In this post, we are going to do a detailed comparison between LG K20 Plus, K30 & K40. We are going to find out where do they differ and what they share in common.
The biggest question is 2 generations later where does LG K20 Plus stands in comparison to K40. We are going to find out whether K40 is a true successor to K30 and among the 3 which one should you pick at present.
So Let’s start with the differences and later on we are going to cover the similarities between the 3 –
Difference between LG K20 Plus, LG K30 & LG K40 – MetroPCS / T-Mobile
1. Release Date & Price
| RELEASE DATE & PRICE | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model Number | MP260 / TP260 | LM-X410MK / X410TK | LM-X420MM |
| Release Date | December 2016 | May 2018 | March 2019 |
| Current Price | Around $70 | Around $70 | Around $100 |
LG releases a K series successor every year. First came K20 Plus in 2017 then K30 in 2018 and the latest entrant in this series is K40 which got released a few months ago in March 2019.
Being mid-ranger they can be grabbed for less than $100 at eBay (new). K20 Plus is now 2 years old so it sells for around $60 to $70. K30 also sells for around the same price. I got my K40 for $90 a month ago. If you’ll buy the phone directly from the MetroPCS store the price would vary based on an outright purchase or new line connection.
2. Build & Design
| BUILD & DESIGN | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made up of | Plastic | Plastic with Metal Back | Plastic |
| Dimensions | 148.5 x 75.2 x 7.8 mm (5.85” x 2.96” x 0.31” inches) | 148.5 x 75 x 8.6 mm (5.85” x 2.95” x 0.34”) | 153 x 72 x 8.1 mm ( 6.02” x 2.83” x 0.32”) |
| Weight | 140 gm (4.94 oz) | 168.1 gm (5.93 oz) | 144.6 gm (5.1 oz) |
| Removable Battery | ✔ | ✖ | ✖ |
| Google Assistant Key | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
LG K40 is the most beautiful phone among the 3. It feels more compact with its 18:9 aspect ratio. Even though is made up of plastic, its shiny surface gives the feel of metal. Among the 3 only K30 uses metal in its construction. It’s also the heaviest among the 3 and the metal back makes it slippery while holding.
Only K20 Plus has a removable battery and its the slimmest and lightest among the 3.
K40 comes with a dedicated Google Assistant key on its left side.
3. Layout
| LAYOUT | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Button Location | Back | Back | Right |
| Speaker Grill Location | Back | Back | Bottom |
| Sim Card / Memory Card Slot Location | Under the Battery Door | Right | Left |
There are few design changes in K40 as compared to its predecessors.
The power button which doubled as a fingerprint sensor is now separated and moved to the right side.
The loudspeaker grille is also moved from the back to the bottom. Now the sound is not blocked when the phone is placed on a table.
4. Screen/Display
| SCREEN / DISPLAY | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | 5.3 inches | 5.3 inches | 5.7 inches |
| Resolution / Wallpaper Size | 1280 x 720 pixels | 1280 x 720 pixels | 1440 x 720 pixels |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 | 16:9 | 18:9 |
| Pixel Density | 277 ppi | 277 ppi | 282 ppi |
The best upgrade on LG K40 is its display with the newer 18:9 aspect ratio. It offers more screen estate in less space. Even though the display size on K40 is increased from 5.3 to 5.7 inches the dimensions remain almost the same when compared to K20 & K30.
The screen resolution is the same HD resolution as found on K20 Plus & K30.
5. Hardware & Benchmark
| HARDWARE & BENCHMARK | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor / CPU | 1.4 Ghz Quad Core | 1.4 Ghz Quad Core | 1.8 Ghz Quad Core |
| Chipset | 28 nm based, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 MSM8917 | 28 nm based, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 MSM8917 | 14 nm based, Qualcomm Snapdragon SDM450 |
| GPU | Adreno 308 | Adreno 308 | Adreno 506 |
| Antutu Benchmark Score | 36817 | 35107 | |
| Geekbench Scores |
These are the Antutu Benchmark scores of K20 Plus, K30 & K40.
Antutu is showing my LG K30 MetroPCS as LG Premier Pro which is the same model from Tracfone with a different name.
LM-X420 is the model number of LG K40.
These are the Geekbench scores of K20 Plus, K30, and K40 in this same order. Surprisingly, the Geekbench Scores of K20 Plus are higher than that of K30.
K20 Plus and K30 share the same hardware yet the Antutu Benchmark scores are far apart. K30 wins here by a good margin. The Geekbench scores are almost identical.
In K40 we’ve seen a jump in terms of hardware specs. Now it shares the same processor as found in LG Stylo 4. We can also call it a Mini Stylo 4 as it shares many of its features such as notification LED and NFC.
You can check the hardware specs of 3 phones in the above table along with the benchmark scores.
4. Software, Connectivity & Extra Features
| SOFTWARE, CONNECTIVITY & EXTRA FEATURES | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android Version | Android Nougat 7.0 | Android Oreo 8.1 | Android Pie 9.0 |
| NFC / Android Pay / Android Beam | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| LED Notification Light | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| 3D Virtual Surround via Headphone | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Mini View / One-Handed Mode | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
As discussed before, K40 comes with NFC / Android Pay & LED Notification Light. These features are missing from K20 Plus & K30.
It has the recent Android Version 9.0 (Pie) similar to LG Stylo 5. Even Stylo 4 has Android Oreo as of now.
As K40 has a bigger screen than K20 & K30 it comes with Mini View feature which shrinks the screen for one-handed use.
7. Camera
| CAMERA | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| REAR | |||
| Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Manual Mode / Controls | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| QLens (Visual Shopping) | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Portrait Mode with Background Blur Control | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| FRONT | |||
| Selfie Flash | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
LG K20 Plus has the most outdated Camera among the 3. It lacks PDAF (Phase detection autofocus) as well as Manual Controls ( Manual Focus & ISO control). These features are present in K30 & K40.
K40 also has Selfie Flash. Even LG Stylo 4 lacks a Front Camera Flash.
Even though all 3 share the same image resolution which is 13 MP, K40 has an improved camera with the best picture quality among the 3. They all can record videos up to 1080p @ 30fps. K40 should have offered at least a 60 fps video recording frame rate.
8. Battery
| BATTERY | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 2700 mAh | 2880 mAh | 2890 mAh |
| Battery Life / Talk Time | Up to 14 hrs | Up to 13 hrs & 40 mins | Up to 12 hrs |
| Standby Time | Up to 17 days | Up to 10 days & 12 hrs | Up to 19 days & 14 hrs |
The battery capacity of all the 3 phones is almost the same. I’ll perform a battery drain test later to get the actual battery life in real-world usage.
K30 & K40 has a Maximum Battery Saver mode which claims to almost double the battery life as compared to normal mode.
9. Root & Custom ROM Status
| Root & Custom ROM Status | LG K20 Plus | LG K30 | LG K40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root Compatible | ✔ | ✖ | ✖ |
| The Bootloader can be unlocked | ✔ | ✖ | ✖ |
| Custom ROM Compatible | ✔ | ✖ | ✖ |
Out of the 3, Only K20 Plus can be rooted. K30 & K40 have a locked bootloader with no way to unlock it as of now.
As a result, only K20 Plus can have Custom ROMs such as Lineage OS, AICP, Resurrection Remix & Incipient OS.
Similarities between LG K20 Plus, K30 & K40
| Similarities between the 3 | LG K40, K30 & K20 Plus |
|---|---|
| BODY & DESIGN | |
| Expandable Memory / Micro SD Card Slot | Up to 2TB |
| Water Resistant / Waterproof | ✖ |
| DISPLAY | |
| Display Technology | IPS LCD |
| Curved Edge / 2.5D Glass | ✔ |
| NETWORK | |
| Sim Size | Nano |
| GSM / CDMA | GSM |
| Wifi Calling | ✔ |
| SENSORS | |
| Proximity Sensor | ✔ |
| Ambient Light Sensor | ✔ |
| Accelerometer | ✔ |
| Gyroscope/ VR Compatible | ✔ |
| Magnetometer / Digital Compass | ✔ |
| Fingerprint Sensor | ✔ |
| CONNECTIVITY | |
| USB Port Type | Micro USB 2.0 |
| Headphone Jack | 3.5 mm |
| Bluetooth | ✔ |
| Wifi | ✔ |
| Wifi Hotspot / Tethering | ✔ |
| GPS | ✔ |
| USB OTG Compatible | ✔ |
| IR Blaster | ✖ |
| MHL / Slimport Compatible | ✖ |
| Screen Mirroring / Miracast / Screen Share | ✖ |
| ADDITIONAL FEATURES | |
| FM Radio / NextRadio | ✔ |
| Face Recognition / Face Unlock | ✔ |
| Flashlight | ✔ |
| Google Assistant | ✔ |
| Multi-Window / Split Screen Support | ✔ |
| Fast Charging / Quick Charge Compatible | ✖ |
| Wireless Charging Support / Qi-Enabled | ✖ |
| MEMORY | |
| Internal Storage Capacity / ROM | 32 GB |
| RAM / Random Access Memory | 2 GB |
| CAMERA | |
| REAR | |
| Megapixels / Image Resolution | 13 MP |
| Autofocus | Yes |
| Flash | Single LED |
| Camera Zoom | Up to 4x, Digital Zoom |
| Video Resolution | 1080p @ 30fps |
| HDR | ✔ |
| Face Detection | ✔ |
| Slow Motion | ✖ |
| Time Lapse | ✖ |
| Video Stabilization | ✖ |
| FRONT | |
| Image Resolution / Megapixels | 5 MP |
| Video Resolution | 1080p @ 30fps |
The above table shows those features which are common among K20, K30 & K40. It also includes those features which are missing in all the 3 phones.
Conclusion
From the above comparison, we can easily conclude that K40 is the best among the 3. For a little higher price it offers all the latest features. In the nutshell, K40 beats K30 & K20 Plus in these areas –
- Premium Look
- More Compact with its 18:9 aspect ratio
- Dedicated Google Assistant Key
- Better sound output with bottom-mounted Speaker
- Bigger Display
- Android Pie 9.0
- NFC
- LED Notification Light
- 1.8 GHz Quad-Core CPU
- Selfie Flash
For any query or feedback please leave a comment below.
Great comparrison thanks for your time.
Thanks for the encouragement
Best comparisons I’ve seen, very detailed and it will make it easier to choose. Thank you!
I have owned all three phones and my LG K40 is a nice improvement from the other two K30 and K20 still I felt they were good phones also .