LG is one of the expected participants at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain later this February. Based on the earlier reports, the South Korean tech giant is not likely to launch a brand-new flagship handset at the said expo, although it will still capture the public's attention by unveiling an upgraded version of its previous premium smartphone, the LG V30. The device, dubbed the LG V30S, is said to pack with impressive artificial intelligence (AI) features and a heavier 256 GB built-in storage.

While LG is still expected to launch an all-new device this year, the LG V30S will be the first of its 2018 collection to take the limelight. It appears that the company is planning to make the LG V30 more competitive in the current market, considering that many other flagship phones, particularly the Google Pixel 2, had easily taken away the public's attention. According to ETNews, the LG V30S camera, called the LG Lens, is going to boast a set of powerful AI and augmented reality contents. For one, the V30S's AI will allow users to go online shopping with the use of the camera, as they could point at any object and the device will recognize it and provide more details about the item. Android Authority also reported that the LG V30S is capable of translating different languages natively with the help of its AI features.

Another selling point of the LG V30S smartphone is its staggering 256 GB internal storage, which will promote more efficient and faster file processing compared with the original LG V30 with only 64 GB storage. Together with the LG Lens, these upgrades are said to increase the LG V30S's price up to $918, making it almost as expensive as the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9. With this, some tech enthusiasts are wondering if the hardware and software upgrades in the LG V30S are enough to make the handset as costly as the brand-new flagships arriving at the MWC this year.

Previous reports suggested that the updated LG V30 hardware appearing at the MWC 2018 would be called the LG V30 Plus Alpha, although ETNews' source now claims that the upcoming smartphone will have a much shorter and simpler tag. After its unveiling at the MWC this month, the LG V30S is expected to be released internationally on March 9.