Related
These are just 3 of the features of the phone which are not being made universally available.
Quad-DAC is for Asia only
Wireless charging is for US only
64GB storage is mainly Asia (definitely not EU or US)
For me? Totally not acceptable... Was really looking out to this device.
Why do other parts of the world have to pay premium price for non premium features.
Yes... I would bought it Instantly if it had the DAC.
They have said... We listen to the customers? Haha in Asia maybe? The rest of the world?? We are going to fill our pockets on you.
I would of bought it if it had Wireless charging, the Quad Dac, minimum 64GB storage and upgraded cameras.
As it has none of those for the UK market, I will be skipping it.
Waste of money for UK customers.
Without the DAC for the US? I'll pass and wait for V30. The V20 was a serious game changer for me. The ability to carry a 24\192 device, that even played DSD, was a revelation in portable audio.
dartinbout said:
Without the DAC for the US? I'll pass and wait for V30. The V20 was a serious game changer for me. The ability to carry a 24\192 device, that even played DSD, was a revelation in portable audio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I will decide on two underdogs... Which are capable of Hi-res audio.
Sony XZ Premium or.... The Asus Zenfone AR looks very promising.
I am not a newest chipset chaser... My G4 is also still very capable.
The lack of Quad DAC has put me off, can't believe this
To be honest, I will not purchase a US G6 if that is the case. The charge port is quick enough.
But the DAC is a must!
They must see the trend of Americans moving towards bluetooth audio. But damn I love my wired headphones.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
it is not acceptable. the lg policy is ridiculous and I hope that in Europe the g6 will make a flop. premium price for a neutered phone.
Wonder what the UK get instead of dac.
Anyone know how to order something from Korea or some other state which will have DAC (didnt found exact markets, yet.). I really dig this phone, but its a no-go withou DAC from me, unfortunately.
stuclark said:
These are just 3 of the features of the phone which are not being made universally available.
Quad-DAC is for Asia only
Wireless charging is for US only
64GB storage is mainly Asia (definitely not EU or US)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Teardown video shows wireless coil can be added. Hopefully some enterprising eBay dealer will install that on some 64GB/DAC models and sell them on eBay...
Sell us the phone that LG should have made in the first place!
Now, just need an Asia model with AT&T bands...
I know with the LG G4 there was a Taiwan model which had TONS of LTE bands including all the AT&T bands. And it had an unlocked bootloader.
---------- Post added at 12:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 PM ----------
dartinbout said:
Without the DAC for the US? I'll pass and wait for V30. The V20 was a serious game changer for me. The ability to carry a 24\192 device, that even played DSD, was a revelation in portable audio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screw the V30, if it's any bigger than the LG G6. I don't want a bigger phone just to get better specs.
Doesn't LG understand they are pushing people to the Samsung Galaxy S8?
Just make one LG G 6 with all the high end specs, and sell it to the world. Just because I love Qi wireless doens't mean I also don't want 64GB storage (I have both those features on my current phone, Moto XT1225) and I also want DAC. What's so hard to understand we want ALL the high end specs?
They should have added front facing speakers, while they were at it. Rumors are the S8 will have stereo speakers! (Or maybe one of them?)
Basically, LG should have made a "ZTE Axon 7" -- but with Qi wireless charging! Seriously, go compare the specs of the ZTE Axon 7 to the LG G6. Why can't LG put out a phone like that, for the entire world?
You ask me, LG is preparing to sell the Smartphone department. In a year or so, a CEO will get on the stage and tell the world they tried it all but unfortunately failed. We have seen that in other and comparable industries before. Take Dell, they release the most advanced tablet in the world and somehow "can´t manage to deliver updates". It´s bull****, that´s excuses.
Three different versions of the G6 for different markets. I mean, let´s take a look at this economically. Do you have any idea what that means in terms of production and maintenance? It´s inefficient as hell, its stupid, literally. It´s the same with the LG G4, this fragmentation was a major cost factor.
I really feel like LG is trying to find an excuse to drop smartphones. They knew they had to deliver this year and they failed on purpose. I mean, the world wide response to that was quite foreseeable.
Ha ha....Am from Asia...Finally..will get that DAC with 64gb.... Love the G6 <3
ChazzMatt said:
Teardown video shows wireless coil can be added. Hopefully some enterprising eBay dealer will install that on some 64GB/DAC models and sell them on eBay...
Sell us the phone that LG should have made in the first place!
Now, just need an Asia model with AT&T bands...
I know with the LG G4 there was a Taiwan model which had TONS of LTE bands including all the AT&T bands. And it had an unlocked bootloader.
---------- Post added at 12:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 PM ----------
Screw the V30, if it's any bigger than the LG G6. I don't want a bigger phone just to get better specs.
Doesn't LG understand they are pushing people to the Samsung Galaxy S8?
Just make one LG G 6 with all the high end specs, and sell it to the world. Just because I love Qi wireless doens't mean I also don't want 64GB storage (I have both those features on my current phone, Moto XT1225) and I also want DAC. What's so hard to understand we want ALL the high end specs?
They should have added front facing speakers, while they were at it. The S8 will have stereo speakers!
Basically, LG should have made a "ZTE Axon 7" -- but with Qi wireless charging! Seriously, go compare the specs of the ZTE Axon 7 to the LG G6. Why can't LG put out a phone like that, for the entire world?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Illux said:
You ask me, LG is preparing to sell the Smartphone department. In a year or so, a CEO will get on the stage and tell the world they tried it all but unfortunately failed. We have seen that in other and comparable industries before. Take Dell, they release the most advanced tablet in the world and somehow "can´t manage to deliver updates". It´s bull****, that´s excuses.
Three different versions of the G6 for different markets. I mean, let´s take a look at this economically. Do you have any idea what that means in terms of production and maintenance? It´s inefficient as hell, its stupid, literally. It´s the same with the LG G4, this fragmentation was a major cost factor.
I really feel like LG is trying to find an excuse to drop smartphones. They knew they had to deliver this year and they failed on purpose. I mean, the world wide response to that was quite foreseeable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sick and tired of LG messing around with all those different versions of the same phone. More memory for this part of the world, Dac here, wireless charging there...
Are they thinking that they are cutting cost by choosing which region gets what they think fits our needs most?
I'd love to know who exactly (from lg) is in charge of this mess, well did they atleast put out 1 version which includes all of the extra features for the people who are willing to pay a lil more for? No
Been with lg ever since the g2, everything else after that looks to me like a big testing area. flex series, g3-4-5 and now 6, stylo n what not. The whole picture ain't clear as to what exactly they wanted to do.
Anyways thats too much salt that even lg aint worth. Currently using my old g4 as my g5 screen shattered the other day. Need a new phone and im sure its not gonna be lg that will be getting my money. With the last ad i thought maybe they truly are listening but guess its as fake as they ever were.
Next viable option would be an s8 , Huawei/oneplus/sony/Htc/Nokia maybe?
Sent from my LG-H818 using Tapatalk
The DAC was the one feature I was hoping for when moving from my G5. It was also the one thing that would have stopped me looming at thd S8.
I'd import but I've heard LG aren't interested in honouring any warranty if i do.
Think ill stick with the G5 a while longer now.
Jonathan-H said:
I would of bought it if it had Wireless charging, the Quad Dac, minimum 64GB storage and upgraded cameras.
As it has none of those for the UK market, I will be skipping it.
Waste of money for UK customers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i agree, I imported the Korean version which has the 64gb storage and the 32bit
---------- Post added at 12:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:15 AM ----------
Jooosty said:
To be honest, I will not purchase a US G6 if that is the case. The charge port is quick enough.
But the DAC is a must!
They must see the trend of Americans moving towards bluetooth audio. But damn I love my wired headphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So do I i love using my high resistance audiophile headphones on my imported LG G6 fantastic dac
---------- Post added at 12:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 AM ----------
agent.m said:
Wonder what the UK get instead of dac.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing
---------- Post added at 12:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 AM ----------
Carach_CZ said:
Anyone know how to order something from Korea or some other state which will have DAC (didnt found exact markets, yet.). I really dig this phone, but its a no-go withou DAC from me, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use Wonda Mobile i have ordered my last 20 phone's from them, they are great, I just got my Korean LG G6 from them, tell them Tech Zilla sent you
Does anyone know for sure if the Korean model will be unlocked and support all the bands (GSM/LTE) that are used by AT&T?
I have the G5 (RS988) that is the unlocked model at works on all US carriers. It appears there will be the same with for the G6 (listed on BHPhoto). But I'm more interested in 64GB and the Quad DAC than wireless charging.
FAUguy said:
Does anyone know for sure if the Korean model will be unlocked and support all the bands (GSM/LTE) that are used by AT&T?
I have the G5 (RS988) that is the unlocked model at works on all US carriers. It appears there will be the same with for the G6 (listed on BHPhoto). But I'm more interested in 64GB and the Quad DAC than wireless charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The official specs for the Korean models (there are three, for various carriers) do not show all the AT&T bands. One model shows LTE band 17, but that's it.
The major AT&T LTE bands are 2, 4, 5, 12/17.
G600L: B1 (2100) / B3 (1800 +) / B5 (850) / B7 (2600) / B38 (TD 2600) / B40 (TD 2300) -
G600S: B1 (2100) / B3 (1800 +) / B5 (850) / B17 (700 bc) / B38 (TD 2600) / B40 (TD 2300)
G600K: B1 (2100) / B3 (1800 +) / B5 (850) / B8 (900) / B38 (TD 2600) / B40 (TD 2300)
However, one guy on T-Mobile claims he's getting LTE band 4 with one of the Korean phones, so it's possible official specs are not complete? This happens sometimes just to prevent people from doing what you want to do.
_________
I have experience with this "incomplete official specs" also -- with my 2014 Moto XT1225. I'm on AT&T and bought three of them from other countries. Basically the 5.2" version of the 2014 Moto Nexus 6, official Motorola specs initially listed 2, 3, 4, 7, 17 but the FCC also found LTE band 5 (another AT&T band). (Had to be certified for Puerto Rico which is a U.S. territory.) So, the Moto XT12225 had ALL the AT&T LTE bands (2, 3, 5, 17) when released in 2014, but for some reason (Verizon?) Motorola didn't want to admit it. They also left off a T-mobile HSPA band, which the FCC found. Who knows why? My LTE Discovery app confirms it's there and many Canadian users also confirm LTE band 5 on the Moto XT1225...
See, the Moto XT12225 was the "international" version of the Verizon Droid Turbo XT1254 -- so having all the AT&T LTE bands maybe would embarrassingly prove that phone was not world-wide exclusive to Verizon and would work just fine on AT&T? Which is exactly why I bought THREE of them -- from Mexico and Puerto Rico!
Anyway, a few months later when the phone launched in India (Moto Turbo XT1225), Motorola FINALLY admitted all the LTE bands and HSPA bands on their India Motorola website. Motorola also updated their specs on their Motorola website in Brazil (another country where it was sold), but did not update the specs for Chile or Mexico websites -- even though it's exactly the same phone in all countries (Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile, Brazil, India) with the same FCC ID. As a result, even to this day many, many phone spec websites like GSMArena or PhoneArena still do NOT list those extra LTE and HSPA bands for the XT1225, even though they were there from the very beginning -- because they used Motorola's "official" specs press release which was strangely incomplete.
ChazzMatt said:
No. The official specs for the Korean models (there are three, for various carriers) do not show all the AT&T bands. One model shows LTE band 17, but that's it.
G600L: B1 (2100) / B3 (1800 +) / B5 (850) / B7 (2600) / B38 (TD 2600) / B40 (TD 2300) -
G600S: B1 (2100) / B3 (1800 +) / B5 (850) / B17 (700 bc) / B38 (TD 2600) / B40 (TD 2300)
G600K: B1 (2100) / B3 (1800 +) / B5 (850) / B8 (900) / B38 (TD 2600) / B40 (TD 2300)
However, one guy on T-Mobile claims he's getting LTE band 4, so it's possible official specs are not complete. This happens sometimes just to prevent people from doing what you want to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get why LG just can't make one G6 model or the US that would work with all carriers, have the 64GB, Quad DAC, and wireless charging.
The way it is now, doesn't look got be a major step up from my G5 except for the screen. And the Korean modes on eBay may not work with all of the ATT (or T-Mobile) bands.
I'm going to wait and see how things play out with the S8.
FAUguy said:
I don't get why LG just can't make one G6 model or the US that would work with all carriers, have the 64GB, Quad DAC, and wireless charging.
The way it is now, doesn't look got be a major step up from my G5 except for the screen. And the Korean modes on eBay may not work with all of the ATT (or T-Mobile) bands.
I'm going to wait and see how things play out with the S8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. While the U.S. likes Qi wireless charging (I won't buy a phone without it), we also like audio enhancements and more storage. STUPID LG. (and I'm an LG fan,)
LG should make ONE phone with all the specs for the entire world and sell it.
Allegedly LG will soon sell an "unlocked" version to the U.S. -- which WILL work with all carriers. I WISH it would have Qi wireless, DAC, and 64GB storage. But I don't trust LG to be that smart. They've really gone off the rails since the LG G2.
LG G6 Latest News: Unlocked U.S. Version is Coming Soon
http://www.droidreport.com/articles...locked-version-us-released-is-coming-soon.htm
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr....H0.XLG+G6+plus.TRS0&_nkw=LG+G6+plus&_sacat=0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76urOUYEj0
We can buy it at shop in Asia already (Thailand) Blue colour 4Gb Ram/128Gb Rom, cost about (20,000 Thai Baht). The normal 64Gb Rom/4Gb ram cost (14,500 Thai Baht). They come with the Dac I think.
You can buy it in HKG or Singapur too, but it's different model than one on YouTube. The Korean guy shows Korean LGM-G600SP. The Asia LG-H870DSU has no wireless charging and B&O headphones.
LG G6 Plus WITH Qi Wireless Charging
Montechristo said:
You can buy it in HKG or Singapur too, but it's different model than one on YouTube.
The Korean guy shows Korean LGM-G600SP.
The Asia LG-H870DSU has no wireless charging and B&O headphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct that not all LG G6 Plus models have Qi wireless charging. I would want Qi wireless charging. I won't buy a phone without it.
These are the South Korean market models (below) with Qi wireless charging. Here's the Qi wireless database search results that prove it. You can also search on the LG South Korean website for those model numbers and use Google Translate to look at the specs.
LGM-G600KP
LGM-G600SP
LGM-G600LP
Problem is the "official" specs do not show all the LTE bands these phones really get. So, it's a leap of faith to buy if you live in the U.S., for instance.
I know, because of people here in the U.S. who bought the Korean regular G6 (not the G6+) and who the models for those South Korean carriers (KP, SP, LP) DO actually get all the AT&T and T-mobile bands -- but just don't show it on the LG Korean website official specs.
Also, I don't want to buy phones I can't root, so I would have to wait until I KNEW I could root one of these LG South Korean market phones.
There's no official bootloader unlock for any of the LG G6 Plus models (yet).
There's also the LG H870U, an LG G6 Plus coming to Europe and other countries. THIS website below says it has Qi wireless charging but I think that's just wishful thinking -- since it's not listed in the Qi devices database I linked in the post above.
LG H870U
https://www.android-hilfe.de/forum/lg-g6-h870.3021/lg-g6-plus-lg-h870u.839097.html
However, if true, I would gladly buy it, as the European versions of the LG G6 can be bootloader unlocked, yes?
Hi guys, I have blue LG G6+ H870DSU http://www.lg.com/hk_en/mobile-phone/lg-H870DSU-Blue-128GB and it has B&O headphones, FM radio and quad DAC audio but doesn't has useless Qi wireless charging. Quick charging only works with AC/DC charger, through USB it takes 6h to fully battery recharge. Korean version has DMB-T TV, Qi wireless charging but no FM radio. If you have questions about my phone H870DSU just ask.
http://phonedb.net/index.php?m=device&id=11813&c=lg_h870dsu_g6plus_dual_sim_td-lte__lg_diva
http://phonedb.net/index.php?m=device&id=11780&c=lg_g600kp_g6plus_td-lte__lg_diva
Actually I have LG G6 Plus optical Black, quick charging work faster overall good specif actions and also wide angle front camera.
ChazzMatt said:
LG G6 Plus WITH Qi Wireless Charging
You are correct that not all LG G6 Plus models have Qi wireless charging. I would want Qi wireless charging. I won't buy a phone without it.
These are the South Korean market models (below) with Qi wireless charging. Here's the Qi wireless database search results that prove it. You can also search on the LG South Korean website for those model numbers and use Google Translate to look at the specs.
LGM-G600KP
LGM-G600SP
LGM-G600LP
Problem is the "official" specs do not show all the LTE bands these phones really get. So, it's a leap of faith to buy if you live in the U.S., for instance.
I know, because of people here in the U.S. who bought the Korean regular G6 (not the G6+) and who the models for those South Korean carriers (KP, SP, LP) DO actually get all the AT&T and T-mobile bands -- but just don't show it on the LG Korean website official specs.
Also, I don't want to buy phones I can't root, so I would have to wait until I KNEW I could root one of these LG South Korean market phones.
There's no official bootloader unlock for any of the LG G6 Plus models (yet).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, this is new to me. Can you specify which Korean G6 has all the T-Mobile bands in your experience? I want a G6 with the hiFi DAC, but I also need the TMobile bands.
Do these models have bootloader's that can be unlocked? I NEED to have root also.
Amd4life said:
Hmmm, this is new to me. Can you specify which Korean G6 has all the T-Mobile bands in your experience? I want a G6 with the hiFi DAC, but I also need the TMobile bands.
Do these models have bootloader's that can be unlocked? I NEED to have root also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon has an LG G6 plus model with lockscreen ads. Works perfectly on Ting Wireless with GSM sim, so I bet it would work on T-mobile. Model: LGUS997U.
There is an option to unlock the bootloader in developer options, would this allow you to flash a new ROM?
Amd4life said:
Hmmm, this is new to me. Can you specify which Korean G6 has all the T-Mobile bands in your experience? I want a G6 with the hiFi DAC, but I also need the TMobile bands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the LTE bands from any of the three South Korean carriers' LG G6 from a member here on XDA. The V30 Plus should be the same. You can go into the Engineering menu and see them. IF they are not already enabled (but they should be), you can checkmark the box to enable them. The only T-mobile bands the South Korean LG G6 models do not have are the newer LTE band 66 and very newest LTE band 71. In fact, only the T-mobile LG V30 has LTE band 71. (It's possible the LG G6 Plus may have LTE band 66 since it was released MONTHS later, but we know it doesn't have LTE band 71.)
koreezzz said:
Engineering menu:
Dialer: 5457#*600#
Lte bands in Korean G600S/K/L:
1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/26/38/39/40/41
Wcdma (HSPA) bands in Korean G600S/K/L:
1 (2100)/2(1900)/5(850)
Gsm bands in Korean G600S/K/L:
1800/900/850/1900
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
____________
Amd4life said:
Do these models have bootloader's that can be unlocked? I NEED to have root also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO, these bootloaders cannot be unlocked, at least officially and no one has published a bootloader unlock and root publicly (yet). The only LG G6 bootloaders that can be unlocked and phones rooted are the "open market" LG G6 for North America and Europe. None of the "G6 Plus" are on the official bootloader unlock list. (For 2017, LG has removed most of the ADB commands from their carrier flagship phones, so that even if you unlock the bootloader, it's very difficult for most people to root or install custom recovery.)
Also, none of the "open market" LG G6 have quad DAC or the increased internal storage. This was the reason I didn't buy the LG G6, due to LG's STUPID regionalized specs scheme. It was a great phone on paper -- but LG cut that paper into pieces and shipped it to countries all over the world. You could NOT buy an LG G6 with ALL the specs.
Then the LG G6 Plus (South Korean edition) -- released MONTHS later in mid-2017 -- was the phone LG should have released in the first place in early 2017. It FINALLY had all the specs in one phone (Qi wireless, quad DAC, more storage) -- but LG wouldn't place it on the LG Bootloader Unlock List. And LG wonders why they are trailing Samsung? Idiotic moves like that is why.
Amd4life said:
I want a G6 with the hiFi DAC, but I also need the TMobile bands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you need root and quad DAC, I would really suggest the "open market" LG V30 for North America. It will be released first week of December (sold by LG directly, and authorized 3rd party retailers like Amazon, B&H Photo and Best Buy) and soon after that will be placed on the LG Bootloader Unlock list. It will quickly get root, TWRP, ROMs, kernels.
It's the OFFICIAL CARRIER UNLOCKED VERSION: LGUS998.AUSASV. Do NOT confuse it with the U.S. Cellular version which has a similar model name. The U.S. Cellular version is sold by a carrier and will NOT qualify for LG's bootloader unlock.
We know the LGUS998 has all the North American CDMA/GSM/HSPA/LTE bands of the major carriers, with the probable exception of LTE band 71. We're hoping LG will add it to the model via an FCC addendum or that it can be enabled after the phone is rooted, possibly by flashing T-mobile radio. But that's a question for a dev after we get root.
That's the V30 model I am waiting for.
B&H has the US version of the G6+ on sale for $200 off.
Does anyone know if this model fully supports T-Mobile including Band 12 ?
Also, whether the G6 bootloader unlock indicated on LG bootloader unlock list ("US997.USA for the US open market") also works for this US version of the G6+ ?
B&H model number comparisons of the two US models::
G6: LGUS997.AUSABK
G6+ : LGUS997U.AUSABK
TIA...
Tinkerer_ said:
Also, whether the G6 bootloader unlock indicated on LG bootloader unlock list ("US997.USA for the US open market") also works for this US version of the G6+ ?
G6: LGUS997.AUSABK
G6+ : LGUS997U.AUSABK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the G6 "AUSABK" definitely the officially unlockable one?
I'm looking to replace my aging HTC One M8 and it looks like the LG V30+ is the right phone for me, since it's got all the features I want (and no notch!) at a price I'm happy to pay.
One thing I definitely want though is Android Pie. I know LG hasn't released it yet for these phones but that it should be out in Q1 or Q2 of this year.
I also want to root my phone. I've skimmed over the instructions and it seems that if you do the rooting process it'll erase all of your private data off your phone, so it seems like I should do this more or less after I get the phone, rather than using it and wiping my stuff later.
But I've read that once the phone is rooted, OTA updates won't apply is that correct? I don't want to use any custom ROMs or anything, just the standard LG firmware. Do I need to flash to some other firmware and then manually install updates? What's the deal? How difficult / fiddly is it?
It doesn't matter if you're rooted or not. You will still be able to update as usual using KDZ. You can even update stock LG ROMs via TWRP with flashable ZIP. Keep in mind that unlocking bootloader needs stock 20a or 20b so if you update to the versions above that, you must downgrade later. So I think it will be nice to unlock your bootloader first after you get your phone, then you can decide whether to root or not after that.
Lanthanide said:
But I've read that once the phone is rooted, OTA updates won't apply is that correct? I don't want to use any custom ROMs or anything, just the standard LG firmware. Do I need to flash to some other firmware and then manually install updates? What's the deal? How difficult / fiddly is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on stock rooted firmware myself.
OTA updates won't apply because you'll have TWRP custom recovery. But full image updates (KDZ) are always better than partial image OTA.
If you have TWRP, you merely install the latest TWRP-flashable zip file of the KDZ. It's like flashing a ROM, but it's stock firmware "ROM". Reflash Magisk then reboot. You "dirty flash" so you keep all your data. Takes 5 minutes?
If you read the WTF instructions, upgrading to newer firmware is mentioned towards the end -- Section 9, specifically. Read those Instructions in a web browser, not XDA app, or stuff will be missing. I also suggest printing them out to reference.
Ok, that's great, thanks!
What these KDZ files? I haven't looked around these forums much yet. Are they officially provided by LG, or do people rip them off their phones and upload here, or is it a mixture?
Lanthanide said:
Ok, that's great, thanks!
What these KDZ files? I haven't looked around these forums much yet. Are they officially provided by LG, or do people rip them off their phones and upload here, or is it a mixture?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LG publicly releases the full image updates a few days after the partial image OTA update. The format extension is .KDZ. We post copies here in the forum, down on the dev section. A group of devs have graciously offered to convert the KDZ images to TWRP-FLASHABLE zip file, whenever updates are released.
For people who are rooted, just flash them in TWRP just like dirty flashing a ROM. Keeps all your data. Reflash Magisk, reboot. Done.
As an example, here are the KDZ and TWRP flashable zip files for the Verizon VS996:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v30/development/vs996-lg-v30-verizon-vs996-t3865398
The top one was released very recently. You can see there's a link straight to official LG Bridge update server as well as TWRP-flashable zip format, rendered by a Dev to "ROM".
It is possible to update to newer KDZ manually, without using TWRP. A little more complicated. But we don't need to discuss that right now since we do have TWRP flashable zip files.
Thanks very much for your help.
Lanthanide said:
Thanks very much for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you live, what V30 variant were you considering? If you live inthe U.S., what carrier do you use?
With V30, you can buy other variants and convert them to what you need -- especially North America. (There's one exception, which I'll explain after you answer.). But that's why a lot of people buy "mint" (like new) Sprint LS998 V30+ (128GB), even though they are not Sprint customer. It's often less expensive and has more internal memory than just the 64GB V30. They then unlock bootloader, root it, then convert to what they really want.
I converted two personally from LS998 V30+ to US998 V30+. You can even flash Verizon or AT&T firmware over them.
Or you can find already-converted "mint" US998 V30+ for very good price on eBay. Most US998 V30+ on eBay right now are probably former LS998 V30+ -- but that's OK most of the time.
Sorry, don't mean to confuse you.
I'm in New Zealand. The company I have bought from brings in the phones from Hong Kong. It's a 128GB model, although the website doesn't state which specific variant, but from what is available through other sites here I expect it to be a V30+ H930DS.
I'm aware of the root restriction with the T-mobile variant, which doesn't matter to me.
Is there a benefit to be gained by swapping the variant firmware? Is it just radio bands unlocked depending on carrier?
Lanthanide said:
I'm in New Zealand. The company I have bought from brings in the phones from Hong Kong. It's a 128GB model, although the website doesn't state which specific variant, but from what is available through other sites here I expect it to be a V30+ H930DS.
I'm aware of the root restriction with the T-mobile variant, which doesn't matter to me.
Is there a benefit to be gained by swapping the variant firmware? Is it just radio bands unlocked depending on carrier?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For H930DS, the other compatible firmware is the H930. Unlike the North American "Frankenstein", flashing H930 over H939DS does not change bands or anything. Hong Kong H930DS just got a new update with DTS stereo framework (needs root to fully enable), so you should stick to your firmware.
Whereas North America Frankenstein fully converts one variant to another, including all bands.
-deleted-
---------- Post added at 02:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:06 AM ----------
ChazzMatt said:
Where do you live, what V30 variant were you considering? If you live inthe U.S., what carrier do you use?
With V30, you can buy other variants and convert them to what you need -- especially North America. (There's one exception, which I'll explain after you answer.). But that's why a lot of people buy "mint" (like new) Sprint LS998 V30+ (128GB), even though they are not Sprint customer. It's often less expensive and has more internal memory than just the 64GB V30. They then unlock bootloader, root it, then convert to what they really want.
I converted two personally from LS998 V30+ to US998 V30+. You can even flash Verizon or AT&T firmware over them.
Or you can find already-converted "mint" US998 V30+ for very good price on eBay. Most US998 V30+ on eBay right now are probably former LS998 V30+ -- but that's OK most of the time.
Sorry, don't mean to confuse you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wish i had seen this before getting my h933.
Only took it cause the frequency bands work in my country.
Would have loved the extra storage :silly:
Lanthanide said:
I'm looking to replace my aging HTC One M8 and it looks like the LG V30+ is the right phone for me, since it's got all the features I want (and no notch!) at a price I'm happy to pay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, been there, done that
Root is easy, some custom roms available if you want to play. The v30 plus is a great upgrade.
I am still on stock and with root and magisk its easy to customise how you like it.
My m8 is a bit short on battery life now but still a great phone. Annoyingly I have Pie on there already working really sweet :silly:
Oh, I only miss the ir blaster to control the tv in the gym
kerdelgreen767 said:
Wish i had seen this (Frankenstein conversion information) before getting my h933.
Only took it cause the frequency bands work in my country.
Would have loved the extra (V30+) storage :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Curious what frequency bands from the H933 you need, and what country?
gazzacbr said:
Yep, been there, done that
...
My m8 is a bit short on battery life now but still a great phone. Annoyingly I have Pie on there already working really sweet :silly:
Oh, I only miss the ir blaster to control the tv in the gym
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my M8 is still a decent phone although I'm just on Marshmallow. The battery is the main problem, it doesn't last super long (although recently I seem to be able to use it for longer? not sure what that's about). I've twice had it now where the battery is so low that when the phone has had less than 15% remaining it just shuts off, seemingly in the middle of some important process, corrupting some important system files and to recover it I essentially had to wipe all of my profile out of it - once this happened on holiday (in a city were I could get wifi, thankfully) and it took me several hours to get it working again, damn annoying.
Have also had it crash when trying to take photos with the flash on. Basically exactly the same problem that Apple got completely lambasted for - the battery is old and can no longer always cope with large spikes of energy draw, which can cause system instability.
ChazzMatt said:
Curious what frequency bands from the H933 you need, and what country?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Digicel LTE bands are 2/12/17
H930/LS99U/H933 support these bands but wasn't getting any good condition LS99U so went with the 933.
I live in Dominica in the Caribbean.
Also as a side note im stuck on one LTE band (17 cause it has most coverage) .
Tried the adb commands posted in another thread but kept getting the error "error (Cannot erase this partition in unlocked state). "
kerdelgreen767 said:
Digicel LTE bands are 2/12/17
H930/LS99U/H933 support these bands but wasn't getting any good condition LS99U so went with the 933.
I live in Dominica in the Caribbean.
Also as a side note im stuck on one LTE band (17 cause it has most coverage) .
Tried the adb commands posted in another thread but kept getting the error "error (Cannot erase this partition in unlocked state). "
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
US998 also has those bands...
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
I'm on AT&T which uses band 17. But in the U.S. now it's band 12/17. LTE band 17 is a subset of LTE band 12, so about three years ago, AT&T decided to just say their phones have LTE band 12 -- since they support ALL of LTE band 12 (which T-mobile has) as well as the carved out piece of LTE band 12 that is called LTE band 17. Even though AT&T uses LTE band 17, none of their phone specs now actually list LTE band 17 -- it lists LTE band 12 (which includes LTE band 17).
Band 12 contains the 700 MHz lower A+B+C blocks.
Band 17 contains only B+C.
The analogy I use is Miami = LTE band 17.
Florida = LTE band 12.
Miami is in Florida, so there's no need to say I have "Miami" and I have "Florida".
I got into an argument with someone about this a couple of years ago when AT&T changed their designation from Band 17 to Band 12. He was looking for a carrier unlocked phone that had LTE band 17 -- so he could use it on AT&T, and suddenly couldn't find any. I told him just what I told you (LTE band 12 = LTE band 17 on U.S. phones), and he didn't believe me. So, I sent him the link to the online AT&T store where all the AT&T-branded phones are with specs. NO AT&T phones show band 17 any more -- even though AT&T STILL uses LTE band 17! They're just calling it band 12 now... I challenged him to show me any post-2016 AT&T phones with the LTE band 17 -- which he and I both knows AT&T uses. Since 2016, AT&T no longer lists LTE band 17 on their phones specs, but older AT&T phones will STILL show LTE band 17 in the SAME location. Newer phones show LTE band "12" on AT&T in those locations.
You can read more here:
https://forums.att.com/t5/Network-C...band-12-Why-is-my-phone-using-it/td-p/5065954
ChazzMatt said:
US998 also has those bands...
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
I'm on AT&T which uses band 17. But in the U.S. now it's band 12/band 17. LTE band 17 is a subset of LTE band 12, so a couple of years ago, AT&T decided to just say their phones have LTE band 12 -- since they support ALL of LTE band 12 (which T-mobile has) as well as the carved out piece of LTE band 12 that is called LTE band 17. Even though AT&T uses LTE band 17, none of their phone specs list LTE band 17 -- it lists LTE band 12 (but that has LTE band 17).
Band 12 contains the 700 MHz lower A+B+C blocks. Band 17 contains only B+C.
The analogy I use is Miami = LTE band 17. Florida = LTE band 12. Miami is in Florida, so there's no need to say I have "Miami" and I have "Florida".
I got into an argument with someone about this a couple of years ago when AT&T changed their designation. He was looking for a carrier unlocked phone that had LTE band 17 -- so he could use it on AT&T. I told him just what I told you (LTE band 12 = LTE band 17 on U.S. phones), and he didn't believe me. So, I sent him the link to the online AT&T store where all the phones are with specs. I challenged him to show me any post-2016 AT&T phones with the LTE band 17 he knows AT&T uses. Since 2016, AT&T no longer lists LTE band 17 on their phones, but older AT&T phones will STILL show LTE band 17 in the SAME location.
You can read more here:
https://forums.att.com/t5/Network-C...band-12-Why-is-my-phone-using-it/td-p/5065954
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's me being ignorant of that fact that caused me to leave down the 998 and get a 933.
gsmarena was my go to source for bands on the diff models and as you explained the 998 does not show band 17.
i even asked my provider and their response wasn't so helpful.
just went with what seemed safer to me.
might sell the 933 and get a v30+ for the extra storage
ChazzMatt said:
It is possible to update to newer KDZ manually, without using TWRP. A little more complicated. But we don't need to discuss that right now since we do have TWRP flashable zip files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, so I've had a look at the available TWRP ROMs and there's only a handful for the H930DS and none for my region (TWN).
So how do I go about flashing a stock KDZ, and will that erase any of my data?
You use LGUP to flash the KDZs. Yes, it will erase all your data, as this is effectively reinstalling the OS as if the device was new from LG.
The KDZ thread should provide instructions. ChazzMatt's thread here is specific to the 930 series: https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v30/development/h930-lg-v30-european-market-h930-t3779076 - near the bottom he details how to flash KDZ with the appropriate LGUP files as well.
I'm wondering if I can use one of the TWRP ROMs for the H930dS even if they aren't for the TWN region, or would that cause problems? Am I correct thinking the *only* difference is the cell bands enabled? Or do all H930DS support the same bands (except India)? Is there any site that lists the different bands for each region?
I'm looking to buy one of these soon. I am on tmobile/metropcs so I would need the H932 or the US998. I do plan on rooting and most likely would prefer to unlock bootloader. I know the H932 doesn't play nicely with the other variants but I'm confident I could get it rooted and everything. I also saw that the v30 has band 77, which tmobile has been rolling out, and the v30+ doesn't.
My question to you who already own these devices is, do you recommend just getting the v30 or are there any advantages to possibly spending a bit more on the v30+?
Thanks for your opinions.
sirganon said:
I'm looking to buy one of these soon. I am on tmobile/metropcs so I would need the H932 or the US998. I do plan on rooting and most likely would prefer to unlock bootloader. I know the H932 doesn't play nicely with the other variants but I'm confident I could get it rooted and everything. I also saw that the v30 has band 77, which tmobile has been rolling out, and the v30+ doesn't.
My question to you who already own these devices is, do you recommend just getting the v30 or are there any advantages to possibly spending a bit more on the v30+?
Thanks for your opinions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I know (and gathered when doing my own research before buying) the V30+ only has the additional storage over the base v30.
Everything else about the phone (as far as I'm aware) is identical. I don't see why the V30+ would be missing a band, especially one the base v30 has.
Redline said:
From what I know (and gathered when doing my own research before buying) the V30+ only has the additional storage over the base v30.
Everything else about the phone (as far as I'm aware) is identical. I don't see why the V30+ would be missing a band, especially one the base v30 has.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sites like gsmarena and frequency check don't list band 77 for the v30+ so I'm just going off of sites like that. I do realise the internal storage is the main difference when comparing the two versions but I wasn't sure if ease of rooting or some other variables may be present to help sway your (and my) decision.
sirganon said:
Sites like gsmarena and frequency check don't list band 77 for the v30+ so I'm just going off of sites like that. I do realise the internal storage is the main difference when comparing the two versions but I wasn't sure if ease of rooting or some other variables may be present to help sway your (and my) decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be on the safe side of assuming you won't miss anything over the base v30.
Ease of rooting is just the same.
sirganon said:
I'm looking to buy one of these soon. I am on tmobile/metropcs so I would need the H932 or the US998. I do plan on rooting and most likely would prefer to unlock bootloader. I know the H932 doesn't play nicely with the other variants but I'm confident I could get it rooted and everything. I also saw that the v30 has band 77, which tmobile has been rolling out, and the v30+ doesn't.
My question to you who already own these devices is, do you recommend just getting the v30 or are there any advantages to possibly spending a bit more on the v30+?
Thanks for your opinions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sirganon said:
Sites like gsmarena and frequency check don't list band 77 for the v30+ so I'm just going off of sites like that. I do realise the internal storage is the main difference when comparing the two versions but I wasn't sure if ease of rooting or some other variables may be present to help sway your (and my) decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two corrections:
* It's LTE band 71 U.S. T-mobile has, not 77.
* In many cases the V30+ is about the same price as the H932 V30, if you are talking about North America variants. That LS998 V30+ (easily converted to US998 V30+) is actually $20 less than the H932 V30. Yes, that's "manufacturer refurbished" vs "new" but my experience with prices on these is the V30+ does not really cost more on sites like eBay.
You are right that only the U.S. T-Mobile H932 has LTE band 71. No other V30/V30+/V30S variant in the world have that band, as only U.S. T-Mobile needs it (or needed it when the V30 was released). It was brand new at the time the V30 was being introduced (late 2017) and U.S. T-Mobile made a big deal how it was exclusive to the their carrier-branded H932. H932 was the first phone in the world to have the new U.S. T-Mobile LTE band 71 and still is the only V30/V30+/V30S to have that band. (Some early tweets from U.S. T-mobile made us believe the open market US998 V30/V30+ would have it also... but alas it didn't. If you dig deep enough, you may see posts hoping that was true or that it could be enabled with root.)
Having said that, most phones being used on U.S. T-Mobile network still do not have LTE band 71 (pre-2018 phones), and there are many US998 V30/V30+/V30S users in this forum who are on U.S. T-Mobile or U.S. T-Mobile MVNOs.
U.S. T-Mobile actually did sell a 128GB V30+ H932 (with LTE band 71, of course) for a LIMITED time, in addition to their 64GB V30. It was a marketing promotion a couple of months after the V30 H932 was released. Then it went away. Some of these H932 V30+ might pop up on eBay, but would only be a few. Or here for allegedly new in box H932 V30+.
Yes, the H932 seems a little harder to root than the other variants. (My opinion.) You can't use the WTF method, since the H932 doesn't have fastboot flash commands and you can't convert it (even temporarily) to a variant which has fastboot flash commands. So, you have to use the other method developed for the H932. But it can be done and has been done by many. If you do use T-Mobile, then that might be what you're most happy with.
When buying an H932 for U.S. T-mobile, make sure it's H932SV. There's also an H932PR for Claro carrier in Puerto Rico and that variant does NOT have LTE band 71 for U.S. T-mobile. I'm only mentioning it because it IS out there and you may run across it on eBay. If you want LTE band 71, you want the H932SV. (For those who do have the Claro/Puerto Rico H932PR, it can be rooted through WTF and Frankenstein converted to other North American models, while the U.S. T-mobile H932SV can not.)
__________
This next part is not just about the H932, but all V30/V30+/V30S....
Different V30/V30+ variants for various carriers/world regions have different bands. For instances, there are bands the North American V30/V30+ variants have which the H930 (V30)/H930G (V30+) or H930D (V30)/H930DS (V30+) does not. H930/H930G doesn't have LTE band 2 and the H930D/H930DS doesn't have LTE band 2 nor LTE band 4. You wouldn't want to buy an H930/H930G or H930D/H930DS to use in U.S. or Canada. Some of the Korean variants are also missing necessary bands for North America.
Even among the North American variants, there are bands the AT&T H931 or Sprint LS998 has which the US998 does not have. In most cases you can convert (Frankenstein) one variant to another to get those bands (if you really need them) -- either before or after root -- but with the T-mobile H932 you cannot do that, as it has different RSA encryption from all the other variants.
But the only hardware difference between V30/V30+ is extra internal memory -- 64GB vs 128GB. Unlike other OEMs (like Samsung), where + denotes larger physical size, with LG the + on the V30 series is only more internal memory. (The V30+ models also came with LG-branded or B&O-branded earbuds of questionable value. They don't even trigger HIM. You are better off with these or these, which have the necessary impendent to trigger HIM on quad DAC.)
However, there is a US998 V30S (released in early 2018), which has 128GB internal memory with 6GB RAM. The V30S is basically a "V30+" with more RAM. The official model number is US998R (for more RAM).
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
ChazzMatt said:
Two corrections:
* It's LTE band 71 U.S. T-mobile has, not 77.
* In many cases the V30+ is about the same price as the H932 V30, if you are talking about North America variants. That LS998 V30+ (easily converted to US998 V30+) is actually $20 less than the H932 V30. Yes, that's "manufacturer refurbished" vs "new" but my experience with prices on these is the V30+ does not really cost more on sites like eBay.
You are right that only the U.S. T-Mobile H932 has LTE band 71. No other V30/V30+/V30S variant in the world have that band, as only U.S. T-Mobile needs it (or needed it when the V30 was released). It was brand new at the time the V30 was being introduced (late 2017) and U.S. T-Mobile made a big deal how it was exclusive to the their carrier-branded H932. H932 was the first phone in the world to have the new U.S. T-Mobile LTE band 71 and still is the only V30/V30+/V30S to have that band. (Some early tweets from U.S. T-mobile made us believe the open market US998 V30/V30+ would have it also... but alas it didn't. If you dig deep enough, you may see posts hoping that was true or that it could be enabled with root.)
Having said that, most phones being used on U.S. T-Mobile network still do not have LTE band 71 (pre-2018 phones), and there are many US998 V30/V30+/V30S users in this forum who are on U.S. T-Mobile or U.S. T-Mobile MVNOs.
U.S. T-Mobile actually did sell a 128GB V30+ H932 (with LTE band 71, of course) for a LIMITED time, in addition to their 64GB V30. It was a marketing promotion a couple of months after the V30 H932 was released. Then it went away. Some of these H932 V30+ might pop up on eBay, but would only be a few. Or here for allegedly new in box H932 V30+.
Yes, the H932 seems a little harder to root than the other variants. (My opinion.) You can't use the WTF method, since the H932 doesn't have fastboot flash commands and you can't convert it (even temporarily) to a variant which has fastboot flash commands. So, you have to use the other method developed for the H932. But it can be done and has been done by many. If you do use T-Mobile, then that might be what you're most happy with.
When buying an H932 for U.S. T-mobile, make sure it's H932SV. There's also an H932PR for Claro carrier in Puerto Rico and that variant does NOT have LTE band 71 for U.S. T-mobile. I'm only mentioning it because it IS out there and you may run across it on eBay. If you want LTE band 71, you want the H932SV. (For those who do have the Claro/Puerto Rico H932PR, it can be rooted through WTF and Frankenstein converted to other North American models, while the U.S. T-mobile H932SV can not.)
__________
This next part is not just about the H932, but all V30/V30+/V30S....
Different V30/V30+ variants for various carriers/world regions have different bands. For instances, there are bands the North American V30/V30+ variants have which the H930 (V30)/H930G (V30+) or H930D (V30)/H930DS (V30+) does not. H930/H930G doesn't have LTE band 2 and the H930D/H930DS doesn't have LTE band 2 nor LTE band 4. You wouldn't want to buy an H930/H930G or H930D/H930DS to use in U.S. or Canada. Some of the Korean variants are also missing necessary bands for North America.
Even among the North American variants, there are bands the AT&T H931 or Sprint LS998 has which the US998 does not have. In most cases you can convert (Frankenstein) one variant to another to get those bands (if you really need them) -- either before or after root -- but with the T-mobile H932 you cannot do that, as it has different RSA encryption from all the other variants.
But the only hardware difference between V30/V30+ is extra internal memory -- 64GB vs 128GB. Unlike other OEMs (like Samsung), where + denotes larger physical size, with LG the + on the V30 series is only more internal memory. (The V30+ models also came with LG-branded or B&O-branded earbuds of questionable value. They don't even trigger HIM. You are better off with these or these, which have the necessary impendent to trigger HIM on quad DAC.)
However, there is a US998 V30S (released in early 2018), which has 128GB internal memory with 6GB RAM. The V30S is basically a "V30+" with more RAM. The official model number is US998R (for more RAM).
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all this info! I did mean band 71. It was late when writing my previous posts so I was thinking 61 & 77 instead of 66 & 71.
I'll read through this a few times to make sure I fully understand the differences of the variants and make my decision after that. Greatly appreciated!
I have a T-Mobile V30+. The only difference from the V30 is 128GB internal storage and black color backing. The V30 has a silver colored back. I live in Southern California and I haven't been able to get band 71 reception in the rural areas outside Los Angeles and San Diego. I also didn't get Band 71 reception when I went visited the outskirts of Portland, Oregon and San Francisco/Sacramento. Band 71 is meant for very rural areas, so having it may be a moot point based on your location.
Buy a Sim unlocked att v35 off ebay. When cross flashed to the Google Fi variant, the secret menu lists band 71. Im on a us998 conversion v30 with TMobile and migrating to the v35 for SD845 with 6 gigs of ram, slightly better cameras and band 71 is well worth it. They are going for ~300usd. @runningnak3d just got one and is hot on the bootloader unlock trail.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v35/how-to/bring-to-speed-trying-to-root-t3909527
Edit: Also band 71 isn't just for rural locations. TMobile invested almost 8 billion dollars in the spectrum the other year and will be rolling it out nation wide. I'm in NorCal and the reason it's not in California yet is because the TV stations that currently occupy the bandwidth that TMobile will refarm are scheduled later than other areas to shut down. It's scheduled here for q2 2019. I think LA is still a year or two out though. Point is TMobile didn't invest that kind of cheese to only help people in the sticks out.
bacon612 said:
Buy a Sim unlocked att v35 off ebay. When cross flashed to the Google Fi variant, the secret menu lists band 71. Im on a us998 conversion v30 with TMobile and migrating to the v35 for SD845, slightly better cameras and band 71 is well worth it. They are going for ~300usd. @runningnak3d just got one and is hot on the bootloader unlock trail.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v35/how-to/bring-to-speed-trying-to-root-t3909527
Edit: Also band 71 isn't just for rural locations. TMobile invested almost 8 billion dollars in the spectrum the other year and will be rolling it out nation wide. I'm in NorCal and the reason it's not in California yet is because the TV stations that currently occupy the bandwidth that TMobile will refarm are scheduled later than other areas to shut down. It's scheduled here for q2 2019. I think LA is still a year or two out though. Point is TMobile didn't invest that kind of cheese to only help people in the sticks out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll definitely take a look at this one when I can, thanks!
bacon612 said:
Im on a us998 conversion v30 with TMobile and migrating to the v35 for SD845 with 6 gigs of ram, slightly better cameras.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of doing the same thing, but the wide angle lens on the V35 (107°) is narrower than the V30 (120°). That's a deal breaker for me even with the SD845 and 6GB RAM. If my V30 was destroyed, then I might consider the V35. Not worth the investment if not necessary. The V40's wide lens is also 107°. LG has been reducing the wide angle lens since the V20/G5, which had 135°. The Galaxy S10's wide angle is 123°.
The camera is a bummer, yes. But with the sale of my V30+ an investment of ~$100 makes my decision a no brainier. I can't believe how dramatically these devices drop in value in less than a year. I paid $325 in May 2018 for my v30+ in 9/10 shape. $290 last week for the v35 and it's flawless.
Edit: for the OP. The extra cash for the v35 is also a smart move. The v35 shipped with Oreo 8 making it a better candidate for treble roms out of the gate. The newer SOC with the bonus ram gives you at least another year of use where the v30 will fall away.
Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk
Interesting thread...
My 2 cents:
1) the 64 vs 128 doesn't mean much to me (very low on the list of priorities) - especially with an sd card slot.
2) T-Mo band 71. That's pretty big. I think T-Mo is going to really improve it's status with that band, *But*, it's going
to be some time before it's completely rolled out... and it's at least somewhat questionable how much of an effect
it would have **for you**. Lots of factors involved; are you in buildings a lot that the 600 MHz will benefit you? Are
you *outside* of the range of normal (already existing) bands? etc
I'd have to put this feature in a 'nice to have' category, but no way is it a necessity - nor a deal breaker.
3) Is the model easily Frankenstein-ed? While *in the future* a device might be unlocked... it might not also.
If a phone has the ability to be unlocked now, and it's a good / great device... I say ya gotta go with those
criteria. If I like the device / size / cameras / design / etc - then this aspect is at the top of my list.
I have a 931 converted to US998, very happy with it. The cameras are awesome. The quad dac blows yer hair
back. I'm on T-Mo with an old pay-as-you go plan and also just signed on with Mint Mobile (uses T-mo towers). There's
no issues to speak of re calls / text / data. Everything works fine.
I'm actually so happy with the V30 and the ability to mod it ... I bought another one.
A brand new one, should arrive soon.
Good luck with your decision. Maybe this info helps a little when making up your mind, maybe not!
Cheers
ChazzMatt said:
Having said that, most phones being used on U.S. T-Mobile network still do not have LTE band 71 (pre-2018 phones), and there are many US998 V30/V30+/V30S users in this forum who are on U.S. T-Mobile or U.S. T-Mobile MVNOs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AsItLies said:
Interesting thread...
My 2 cents:
1) the 64 vs 128 doesn't mean much to me (very low on the list of priorities) - especially with an sd card slot.
2) T-Mo band 71. That's pretty big. I think T-Mo is going to really improve it's status with that band, *But*, it's going
to be some time before it's completely rolled out... and it's at least somewhat questionable how much of an effect
it would have **for you**. Lots of factors involved; are you in buildings a lot that the 600 MHz will benefit you? Are
you *outside* of the range of normal (already existing) bands? etc
I'd have to put this feature in a 'nice to have' category, but no way is it a necessity - nor a deal breaker.
3) Is the model easily Frankenstein-ed? While *in the future* a device might be unlocked... it might not also.
If a phone has the ability to be unlocked now, and it's a good / great device... I say ya gotta go with those
criteria. If I like the device / size / cameras / design / etc - then this aspect is at the top of my list.
I have a 931 converted to US998, very happy with it. The cameras are awesome. The quad dac blows yer hair
back. I'm on T-Mo with an old pay-as-you go plan and also just signed on with Mint Mobile (uses T-mo towers). There's
no issues to speak of re calls / text / data. Everything works fine.
I'm actually so happy with the V30 and the ability to mod it ... I bought another one.
A brand new one, should arrive soon.
Good luck with your decision. Maybe this info helps a little when making up your mind, maybe not!
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is a great phone.
Thanks, you confirmed what I said about T-mobile on US998.
The new DTS is fantastic.
AsItLies said:
Interesting thread...
My 2 cents:
3) Is the model easily Frankenstein-ed? While *in the future* a device might be unlocked... it might not also.
If a phone has the ability to be unlocked now, and it's a good / great device... I say ya gotta go with those
criteria. If I like the device / size / cameras / design / etc - then this aspect is at the top of my list.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it can currently be cross flashed with ease. Most are opting for the Google Fi crossflash as it removes all of the att bloat and allows things like wifi calling to be used. Or even use as a fully functioning Google Fi phone (switching networks between Sprint, TMobile and us cellular.)
Regarding the bootloader unlock for root and roms, I am 99% certain we will see that in the next month.
bacon612 said:
So it can currently be cross flashed with ease. Most are opting for the Google Fi crossflash as it removes all of the att bloat and allows things like wifi calling to be used. Or even use as a fully functioning Google Fi phone (switching networks between Sprint, TMobile and us cellular.)
Regarding the bootloader unlock for root and roms, I am 99% certain we will see that in the next month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does crossflashing these other V35 firmware carrier unlock the V35 from AT&T, like crossflashing H931 with US998?
I"m mostly asking because months ago I recommended crossflashing AT&T V35 firmware with other V35 and I was told it couldn't be done. And that I was stupid for suggesting it.
The phone has to be carrier unlocked as far as things go now. In the future, it may be different. It was explained to me that the partition where the Sim lock exists, does not get touched when you flash the kdz in lgup. Some are having issues getting their att phones unlocked but there are lots of already unlocked phones on eBay. YMMV
Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk
bacon612 said:
So it can currently be cross flashed with ease. Most are opting for the Google Fi crossflash as it removes all of the att bloat and allows things like wifi calling to be used. Or even use as a fully functioning Google Fi phone (switching networks between Sprint, TMobile and us cellular.)
Regarding the bootloader unlock for root and roms, I am 99% certain we will see that in the next month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations! Personally, I don't use Google Fi, but more power to those that do.
We all have our individual needs / wants. Mine are satisfied with the V30. Hope yours are too - with whatever device you have.
AsItLies said:
Congratulations! Personally, I don't use Google Fi, but more power to those that do.
We all have our individual needs / wants. Mine are satisfied with the V30. Hope yours are too - with whatever device you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine are satisfied with LG V30/V30+ for now. I have 10 friends/family members who own one, thanks to me touting them. Of them, only mine is rooted as with my job I don't have time even to flash updates (TWRP-flashable zips) for friends anymore. But every V30/V30+/V30S in the world CAN be bootloader unlocked and rooted.
ChazzMatt said:
Mine are satisfied with LG V30/V30+ for now. I have 10 friends/family members who own one, thanks to me touting them. Of them, only mine is rooted as with my job I don't have time even to flash updates (TWRP-flashable zips) for friends anymore. But every V30/V30+/V30S in the world CAN be bootloader unlocked and rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly Matt. And that's a pretty unusual situation in my experience; a phone with a great design, processor, VERY good cameras (wide in front AND back is NOT common), quad dac (all models), p-oled hi-res screen, etc.
AND at a very affordable price, now anyway.
There really isn't anything comparable right now, AND there MAY NOT be for some time to come. Sure, there are other phones, pixel, oneplus, etc. But they are not in the same price range, not sure which if any have quad dac, none have wide angle lens (back also), etc. And many others of course, but unable to unlock bootloader.
I feel lucky. It was fortunate to be reading Android A on the day they had an article indicating the V30, great phone, was now available at great prices on ebay. After reading your WTF thread... boom! I was an owner within a few hours. It is not a common situation imho. Get em while they last
Something else for the OP. The v30 front facing camera left something to be desired. The two phones I had before (htc 10 and 9) had significantly better front facing cameras. I think to maintain the thin bezels on the 30 the sensor was compromised. They used a much better sensor on the v35. For me, getting a decent image in varied lighting conditions when video chatting was problematic and almost embarrassing at times. I've read this in reviews a few times as well. If a good front facing camera is an issue for you, it may be something to consider
Hi,
I'm new here, and honestly know very little of the stuff I'm asking about, but here it goes, hopefully someone will be able to explain it to me. My phone (iPhone 5S) just broke, but I had been looking to buy a new one for some time anyway, and seriously considering the LG V30 or the V35 ThinQ, mostly cause of the headphone jack and Quad DAC + wide angle camera. The problem is, I'm looking to buy a refurbished one on eBay.com (US site), since I've found some really good deals there (unlike on European eBay sites), but I'm afraid of carrier issues I may encounter, specially considering I live in Spain and most of these seem to be "unlocked" phones from the US that were once network connected or something along those lines. I really don't know anything about how these things work, what unlocked / IMEI / GSM / CDMA / whatever means, and we don't usually have carrier exclusive phones over here, so I'm kind of worried about it all. I'm also afraid of how this is going to affect updates, since I know LG is already pretty slow but I've heard US carriers add another layer of complications when it comes to that, though seeing as these are supposed to be unlocked this shouldn't be a problem? No idea really.
For example, right now I'm looking at this LG V35 ThinQ deal on eBay, great price, plus the seller allows returns, has really good reputations and feedback, even on the product itself. However, isn't the V35 supposed to be AT&T exclusive? It says it's unlocked, but I don't know what to make of it. Should I just try and find a deal on the V30 instead? Even some of those seem to be carrier connected somehow though, like I see there's different models of the V30, some are HXXXX, others VOXXXX, etc. I guess if I could choose I'd prefer the V35, but it's not even available on Europe, and that makes me even more wary.
Hopefully some of you can shed some light on this and tell me whether buying from eBay is a good idea in my case, or what I could do instead. Honestly coming from Apple all of these different models for the same phone are making things very confusing, but I really wanna make the switch, since both the LG V30 and the V35 seem to be really great phones (despite how huge they are... hope I can get used to it). And by the way, in case that helps, my network in Spain is Movistar.
Thanks, and have a good one.
ChazzMatt is a wealth of knowledge on these matters, but I will tell you what I think. I did a check here for the US998 (V30) on your carrier in Spain: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...SV/lg-us998-v30-td-lte-lg-joan/movistar-spain
From what it says, the US998 will work on your carrier without issue. This means you have the choice of getting many variants (eg LS998, VS996, etc) that Chazz showed on the WTF thread (see post 193 here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76584629&postcount=193 ), hack that phone to US998 (via Frankenstein method) and it will work great. Note, as noted there, don't get an H932 as it's different... in reality, you may be able to get that to work as well these days, but I found it was easier to get LS998 or US998. That's what I did for our two phones - I got 2 US998s. (I converted mine to VS996 for other reasons - you won't need to.)
V35 by itself doesn't tell us enough - you need to know the model number. Please be careful when talking any phones, as the model number is what's most important! Some V35s are apparently V30+, others are different and won't work with any of the steps here... so again, be careful.
I'd say, stick to US998 or LS998, and you should be fine, but let the expert confirm!
Oh yeah, and congrats for leaving the Crapple world! Needless to say I'm not a fan, for many good/real reasons. Many of my friends have switched when they learned how much better things can be on Android.
JayKiddo said:
Hi,
I'm new here, and honestly know very little of the stuff I'm asking about, but here it goes, hopefully someone will be able to explain it to me. My phone (iPhone 5S) just broke, but I had been looking to buy a new one for some time anyway, and seriously considering the LG V30 or the V35 ThinQ, mostly cause of the headphone jack and Quad DAC + wide angle camera. The problem is, I'm looking to buy a refurbished one on eBay.com (US site), since I've found some really good deals there (unlike on European eBay sites), but I'm afraid of carrier issues I may encounter, specially considering I live in Spain and most of these seem to be "unlocked" phones from the US that were once network connected or something along those lines. I really don't know anything about how these things work, what unlocked / IMEI / GSM / CDMA / whatever means, and we don't usually have carrier exclusive phones over here, so I'm kind of worried about it all. I'm also afraid of how this is going to affect updates, since I know LG is already pretty slow but I've heard US carriers add another layer of complications when it comes to that, though seeing as these are supposed to be unlocked this shouldn't be a problem? No idea really.
For example, right now I'm looking at this LG V35 ThinQ deal on eBay, great price, plus the seller allows returns, has really good reputations and feedback, even on the product itself. However, isn't the V35 supposed to be AT&T exclusive? It says it's unlocked, but I don't know what to make of it. Should I just try and find a deal on the V30 instead? Even some of those seem to be carrier connected somehow though, like I see there's different models of the V30, some are HXXXX, others VOXXXX, etc. I guess if I could choose I'd prefer the V35, but it's not even available on Europe, and that makes me even more wary.
Hopefully some of you can shed some light on this and tell me whether buying from eBay is a good idea in my case, or what I could do instead. Honestly coming from Apple all of these different models for the same phone are making things very confusing, but I really wanna make the switch, since both the LG V30 and the V35 seem to be really great phones (despite how huge they are... hope I can get used to it). And by the way, in case that helps, my network in Spain is Movistar.
Thanks, and have a good one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Spain you will need GSM/HPSA/LTE.
V30
For the V30, the US998 (which is officially carrier unlocked model) it has all those plus CMDA (which you don't need, but doesn't hurt). The US998 was designated to be the "universal" V30/V30+ for North America. I'm going to briefly discuss the others just so you sort of know the difference. Others like U.S T-mobile H932, are locked to T-mobile and have an extra LTE band 71, which only T-mobile uses and would not benefit you whatsoever. Others like Verizon VS996 are already unlocked, but often give you a nag screen when rebooting if a Verizon SIM card is not inserted; as if you didn't know. The Canada H931 is carrier unlocked. The Sprint LS998 is carrier locked to Sprint, and the only way to carrier unlock it is to "Frankenstein" convert it to US998 (or some other carrier unlocked model like Canada H931 or Verizon VS996). AT&T H931 is carrier locked, but can be carrier unlocked by Frankenstein converted to a carrier unlocked model. With Frankenstein, whatever North American V30 phone you are flashing BECOMES the other model. You will see some eBay dealers incorrectly saying the US998 is locked to U.S. Cellular (a carrier here in the U.S.); this comes from them not knowing what they are selling. Yes, SOME US998 were sold by U.S. Cellular, but the US998 was the designated "open market" carrier unlocked model for North America and no US998 is carrier locked whatsoever. LG also sold the US998 through authorized 3rd party retailers like B&H Photo. They were all carrier unlocked, designed to be used with any carrier.
The other caveat is some of these are 64GB (VS996, H931, H933) while others have 128GB available like the US998 V30+ and the LS998 V30+. US998 also comes in 64GB model, but you might as well buy the V30+ (128GB).
The reason I mention "Frankenstein" is because there was a huge glut of Sprint LS998 V30+ on the market, and we found you could buy one and easily convert it to US998 V30+. I bought two and did that. No longer locked to Sprint, has fastboot flash commands and easily rooted (you probably don't care about that), and much less money than "native" US998 V30+ at the time. Dealers quickly figured this out also. In fact, most "new" or "mint" US998 V30+ you see on eBay for very good price are probably former LS998 V30+. That's OK.
So, it's no longer necessary to buy an LS998 V30+ to convert to US998 V30+, as the dealers have probably done it for you (or at least converted to the Nougat stage).
For your purposes, US998 (especially the V30+) is probably what you want of the North America V30 world. I have not mentioned the "European" H930 (64GB) or H930G (128GB) or the dual SIM H930DS (128GB), as importing those to U.S. for eBay sellers here make them more expensive.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998 V30/v30+/V30S
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
UPDATES
You will probably have to manually update the phone through software known as LGUP. New firmware images called KDZ are posted publicly here and on other websites. Takes 5 minutes, whenever you want, and you simply choose "Upgrade" mode. LG releases updates every 2 or 3 months.
You will also hear about checking for updates via LG Bridge (another piece of LG software), but it's better to just download the KDZ you need and use LGUP than to constantly have to fire up LG Bridge and check.
If you bought a "native" US998 V30+, you possibly would receive OTA updates. However, between the three native US998 V30 & V30+ I own, I've only received ONE OTA update in 1.5 years, and that was early on. So, don't depend on that.
You probably don't care about bootloader unlock and rooting, but for those who do ALL V30/V30+/V30S variants can be bootloader unlocked and rooted. That cannot be said for V35.
________
V35
Basically 2018 updated version of the 2017 V30. Snapdragon 845 vs Snapdragon 835. Has 6GB RAM, while most of the V30 (except for the V30S) has 4GB RAM. However, I've owned several V30/V30+ and none are slow. Downside: comes in 64GB, whereas many V30 have 128GB internal memory. Yes, allegedly there is a V35+ (128GB) but I've only seen it mentioned on websites and can not actually buy one here in the U.S. or even over the internet.
The main U.S. V35 variant is sold by AT&T and is ostensibly locked to AT&T. Meaning that only AT&T network SIM cards will work. However, if the dealer says it's "unlocked", then mean they have entered the code to carrier unlock the phone, which AT&T allows when the phone is paid in full. You can usually buy with confidence these "unlocked" phones. One way or another, they have been unlocked. (Any "carrier unlocked" LS998 V30+ you see online means it's been converted to US998 to be carrier unlocked.)
While AT&T was the first to sell the LG V35, it's also now sold other places as well, like for Google Fi and some Latin American countries. So, it's no longer an AT&T exclusive and never was. AT&T was just the first. Having said that, the ones for the least price will probably be the AT&T V35 models. As long as it's advertised as "unlocked", you are OK.
UPDATES
For AT&T LG V35 (even if carrier unlocked) you can only get updates while connected to AT&T SIM card or through one AT&T-affiliated MVNO called Red Pocket. (If there are other AT&T-affiliated MVNOs that allow updates, it's not been confirmed.) This is the same situation if you buy an AT&T H931 V30. AT&T wants you to be their customer and they do not release KDZ to the general public, nor allow updates to be sent to non-AT&T customers.
However, this is only true if you keep the AT&T firmware (AWM). For V35, you can cross-flash to the OTHER V35 firmware (ULM) and be up to date. This would again use LGUP. I just bought an AT&T V35 and the previous owner (who still uses V30+ as his daily phone and is active in this forum) cross flashed it to non-AT&T firmware to debloat it and to update it. I will continue to use my own (rooted) US998 V30+ as my daily phone, but this V35 looks interesting.
For others who may be reading this, right now (end of March 2019) the only way to bootloader unlock and root the V35 is to buy one from China with that already done. However there is no TWRP yet for V35. @runningnak3d is working on all that.
Here are the frequencies you will get with the LG 35 Google Fi version. I assume if you cross flash the AT&T V35 you will receive all these bands if you don't have all these bands? I'm asking in the V35 forum to confirm this assumption... With the V30, when you cross flash North America variants to Frankenstein them, it converts them totally to the other variant.
LG V35 Google Fi bands
https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-V350ULM-Google-Fi-v35-thinq
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz;
UMTS (HSPA): 850/900/1700/2100 MHz;
LTE: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/39/40/41/66
__________
CONCLUSION
I'm more comfortable recommending the US998 V30+ (128GB) to you right now, but an "unlocked" AT&T V35 (64GB) (especially if cross flashed to Google Fi firmware) would work well for you -- if the 64GB storage size (plus microSD card) fits your lifestyle and you don't care about bootloader unlocking/rooting (at least right now).
* With US998, you will have to update via LGUP using "Upgrade" mode once you download the KDZ. That's not hard.
* With AT&T V35, if you want updates, you will have to cross flash to different firmware first, then continue to update via LGUP using "Upgrade" mode. That's not hard either, but it depends on how comfortable you are doing stuff like that.
schwinn8 said:
ChazzMatt is a wealth of knowledge on these matters, but I will tell you what I think. I did a check here for the US998 (V30) on your carrier in Spain: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...SV/lg-us998-v30-td-lte-lg-joan/movistar-spain
From what it says, the US998 will work on your carrier without issue. This means you have the choice of getting many variants (eg LS998, VS996, etc) that Chazz showed on the WTF thread (see post 193 here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76584629&postcount=193 ), hack that phone to US998 (via Frankenstein method) and it will work great. Note, as noted there, don't get an H932 as it's different... in reality, you may be able to get that to work as well these days, but I found it was easier to get LS998 or US998. That's what I did for our two phones - I got 2 US998s. (I converted mine to VS996 for other reasons - you won't need to.)
V35 by itself doesn't tell us enough - you need to know the model number. Please be careful when talking any phones, as the model number is what's most important! Some V35s are apparently V30+, others are different and won't work with any of the steps here... so again, be careful.
I'd say, stick to US998 or LS998, and you should be fine, but let the expert confirm!
Oh yeah, and congrats for leaving the Crapple world! Needless to say I'm not a fan, for many good/real reasons. Many of my friends have switched when they learned how much better things can be on Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply, kinda been busy with things and didn't want to just write a short reply, and thanks a lot for the "Frequency Check" website link, didn't know that was a thing I could use. I do worry about the message below the page though, saying "A matching frequency band does not guarantee coverage. There may be additional network or device software restrictions that prevent a device from connecting on a certain frequency. Additionally, certain bands may only be available regionally within a country." Does that mean I can't really be to sure it'll work even if it's supposed to be compatible? I wouldn't really want to take the risk it if that's the case.
Also, I've checked the LG V35 with my carrier Movistar, since preferably I'd choose it over the V30, and if I'm not selecting the wrong model (the eBay listing I'm looking at says model number is LM-V350A on the title, then V350AWM in the details, guessing that's the LMV350AWMH model from the Frequency Check website? Not one model number matches exactly for some reason), it says it only supports GSM, not UMTS or LTE. I don't know if this is any relevant, but whenever I used data on my old phone, the top side of the screen where you see the network name, Wi-Fi connection, etc. (at least on iOS not sure about Android) usually said LTE (or 3G if there wasn't any 4G connection available), so I'm guessing that means the LG V35 won't work well with my carrier Movistar. Kind of a bummer to be honest. Maybe I'm just getting confused at what all of these things actually mean, but if I understand correctly, if my carrier uses LTE and the V35 doesn't support any of its LTE bands that just means I wouldn't be able to use data, right? I don't really understand why these type of restrictions need to be put in place, if the phone is capable of 4G connection it should just work in every country with whichever carrier.
ChazzMatt said:
In Spain you will need GSM/HPSA/LTE.
V30
For the V30, the US998 (which is officially carrier unlocked model) it has all those plus CMDA (which you don't need, but doesn't hurt). The US998 was designated to be the "universal" V30/V30+ for North America. I'm going to briefly discuss the others just so you sort of know the difference. Others like U.S T-mobile H932, are locked to T-mobile and have an extra LTE band 71, which only T-mobile uses and would not benefit you whatsoever. Others like Verizon VS996 are already unlocked, but often give you a nag screen when rebooting if a Verizon SIM card is not inserted; as if you didn't know. The Canada H931 is carrier unlocked. The Sprint LS998 is carrier locked to Sprint, and the only way to carrier unlock it is to "Frankenstein" convert it to US998 (or some other carrier unlocked model like Canada H931 or Verizon VS996). AT&T H931 is carrier locked, but can be carrier unlocked by Frankenstein converted to a carrier unlocked model. With Frankenstein, whatever North American V30 phone you are flashing BECOMES the other model. You will see some eBay dealers incorrectly saying the US998 is locked to U.S. Cellular (a carrier here in the U.S.); this comes from them not knowing what they are selling. Yes, SOME US998 were sold by U.S. Cellular, but the US998 was the designated "open market" carrier unlocked model for North America and no US998 is carrier locked whatsoever. LG also sold the US998 through authorized 3rd party retailers like B&H Photo. They were all carrier unlocked, designed to be used with any carrier.
The other caveat is some of these are 64GB (VS996, H931, H933) while others have 128GB available like the US998 V30+ and the LS998 V30+. US998 also comes in 64GB model, but you might as well buy the V30+ (128GB).
The reason I mention "Frankenstein" is because there was a huge glut of Sprint LS998 V30+ on the market, and we found you could buy one and easily convert it to US998 V30+. I bought two and did that. No longer locked to Sprint, has fastboot flash commands and easily rooted (you probably don't care about that), and much less money than "native" US998 V30+ at the time. Dealers quickly figured this out also. In fact, most "new" or "mint" US998 V30+ you see on eBay for very good price are probably former LS998 V30+. That's OK.
So, it's no longer necessary to buy an LS998 V30+ to convert to US998 V30+, as the dealers have probably done it for you (or at least converted to the Nougat stage).
For your purposes, US998 (especially the V30+) is probably what you want of the North America V30 world. I have not mentioned the "European" H930 (64GB) or H930G (128GB) or the dual SIM H930DS (128GB), as importing those to U.S. for eBay sellers here make them more expensive.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US998-Unlocked-v30
US998 V30/v30+/V30S
CDMA: 800 MHz CDMA
2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS (HSPA):850/900/1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/12(17)/13/20/25/66
UPDATES
You will probably have to manually update the phone through software known as LGUP. New firmware images called KDZ are posted publicly here and on other websites. Takes 5 minutes, whenever you want, and you simply choose "Upgrade" mode. LG releases updates every 2 or 3 months.
You will also hear about checking for updates via LG Bridge (another piece of LG software), but it's better to just download the KDZ you need and use LGUP than to constantly have to fire up LG Bridge and check.
If you bought a "native" US998 V30+, you possibly would receive OTA updates. However, between the three native US998 V30 & V30+ I own, I've only received ONE OTA update in 1.5 years, and that was early on. So, don't depend on that.
You probably don't care about bootloader unlock and rooting, but for those who do ALL V30/V30+/V30S variants can be bootloader unlocked and rooted. That cannot be said for V35.
________
V35
Basically 2018 updated version of the 2017 V30. Snapdragon 845 vs Snapdragon 835. Has 6GB RAM, while most of the V30 (except for the V30S) has 4GB RAM. However, I've owned several V30/V30+ and none are slow. Downside: comes in 64GB, whereas many V30 have 128GB internal memory. Yes, allegedly there is a V35+ (128GB) but I've only seen it mentioned on websites and can not actually buy one here in the U.S. or even over the internet.
The main U.S. V35 variant is sold by AT&T and is ostensibly locked to AT&T. Meaning that only AT&T network SIM cards will work. However, if the dealer says it's "unlocked", then mean they have entered the code to carrier unlock the phone, which AT&T allows when the phone is paid in full. You can usually buy with confidence these "unlocked" phones. One way or another, they have been unlocked. (Any "carrier unlocked" LS998 V30+ you see online means it's been converted to US998 to be carrier unlocked.)
While AT&T was the first to sell the LG V35, it's also now sold other places as well, like for Google Fi and some Latin American countries. So, it's no longer an AT&T exclusive and never was. AT&T was just the first. Having said that, the ones for the least price will probably be the AT&T V35 models. As long as it's advertised as "unlocked", you are OK.
UPDATES
For AT&T LG V35 (even if carrier unlocked) you can only get updates while connected to AT&T SIM card or through one AT&T-affiliated MVNO called Red Pocket. (If there are other AT&T-affiliated MVNOs that allow updates, it's not been confirmed.) This is the same situation if you buy an AT&T H931 V30. AT&T wants you to be their customer and they do not release KDZ to the general public, nor allow updates to be sent to non-AT&T customers.
However, this is only true if you keep the AT&T firmware (AWM). For V35, you can cross-flash to the OTHER V35 firmware (ULM) and be up to date. This would again use LGUP. I just bought an AT&T V35 and the previous owner (who still uses V30+ as his daily phone and is active in this forum) cross flashed it to non-AT&T firmware to debloat it and to update it. I will continue to use my own (rooted) US998 V30+ as my daily phone, but this V35 looks interesting.
For others who may be reading this, right now (end of March 2019) the only way to bootloader unlock and root the V35 is to buy one from China with that already done. However there is no TWRP yet for V35. @runningnak3d is working on all that.
Here are the frequencies you will get with the LG 35 Google Fi version. I assume if you cross flash the AT&T V35 you will receive all these bands if you don't have all these bands? I'm asking in the V35 forum to confirm this assumption... With the V30, when you cross flash North America variants to Frankenstein them, it converts them totally to the other variant.
LG V35 Google Fi bands
https://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-V350ULM-Google-Fi-v35-thinq
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz;
UMTS (HSPA): 850/900/1700/2100 MHz;
LTE: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/39/40/41/66
__________
CONCLUSION
I'm more comfortable recommending the US998 V30+ (128GB) to you right now, but an "unlocked" AT&T V35 (64GB) (especially if cross flashed to Google Fi firmware) would work well for you -- if the 64GB storage size (plus microSD card) fits your lifestyle and you don't care about bootloader unlocking/rooting (at least right now).
* With US998, you will have to update via LGUP using "Upgrade" mode once you download the KDZ. That's not hard.
* With AT&T V35, if you want updates, you will have to cross flash to different firmware first, then continue to update via LGUP using "Upgrade" mode. That's not hard either, but it depends on how comfortable you are doing stuff like that.
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OK wow, you really do know your stuff, sorry for the late reply but I've been busy and there's a lot here to take in, and I've still got more than a few questions if that's OK, not that you haven't explained a lot already but your post arose new questions. First of all, you say if a seller says the phone is unlocked (either carrier or factory unlocked, right? Same thing I'm guessing), then I can buy it confidently, does that mean I don't need to worry about different bands being compatible with the specific model I'm buying, since it's unlocked anyway? Or does that just mean that the phone can work with another carrier's SIM card, but data might not work then? As I've said, if I can choose I'd prefer the V35 over the V30 (don't care about the storage since I can use an SD card anyway, processor and RAM are my priority), but it seems like that one has more issues with compatibility, both in terms of updates and also after having checked the Frequency Check website schwinn8 recommended, though again, I assume if the phone is unlocked none of the bands compatibility issue matter. In any case, I'll send you a private message with a link to the seller page for the V35 deal I'm looking at right now, since I'm new in the forum and it won't let me post links like that on here, and hopefully you could help me figure out if that could work with Movistar's data connection and its LTE bands, if that's not too much to ask. I also need to say that I'm planning on buying the phone while in the US, since I'm taking a long trip there starting next month and was planning of taking advantage of that so I don't have to pay for the massive shipping costs to Spain. However, that means that basically I won't be able to make sure data works using the phone in Spain until I come back, and by then the 30-Day Return period will have ended, so I just need to know for sure that it'll work, that's why I'm asking about the whole unlocked thing and what it actually means.
Apart from that, I kinda need to ask about differences between a few other things you commented on. Basically, I don't understand much about what cross flashing, the Frankenstein method, or bootloader unlocking/rooting consist in. I don't know what the risk associated with each of this processes is or what each is looking to accomplish (I do understand Frankenstein allows you to unlock the V30, and change it so it becomes a US998, so to say, as you well explained, but that's about it), but I do know I wouldn't want to do anything that could brick my phone, I had a friend with a Nexus phone who had that happen to him (think he was rooting, not sure though) and I wouldn't trust myself any more than him to do anything that involves that type of risk, since I'd probably mess it up. So please keep that in mind, I understand you might find these type of things somewhat easy to do since you're way more experienced in them, but I'm quite wary about them. So, that being said, in case I end up buying a V35, I would definitely want to cross flash, since I do wish for updates, is that too difficult or risky? If it is I could just buy the V30, hopefully with the Frankenstein method done to it already, so I don't have to change anything myself.
That's pretty much everything I needed to ask, thanks a lot again for your reply, it's much appreciated, especially given my position as a newbie in the Android world.
JayKiddo said:
First of all, you say if a seller says the phone is unlocked (either carrier or factory unlocked, right? Same thing I'm guessing), then I can buy it confidently, does that mean I don't need to worry about different bands being compatible with the specific model I'm buying, since it's unlocked anyway? Or does that just mean that the phone can work with another carrier's SIM card, but data might not work then?
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Carrier unlocked/SIM card unlocked/network unlocked all mean the same thing. It means you can stick in some other SIM card from some other carrier and the phone will work, IF the phone has that carrier's bands. Many carriers like Sprint or AT&T lock their phones to their networks. They couldn't care less about people who are not their customers, especially people living in other countries. They are not really making money on hardware sales but on monthly phone bills. Carrier unlock removes that restriction of using it on a specific network, but the phone still has to have the necessary bands for the different carrier.
A V30/V30+ converted to US998 WILL be carrier unlocked and I listed the bands above and should work on Spain Movistar.
A V35 the seller CLAIMS is carrier unlocked should also work on Spain Movistar. (Although I just answered a question from someone who was sold an "unlocked" AT&T V30 phone and apparently it was not carrier unlocked after all. So, they will have to Frankenstein it themselves.)
JayKiddo said:
In any case, I'll send you a private message with a link to the seller page for the V35 deal I'm looking at right now, since I'm new in the forum and it won't let me post links like that on here, and hopefully you could help me figure out if that could work with Movistar's data connection and its LTE bands, if that's not too much to ask.
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This site says Movistar uses LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 20:
https://www.imei.info/carriers/spain/movistar/
IMEI.info: LTE bands
B1 (2100)
B3 (1800+)
B7 (2600)
B20 (800 DD)
So, US998 V30/V30+ and carrier unlocked V35 should all work.
JayKiddo said:
Apart from that, I kinda need to ask about differences between a few other things you commented on. Basically, I don't understand much about what cross flashing, the Frankenstein method, or bootloader unlocking/rooting consist in. I don't know what the risk associated with each of this processes is or what each is looking to accomplish (I do understand Frankenstein allows you to unlock the V30, and change it so it becomes a US998, so to say, as you well explained, but that's about it), but I do know I wouldn't want to do anything that could brick my phone.
So, that being said, in case I end up buying a V35, I would definitely want to cross flash, since I do wish for updates, is that too difficult or risky? If it is I could just buy the V30, hopefully with the Frankenstein method done to it already, so I don't have to change anything myself.
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If a V30/V30+ was already cross flashed to US998, you would not NEED to do anything. It will work. However, to get updates at some point in the future, you would want to learn the simple steps to use "Upgrade" mode in LGUP. It doesn't wipe data, it's like manually flashing an OTA.
The US998 KDZ are posted here in the XDA forum and you can also find them on other websites. No one is quite laying out the instructions or posting KDZ like that for the V35 yet.
For the V35, if carrier unlocked, then you would not NEED to do anything. It should work. However, to get updates at some point in the future, you would want to learn how to cross flash to the Google Fi firmware (which will wipe your data at that step), then learn the simple steps to use "Upgrade" mode in LGUP (which will not wipe your date going forward). You would have to download future Google Fi firmware and flash it.
If you buy the V35 here in the U.S. during your visit, you can check if it is carrier unlocked by using a non-AT&T carrier SIM card.