LG K10 and K7 first impressions: A good package at a steep price

LG launched two new phones - the K7 and K10 - which are priced at Rs 9,500 and Rs 13,500 respectively. The K series phones will be the first phones to be made in India as was announced by Amit Gujral, head of MC communications, LG India. These phones were launched in the presence of Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and LG said that the manufacturing plant for LG mobile phones will open soon in Noida.

Post the event, we got a chance to play around with the two phones and here are our first impressions.

Build and Design

[caption id=“attachment_309326” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  LG K7 with its low res 840x540 display[/caption]

The K series phones are targeted at the college going youth and the mid-range segment and thus, both the phones have a plastic build. The K7 has a textured plastic cover whereas the K10 has a woven pattern design for the rear cover, which LG claims is scratch resistant. The K7 and K10 both have chrome edges and are paired with textured backs to offer a better grip. While the K7 measures 8.6mm, the K10 measures 8.7mm thick.

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[caption id=“attachment_309329” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Lg K10: Rear camera and buttons[/caption]

The sides are clean and the rear has the power button surrounded by volume rocker buttons design that was popularised by the flagship LG G series phones. The buttons are placed just below the camera modules. The bottom sports the microUSB port and a 3.5mm audio jack. The back cover and battery are removable.

The LG K series phones feature a “glossy pebble” design with 2.5D arc glass. The design is in line with what you would expect from a mid-range phone. There’s nothing outstanding about it.

Display [caption id=“attachment_309327” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  LG K10 with its larger, 720p display[/caption]

The LG K7 sports a 5-inch WVGA resolution In-cell Touch display which does not have any glass protection. Pixelation is clearly visible on the K7. The LG K10 is relatively better off with a 5.3-inch HD display which is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2. Our first impression of the display is that it looks a bit washed out. We will need to use it outdoors and watch movies on it to get a complete idea of the experience though.

Chipset, RAM, Connectivity

LG did not announce all the internal specifications on stage, but the LG K7 houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 chipset which is paired with 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. The LG K10 houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Both the phones have a microSD card slot and support cards up to 32GB in size.

The phones come with dual nano-SIM card slots as well as 4G LTE + VoLTE, VoWiFi, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0 and more.

OS, Battery, Camera

[caption id=“attachment_309331” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  A close-up of the LG K10’s rear camera[/caption]

Android 5.1 with a layer of LG’s proprietary skin runs on both the phones. The OS seemed smooth for the limited time we used it. Bloatware is limited as well. The LG K7 houses a 2125mAh battery whereas the LG K10 houses a 2300mAh battery, both of which are removable.

The LG K7 comes with a 5MP front and 5MP rear camera whereas the K10 comes with a 13MP rear and 5MP front camera. The selfie function supports gestures such as making a fist to take a selfie and so on.

Conclusion

The LG K7 is priced at Rs 9,500 and the LG K10 is priced at Rs 13,500. While the overall feature set seems decent for the college going crowd, the price points for both these phones are just too high, at least on paper, for what they offer. The competition in this price range is very fierce and pending a full review, we still feel that the price may not be justified.