Phone LG K10 LTE: reviews about the product

LG entered the entry-level market segment, offering its new K-series of budget phones. LG K10 LTE and K7 LTE are the first devices in this line, which were announced just before CES 2016, where they managed to gain some experience in their practical use. In Russia, LG has launched LTE-versions of these phones, and this article will consider the model LG K10 LTE (specifications and reviews will be given below). At a price fluctuating within $ 200, the smartphone faces tough competition with similar devices Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, LeEco Le 1s, Lenovo Vibe K4 Note and Motorola Moto G Turbo Edition.

As you can see, there are no shortages in the options, and each of these smartphones is a good choice in its own way. Is LG's new offer capable of winning a niche in such a crowded market?

Streamline body

The dimensions of K10 are larger than those of other models of the line. Glossy smoothed design K10 LTE - this is the first thing that draws attention. There are no sharp lines, the curved contour fits perfectly into the textured back panel without a visible transition. Thanks to the rounded design and 2.5D-glass, the phone is comfortable to hold in the palm of your hand. The front panel looks like one whole, the glass is bent around to the rear. The smartphone feels incredibly light, even with a mass of 142 g with a battery.

The case K10 is made of plastic, the rear structured panel is removed, which allows you to install a removable battery. The chrome frame highlights a slightly protruding camera and branded manufacturer control buttons. The texture of the back panel is pleasant to the touch, but still too slippery.

LG is betting on a streamlined design that gives the phone an organic look. The glossy front panel contrasts nicely with the matte rear.

The rigidity of the case at the proper level, however, a strong push behind makes visible the liquid crystals of the screen. The phone crackles when trying to deform it, but leaves the overall impression of a durable and reliable device.

High Definition Screen

K10 LTE is equipped with a 5.3-inch IPS-display 1280 x 720 pixels, which allows you to output relatively clear text and image. A protective glass with a polarizing filter and an oleophobic coating is not able to withstand scratches, so LG immediately glues the screen with a protective film. However, it does not cover the entire LG K10 LTE K430ds blue front panel. Customer testimonials indicate that it looks rather ugly. The phone responds a little slowly to changes in ambient light, and when this happens, the transition is pretty harsh. In addition, there is no LED notification indicator.

The display brightness does not differ: 376 cd / m ^{2 is} clearly not enough. Competitors and LG Class offer much brighter screens. At least, the illumination of 92% homogeneous and large areas are painted evenly. The black level of 0.28 cd / m ^{2 is} quite low, so the dark areas do not seem to be lit too much. The contrast of 1321 to 1 is good.

Subjectively, the colors look pretty lively. The extremely high average color temperature of 9000 K is unexpected, but it explains the visible bluish tint at light gray levels. The colors are much colder than in the original, due to the high content of the blue component. Displacements of color are very strong, especially in the blue area. Low maximum brightness does not allow to distinguish anything in bright sunlight - the device has to be used in the shade.

IPS-technology allows you to view the image even at a large angle. The colors are not inverted and the brightness remains stable.

Connectors and accessories

The headphone jack and the microUSB port are located at the bottom, and the power and volume buttons are on the back panel, in LG's corporate style. It takes some time to get used to them, but they act just like the usual buttons on the sides of the case. However, there is also inconvenience: it is impossible to leave the standby mode if the phone is on the table. True, LG K10 can be activated by double tapping the screen.

Users find the volume buttons too malleable, which makes them easy to accidentally click while driving. The texture of the back cover provides good grip without an unpleasant "sticky" look. It's safe to say that the LG K10 LTE is one of the best budget plastic phones on the market. The smartphone is available in white, gold and indigo.

The K10 LTE comes with a 4.2W charger, a USB cable , headphones and a cover with a tilting lid. The case has a translucent vertical strip, which allows you to see the main notifications, weather, battery life, as well as time and date. The quality of the case is normal, but the remaining accessories look more durable.

LG K10 LTE: Specifications

For various markets, LG has created several phone options. K10 LTE (K420ds) is sold in Russia, is equipped with an eight-core chip Mediatek MT6753 with a frequency of 1.3 GHz and has 1.5 GB of RAM. Work graphics provides video accelerator Mali-T720. This is an average level that copes with most of the current tasks, but has no future for it. 16 GB of internal memory can be expanded to 48 GB using a dedicated slot for memory cards MicroSD.

The phone supports 4G with VoLTE, but only for the first slot of the SIM card. The second supports data transfers only at 3G speeds. Hot swapping of the SIM card is not possible, since you need to reboot the device to retrieve the first or second card. The phone supports Wi-Fi 802.11b / G / N, Bluetooth 4.1, FM radio and GPS. There is no fingerprint scanner, NFC and USB OTG support.

Software

This version of the phone comes with Android 6.0 "Marshmallow". Own user interface LG K10 LTE K430ds user reviews are called quite functional and familiar with other latest LG smartphones. Unlike the flagship LG G5, K10 LTE has a traditional interface with the application panel. The navigation bar of Android at the bottom is configured for additional buttons for capturing screenshots, displaying notifications and switching SIM cards. The latter is necessary when using two SIM-cards, since there are no separate call buttons for each of them.

The LG K10 LTE phone reviews are praised by owners for having different levels of customization:

• You can change the lock screen and the animation of the home panel;
• Add themes from the SmartWorld application;
• Double-tap to unlock the screen;
• Attach some programs to the application switch;
• The notification panel is equipped with switches and sliders for brightness and volume.

Floating applications that are present in the more expensive LG phone models are not available here, but you can receive pop-up notifications of an incoming call if another program is open.

Austere minimalism

The ability to replace the "Settings" submenu with tabs in the LG K10 LTE is welcomed by the users, since, in their opinion, this simplifies the orientation. In pre-installed applications, resource-intensive software is minimized. There is only a file manager, a backup program, a program for creating quick notes QuickMemo +, which can be synchronized with the Google calendar, the remote support service and the task manager.

The LG soft keyboard is easy to use and clearly organized. The digital series is located above the letters, the keys are rather big and allow you to print without frequent mistakes. It is possible to go to the keyboard from Google or install another one from the application store.

LG K10 LTE: review, owner reviews

Due to the lightweight interface for applications, there is usually about 1.4 GB of free RAM. The overall performance of the LG K10 LTE customer reviews is called good, although there are small periodic delays when switching between programs or when scrolling through notifications. No problem with 4G performance or call quality. The base keyboard is also convenient to use. The folding cover of the boot increases its dimensions, but without it the K10 LTE fits very easily in the pocket. Constant use of the phone with one hand is impossible, since there is quite a lot of plastic around the screen.

On the video playback of the LG K10 LTE K430ds, user reviews do not complain - the smartphone is able to play media files with a high bit rate, although not all audio codecs are supported. AC3-audio can not be played even with the MX-player. The music player supports FLAC, but there is no equalizer to adjust the sound. The supplied headset is good for voice calls, but it's pretty mediocre for playing media files. In addition, the headphones have a not very comfortable fit. The speaker on the back panel is loud enough to be notified, but, again, it is not suitable for media files.

The LG application for making calls looks slightly different than the standard Google program, and combines a phone with contacts, but offers similar functions. When you run it, the user is directed to a large keyboard. Bookmarks for call lists, contacts, favorites, and groups are displayed at the top. Tabs can be rebuilt or removed.

The quality of voice transmission in the LG K430 K10 LTE 16 GB user reviews are called sufficient to clearly hear the interlocutor. The maximum speaker volume is impressive, although its sound is not quite clean. In addition, the microphone sometimes produces a quiet noise, but otherwise it has a relatively high sensitivity, so the caller should not speak too loudly to be heard. The overall quality of the call is good, but high-end smartphones demonstrate that there is still room for improvement here.

The kit with the phone includes "standard" accessories. These include a charger, a USB cable and a headset.

Supported communication and navigation standards

The smartphone supports cellular communication in 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Blurtooth, and GPS, A-GPS and GLONASS systems. The device is well adapted for travel. The maximum LTE speeds are 150 Mbps when receiving and 50 Mbps when sending data. Signal strength in the urban area is quite good even in the building.

The standard Wi-Fi allows you to work at speeds up to 300 Mbps. The signal is good.

The GPS module did not leave a good impression. In the room, communication with satellites is impossible, and only one satellite was detected from the outside, which is insufficient to determine the location. Deviations from the route are 2%, which is acceptable.

Front and rear cameras

13-megapixel camera on the rear panel and 5 megapixel front, which is equipped with the phone LG K10 LTE K430ds, customer reviews are assessed in two ways. On the one hand, the rear camera decently landscapes and near by daylight. But focusing and saving images are a bit slow, and they get even slower in low light conditions. The level of detail and accuracy of colors in macro is much better than in landscapes with good lighting, but photos and videos made in low light conditions are full of noise and dips in detail. This is very obvious when the scale of the pictures is enlarged. The colors are pale.

The front camera perfectly removes selfies, even indoors. The color transfer is good, and the photos are not too blurred when enlarged.

Camera software

Smartphone LG K10 LTE K430ds owners reviews are called minimalistic: the applications for the camera allow either to have the shutter release button and other parameters superimposed on the viewfinder, or to hide them and just touch any place to take a picture. The latter option can be good for users who do not bother with manual focusing.

There is nothing superfluous in terms of settings or shooting modes. There are options for the timer and triggers that respond to a voice or gesture for Selfie. The reason for the difficulties in taking pictures of landscapes and the lack of decent photos when shooting against the light in the LG K10 LTE K430ds owners' reviews are the lack of filters, HDR and panoramic shooting.

Video can be recorded in Full HD at a speed of 30 fps. The quality is satisfactory, but the colors look pale.

Battery life

The 2300mAh battery in the LG K10 LTE customer reviews is said to be satisfactory. The reserve of energy is enough for 10 hours and 24 minutes of video playback. Charging the phone takes time, as fast charge support is not available. For half an hour the battery restores only 16%. Despite the fact that it is not very fast by today's standards, the good news is that with regular use the battery is not discharging very quickly. If you do not use 4G and Wi-Fi much, you can last more than one day.

Verdict

Estimated LG at 210 US dollars LG K10 LTE user reviews are considered too expensive for their characteristics. It seems that the phone does not compete in its price segment, and in mid-2016 it is difficult to justify such a cost with such a functional set. A more appropriate price level for him would be half of what is requested today, considering that the smartphone has nothing special, except its design, good screen and a decent battery life.

There are too many things that could improve the smartphone LG K10 LTE. The owners' feedback indicates that the device lacks a more powerful processor, faster charging time, the latest OS version and the normal operation of at least one of the cameras. These are the things that competitors offer, so the K10 LTE needs a price adjustment if LG really hopes for the success of its offspring.