Aiming to create a space for itself in the budget smartphone market, LG on Thursday introduced two new Android smartphones under the K series - the K7 and the K10, the company's first 'Made in India' phones. Both the mid-range phones appear to be promising, but do they have in them to compete against the competitors' offerings in the same price segment?
We have played with both the phones, but here we will talk about how the Rs 9,500 LG K7 phone fared during the review period and where it stands in the already heated budget smartphone market.
One of the most impressive features of the K7 is its premium finish. The device comes with a slightly curved display thanks to LG's 2.5D Arc Glass on top. And the rounded edges and LG’s pebble design make it an extremely eye-pleasing smartphone.
The K7 comes houses all the buttons at the back, and therefore, with no button at the sides, the company has managed to give the phone a slim profile. The K7 feels comfortable to hold because of its textured, matte-finish rear which also makes sure the device doesn't slip off the hands while operating. And the curved edged at the back adds to its grip.
Talking about the core ingredients, the K7 features a 5-inch FWVGA (854x480 pixels) display. While the design is impressive, the display takes away the charm. At a time when the competition is pumping more pixels into the screens of similarly-priced phones, one is likely to find the K7's display not in line with the current offerings. It is also ironic to see an average display coming from a manufacturer synonymous with advanced display making. The display doesn't disappoint in visibility test, however, a slightly richer display is what consumers look at these days because it impacts the experience as a whole.
Coming to what's inside, the phone comes with a 5 megapixel camera both at the front and the rear. The rear camera features a flash while the front snapper is supported by the display that brightens up to function as a screen flash. The camera on the K7 fails to impress. It not only delivers grainy photos but also generates results with poor colour contrast. The native camera app doesn't offer any manual settings other than a burst mode, gesture shot, interval shot, and a voice-controlled shutter. While megapixel count does not alone define image quality, a combination of 5 megapixels at the front and rear is lower as compared to other devices in the same price segment. The camera offers 1080p video playback but recording is limited to 30fps@720p.
Under its hood is a 1.1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor coupled with 1.5 GB of RAM that feels sufficient for average use. During the review period, there were no lags. It comes with 8 GB of internal storage (user available 3.4 GB) that is expandable via microSD card up to 32 GB.
Running Android 5.1 Lollipop, the K7 is packed with a 2125mAh removable battery that might feel a tad less if you are a power user. The phone otherwise survives average daily use. In terms of sound output, the phone features a speaker that sits beneath its rear panel and delivers loud sound.
The 4G-enabled LG K7 supports dual-SIM and also has a microSD card slot for additional storage. Due to the distraction free sides, the slots sit beneath the real panel below the camera unit.
In a nutshell, the phone looks handsome, but the display and camera turn out to be disappointments. The K7 pales in comparison to the competition.
Rating: 2.5/5