LG has launched two new mid-range devices in the K series, the K8 which was listed on their official website earlier and the K5. Both the devices come with mid-range specifications but the K8 comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS out of the box. The K series was introduced at CES earlier this year and along with these two smartphones there are LG K4, K7 and K10 smartphones launched by the company expanding their mid-range segment.
The LG K8 sports a 5-inch HD In-cell display with resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels with curved edges and 2.5D Arc Glass and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor. It comes in two variants based on RAM with 1.5GB in North America and EU and the 1GB RAM in Latin America. The device comes with 8GB internal storage which is expandable using microSD card.
We have seen in other K-series devices that LG offers the company’s UX and “an advanced camera” which can also be seen in the K5 and K8. The unique and noteworthy aspect of the LG K8 is it comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS out of the box, the InFocus Bingo 50 launched yesterday also comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. The device sports an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP front facing camera. It supports 4G LTE and has connectivity features like 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS and NFC. The LG K8 is powered by a 2125mAh battery. It comes with a woven back cover which gives it a premium look and feel along with curved edges of the display.
Specifications of LG K8:
- Display: 5-inch HD display with curved edges and 2.5D Arc Glass
- Processor: 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor with Mali-T720 GPU
- RAM and Storage: 1.5GB RAM and 1GB RAM based on location, 8GB internal storage expandable with microSD card
- Camera: 8MP rear camera with LED flash and 5MP front facing camera
- OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- Connectivity: 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS and NFC
- Battery: 2125mAh
The LG K5 features a 5-inch FWVGA display with resolution of 480 x 854 pixels and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor. It is coupled with 1GB RAM and 8GB Internal memory expandable with microSD card. The device comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box and sports a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a 2MP front facing camera. It packs 1900mAh battery which is removable and comes with connectivity features like 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 and Micro-USB port, the device lacks 4G LTE support which is a let down. It is available in Gold, Silver and Titan colors.
LG says that both K8 and K5 will start rolling out in key markets this week, the LG G5 will be launched in Europe Latin America and CIS along with Mexico renamed as LG Q6. The LG K8 will be launched in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, CIS and Latin America. The pricing of both the devices has not been unveiled yet.
Its a great phone. Snappy, looks good, clear screen and responsive. However, LGs choice to disable the ability to use Androids 6.0 feature of coupling SD storage to expand the internal memory is a real hindrance. It means the internal storage is filled very quickly. It also means you are very limited to the amount of apps you can install. Therefore this phone feels like a teaser, a demo. You will love LG for the great quality of their phone and once you have got used to it and encounter the storage issue, you will want to upgrade to a different LG phone with better storage. And if that’s the case, it seems to work because I’d really recommend avoiding Samsung in favour of the far superior LG. But for its price tag, you would be very hard pressed to find anything better or close to this phone.