocked version, but all indicators point to its existence. For starters, the review unit I'm using has a model number of US998, which follows the naming trend of LG unlocked phones — the .
there will also be a carrier-free variant, US998 USA, which will most likely get official bootloader unlock from LG Developer page.
— autoprime (@utoprime)
We've also seen tweets (h/t ) indicating that LG would offer an unlocked model.
If that model starts selling in early October for $749 as , it would be a very competitive price compared to the .
Other countries
Right now, besides South Korea, all we know is that the V30 will be available "this fall in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East." That's good news given that the V20 didn't get a wide release outside the U.S., so it's nice to know that will get its widest possible release — and a chance for success.
Stay tuned for more purchase details for the V30 in the coming weeks!