The South Korean electronics manufacturer LG had introduced the new K series at CES 2016 in Las Vegas in January, and we are finally seeing that introduced in India. The K10 and K7 are the two phones that were introduced today at an event in New Delhi. The LG G5 is much awaited already, but the company has other plans and are targeting the mid-range segment currently, with these two smartphones.
A quick look at the specs, the K7 and K10 don’t seem huge on power. In fact, compare them to the other phones in this price range and they’ll seem nowhere in the competition. But, LG hasn’t been putting out a great specs sheet on the table. On the K7, you will see a 5-inch 480×854 px resolution display while on the K10, there’s a bigger 5.3-inch display with a 720p resolution. Both the phones have a 5-megapixel front-facing shooter, but the cameras on the back differ a bit.
What’s different with the K series, against the likes of LG Magna, LG Leon, LG Spirit and such devices that were in the similar category? Here, LG has concentrated on the design as the main point. Firstly, you are seeing the signature G series design with buttons on the back. Accept it or not, people who have used a phone with this design have well adjusted with that rear button configuration, which added to the comfort, and to add to that, LG’s gestures like double tap to wake, etc. have been quite useful.
The back cover is different, and it does add to the charm and makes the LG K10 (the K7 doesn’t really have a distinctive back pattern) a very different one from the lot. But, that different is only till here, and everything else that you see here is pretty much seen on every other phone that is priced quite lesser. For the price of Rs. 9500, you would expect at least an HD display. That’s not an expectation only for me, but for every consumer after seeing almost every company adopting to HD display as the minimum standard in that price range. On the other hand, you cannot just see your phones sell with those specs and that price.
LG K7 Pictures
Sure, the tag of “Made in India” might attract a few, but that isn’t enough. A phone is expected to do well with the performance, and the chipset, even if not most of the users might get to the core it, is an important part on the list of specs for each of them. Thankfully, we still are looking at the Snapdragon 410 from Qualcomm in the LG K10. In every way, not just the design but also with the internal specs, the camera combination of 13MP and 8MP cameras, the support for 4G LTE with Voice-over-LTE, and the 2.5D arc glass for the HD display, the K10 did seem a very good phone, but it all comes down to the price of it.
Even if LG doesn’t talk a lot about the software aspect, there is a lot done by the company usually to include several modifications from the stock ROM of Android. Though, we are looking at the Android 5.1 Lollipop version that was the same when LG introduced these phones back in January. One would’ve expected at least the K10 to run on the latest OS, but given how the software update scene has been happening on LG’s part, don’t expect these devices to get a major upgrade in the future as well.
LG K10 Pictures
On the early view, just about the design, you are looking at two good looking devices and the K10 is quite better, though both of them have the 2.5D arc glass towards the edge of the screen. The cover, which LG announced as the free accessory to the K10 does not just look good but also has some functionality possible without one having to lift the cover.
So, what’s new? The “Make in India” initiative and thus, the Made in India tag, the beautiful back cover patterns, the 2.5D curved arc glass, and nothing else. The pricing strategy remains the same, the software doesn’t show any difference from what was in the past, and it won’t really be in any of the top contending spots in the mid-range segment, thanks to what they pack in comparison to the current leaders in the market.
