After the rather nice K10, LG comes with two new additions of the K series, which hopes to be established in the budget and mid-range category. LG K7 and K8 are two similar Android smartphones, both in price and in specs.
Table of Contents
Design
Both devices keep the round edges of the K series on design with plastic being the main element. Both devices though are extremely easy to hold, just like K10, with a small lead to K7 which feels more rubber. LG insists on the position of the physical buttons on the back even though its flagship, LG G5 doesn’t. The speaker remains in the same inconvenient place.
Display
Both devices have a 5-inch screen, but that’s the last thing they have in common. K7 has an inadequate resolution of 480×854 pixels which offers 196ppi on 5 inches. The panel is not good, no matter how you see it. It doesn’t satisfy at all, not on clarity, nor colors, not even brightness. I was actually surprised by the fact LG took such a big step back.
On the other hand, K8 has a clearly better panel with 720p resolution and 294ppi pixel density. Their difference isn’t just the resolution. Colors, brightness, whites and blacks, K8 panel will satisfy the majority, without being anything special though.
Performance
On the inside, K7 and in particular the 3G model we have comes with a Mediatek chipset, which consists of a quad-core processor on 1.3GHz and Mali-400MP2 as GPU. Ram is on 1GB and storage on 8GB, there is however the option to expand it with a microSD up to 32GB.
Take note that there is a 4G edition with 1.5GB RAM, Snapdragon 210 chipset and LTE support. K8 has a Mediatek chipset also, with a quad-core processor on 1.3GHz and this time with Mali-T720 GPU, with clearly better performance. RAM is 1.5GB and there are 8/16GB of storage available depending on the edition you like. And again with a microSD expansion option.
Battery
Even though both devices have the same battery capacity of 2125 mAh, K8 has better management and lasts longer. None of the two devices has a great performance though. Even though we have a greater resolution on K8, we notice that the software is the major factor on battery. K8’s Marshmallow is doing a better job than K7’s Lollipop on battery. In general, both devices operate with no problems and it seems that LG has found the silver lining in its skin which is both rich and fast.
Camera
LG K7 has a 5MP camera both in front and on the back. The main camera of f/2.6 can record 720p video @30fps. K8, even though it has 8MP on the main camera and 1080p video recording, it manages to perform worse in color reproduction and detail. Both cameras are absolutely basic on performance and under no circumstance impress on photos and especially videos.
Verdict
LG K7 and K8 are available on the Greek market with prices starting from €120 and €160 respectively. If I had to recommend one of the two phones, that would be K8 for sure, as it is more decent in everyday use. The difference in their price certainly does not excuse the compromises LG made on K7. That’s all for now J.
