LG K7: Offers nothing special

The K7 is designed well. LG calls it a glossy pebble design. The main feature of the design is the lack of buttons on the sides



LG launched the K7, along with the K10, last week. This is the company's first big launch in the sub-Rs 10,000 segment this year.

The K7 is designed well. LG calls it a glossy pebble design. The main feature of the design is the lack of buttons on the sides. The clutter-free design will impress anyone who wants a looker. The power button is on the plastic back, close to the camera and flash. The volume buttons flank the power button. The body is curved and it is easy to carry around.

The LG K7 sports a 5-inch display. Its touch interface is smooth and there is no lag. But, the phone's screen makes it difficult for practical use. In direct sunlight, one can read emails only if the brightness is set to 100 per cent; this might be fine in itself but is not on a par with its competitors.

While the display is slightly curved due to LG's Arc glass and is pleasing to the eyes, its resolution of 854x480 pixels is old technology. It is difficult to grasp why LG went in for such an average display. See more features about LG K7.

LG K10: Camera saves the day

If you are in love with selfies, then LG K10 should save you from all the hassles for a picture perfect one. The company's first ever "Made in India" smartphone, available for Rs 13,750, is an interesting launch by the South Korean giant. LG is vying to gain a foothold in a heavily competitive market dominated by the likes of Lenovo, Samsung, Motorola and Xiaomi.

However, the latest launch does not look very attractive as the specifications it offers are not on a par with the hole it burns in your pocket. The dual-sim phone comes with built-in memory of 16 GB (with an option to expand it to 32 GB) coupled with a not so effective 2GB of RAM. The K10's competitors, namely the

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, LeEco Le 1s, Lenovo Vibe K4 Note, and the Motorola Moto G Turbo Edition are going to make it difficult for LG to capture a pie of the fiercely contested market share.

The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note offers better specifications than the K10. The K4 Note runs on an octa-core Mediatek MT6753 processor, whereas the K10 boasts of a quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor. The K4 Note is backed by a bigger 3,300mAh battery as compared to the 2,300mAh one that features in the K10. And to top it all, Lenovo's model is priced at Rs 11,999.

LG has kept the graphical user interface of the phone very basic yet informative. The contemporary pebble look laced with a 2.4D arc glass adds an overall style statement to the phone. The standout feature of the phone, however, is the camera and the features that come along with it. It has an interesting fist recognition ability that helps click selfies when you place your fist in front of the camera. It also comes with a front camera flash that enhances the quality of the pictures clicked. The battery backup is quite decent and does not give any trouble while charging either.

But, can brilliant camera add-ons save the day for LG which is trying to compete with the big boys of the smartphone arena? Can LG's new offering carve out a niche for itself in such a crowded space? The answer is for you to find out; go ahead and lay your hands on it.