LG V30 Getting ThinQ AI Features, Android Oreo Update

When LG Electronics announced the V30S ThinQ at Mobile World Congress, many thought that the upgraded phone’s AI features were exclusive to the handset alone. But as it turns out, the South Korean company is also bringing the special ThinQ features to last year’s V30.

On Monday, Phandroid revealed that LG has already started bringing many of the ThinQ AI features to the original V30 phone in its home country. South Korean consumers who bought 2017’s V30 now have access to QLens, AI Camera and Bright Camera. LG hasn’t disclosed the date when these AI features will be coming to users outside of its home country yet, but it could happen soon.

Of course, some consumers may feel that they were tricked to buying the V30S ThinQ, thinking that the AI features that LG introduced with the new device were exclusive to it alone. However, it is important to note that the V30S ThinQ also comes with hardware upgrades. The device has an extra 2GB of RAM and at least 128GB of onboard storage.

In related news, V30 owners in the U.S. are starting to receive the long-awaited Android Oreo update. According to DroidLife, Verizon is already rolling out Oreo 8.0 (not 8.1) to its V30 handsets. The update is said to be clocking in at 1.7GB, and it comes with standard Oreo features like picture-in-picture mode, smart text selection and improved notification settings.

It isn’t known yet when other U.S. carriers are planning to roll out the Oreo update to their V30 handsets, but Android Authority believes it could happen really soon, given that Verizon has already released the update to V30 owners. While Android Oreo 8.0 is just rolling out to V30 owners in the U.S., the update was released to V30 users in South Korea about two months ago.

To check for the update, V30 users should head to Settings and click System update. The phone will then notify if there’s an update that’s available for download. The Android Oreo 8.0 update for the V30 has the software version code of VS99620a, and it also comes with the February 1, 2018 security patch.