LG K8 and LG K10 hands on: mid-range moneymakers

LG didn’t bring the big guns to CES 2017, but it did bring the guns that make money. The K series – short for Kinetic and spiritual successor to the now-defunct L series – fit comfortably in the budget mid-range spectrum with sub-$200 price points. We’re only covering the two higher-end variants here, the K10 and K8, but LG also presented the even-lower-end K4 and K3.

As the K series model numbers decrease, so too do their display sizes. The K10 is the largest of the bunch at 5.3 inches while the K8 comes in at 5 inches. As an upgrade to last year’s K series, the entire range of 2017 K models feature IPS in-cell displays. Both the K10 and K8 have HD resolution and share a very similar design generally.

Battery capacity increases are thankfully part of the updated package, with the K10 packing a 2,800 mAh removable battery – up from 2,300 mAh last year – and the K8 a 2,500 mAh cell, up from 2,125 mAh. The K10 also gains a fingerprint scanner and USB OTG support, both of which the K8 misses out on (although it still has a rear-mounted power button). On the software front, both devices run Android Nougat out of the box.

Camera resolutions get a nice bump, with both models sporting a 13 MP/8 MP combination, however the K10’s selfie shooter is a 120-degree wide-angle lens. Both devices feature LG’s Ultimate Selfie, Gesture Shot, face detection Auto Shot and soft-white selfie “flash”, enabled via a illuminated screen when shooting with the front-facing camera.

On the specs side, the K10 packs an octa-core MediaTek MT6750 chipset clocked at 1.5 GHz paired with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB ROM with microSD expansion up to 2 TB. The LG K10 will be available in black, gold and titan (gray) colors.

The K8 is powered by the quad-core Snapdragon 425 (MSM8917) clocked at 1.4 GHz with 1.5 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB of storage with microSD expansion up to 32 GB. The K8 is available in silver, titan, dark blue and gold color options.

Both phones weigh 142 grams, despite their difference in size, and for no particular reason feature a microUSB charging port. Fortunately, their mass tier status also means they’re holding onto the 3.5 mm headphone jack. The speaker grill in both cases is mounted on the rear.

There’s nothing terribly special about the new K series devices to get hardcore Android fans excited about, but the specs upgrades across the board, Android Nougat and nice camera and battery bumps will ensure these phones get lots of play in the mass tier market. Exact pricing and release details will be available in the coming days.