Let's face it, smartphones have become boring. All of the high-end handsets are essentially similar-looking slabs of metal and glass with big, vibrant screens that are almost exclusively powered by the latest Qualcomm processor and supporting hardware.
True innovation has long since been replaced by gimmicks that rarely stick. LG has been down that road with its LG G5 / modular accessory platform and doesn't appear interested in making the same mistake with its next flagship.
Instead, the company with its upcoming V30 smartphone is focusing (no pun intended) on practical albeit incremental upgrades to components that people use on a regular basis... like the camera.
On Thursday, LG announced that it will incorporate an f/1.6 aperture camera lens as part of the dual-camera setup in its upcoming handset. According to the electronics maker, they'll be the first in the world to ship a smartphone with an aperture of that caliber (and also have the clearest lens ever in a smartphone).
As you may know, aperture refers to the size of the hole that lets light into the camera. The bigger the aperture (lower f-stop number), the more light reaches the sensor which can improve low-light photography - an area that smartphones typically struggle with. Aperture also plays a key role in depth of field but that's a discussion for another time.
If you're interested in learning more about smartphone photography, I'd encourage you to check out Tim's article on the matter.
LG will officially unveil the V30 at a press event later this month.