Smartphone LG K40S - advantages and disadvantages

Thinking about which company is better to buy a smartphone? The best manufacturers of phones, as well as their components, presented their new achievements at IFA 2019 in Berlin, as part of the exposition, visitors were given the opportunity to get acquainted with the new K-series smartphones from LG Electronics: 40S and 50S. The popularity of models will be determined, first of all, by their price. They have completed a competitive line of mobile phones at below average prices. These budget upgraded K-series models feature improved cameras, displays and larger batteries. What is the best model to buy? The choice always depends on the needs. In the review, we will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the LG K40S.

The main task of LG is to satisfy the needs of customers, so new items come with improved components. The mass entry of LG K40S phones to the markets of Europe, Latin America and Asia is expected at the end of September 2019, they will compete with smartphones in a similar price range.

About company

LG Electronics Inc. is a South Korean international electronics company headquartered in Seoul. LG Electronics is part of the fourth largest chaebol (the name of a large industrial conglomerate in South Korea, run by members of the same family). The company's sales in 2014 reached $55.91 billion. Since 2008, LG Electronics has been the second largest manufacturer of LCD TVs in the world. The company provides employment for 83,000 people.

External parameters

How to choose the right device? First you need to figure out if you like the appearance of the device. LG K40S has rather big dimensions: 156.30 by 73.90 mm with a thickness of 8.6 mm. The device is available in two corporate colors - New Aurora Black and New Moroccan Blue. The package comes with a charger, the length of the cord is standard.

Display

The liquid crystal touch screen is equipped with an IPS matrix capable of displaying 16 million colors. The display resolution is 720 x 1520 pixels with a density of ~276 ppi. Color reproduction is consistent with the declared cost, you can also note a large viewing angle and a margin of brightness. In the sun, there are no problems with viewing content.

Camera

Today, few people are not interested in how the device takes pictures. The LG K40S offers two rear cameras: a 13-megapixel lens and a 5-megapixel super wide-angle lens. The rear camera has phase detection autofocus. Together with the LG K50S, the devices are the first in the K series to offer Super Wide Angle. The smartphone is great for large group photos and breathtaking landscapes.Autofocus and 13 million pixels on the front and rear cameras make it easy to take good pictures with the LG K40S.

The MediaTek Imagiq package in the MediaTek Helio P22 enables a dual camera system (13 plus 5 megapixels) supported by the new depth engine. Such characteristics allow you to shoot photos with a depth transfer, and the sharpness achieved in this case is quite up to a level above average.

MediaTek's electronic image stabilization system has been enhanced with a new Roll Shutter Compensation (RSC) technology that effectively softens warped video when capturing fast action or panorama shots.

High low-light performance, multi-frame noise reduction and image sharpening technology are also provided by the MediaTek Helio P22 system. In addition, the Imagiq package includes an upgrade that automatically minimizes aliasing, graininess, and corrects blemishes and distortions. The system includes MediaTek Instant Auto Exposure: an anti-overexposure fixture with precise focusing. Instant AE is powered by the camera's hardware control unit, and auto focus provides faster adjustments when lighting conditions change suddenly. This is a good option for those who care about how the camera takes pictures at night.

The smartphone has minor improvements to artificial intelligence systems such as Face ID (Face Unlock), Smart Photo Album and Single-Cam/Dual Cam Bokeh. Thanks to the support of MediaTek NeuroPilot, device developers have received a framework that supports many popular artificial intelligence systems and is fully compliant with the Android Neural Networks API.

All these new technologies of the MediaTek Helio P22 cover important aspects of photography and allow you to get breathtaking effects when shooting photos and videos, regardless of the time of day and location. The example of the photo shown at the presentation showed a good result.

Internal stuffing

Chipset

MediaTek Helio P22's advanced chip system delivers high definition HD+ with 19:9 aspect ratio. Chipset parameters allow you to have an excellent balance between sharpness and power efficiency. The display makes up about 80% of the screen, and this design of the phone looks modern and attractive. The system includes an IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU running at 650 MHz. Powerful productive eight-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor operates at a frequency of 2.0 GHz.

MediaTek CorePilot technology provides power planning, thermal management, and regulates the correct core workload at a specific frequency and voltage. This ensures a stable, high-performance and reliable interaction between the user and the phone.

MediaTek uses the latest 12nm TSMC FinFET manufacturing process. The update gives access to advanced features of the MediaTek Helio P22 and raises the bar for smartphones with long battery life.

Modem MediaTek latest generation 4G LTE WorldMode. The device supports dual 4G SIM cards with VoLTE/ViLTE. The unit is geared towards energy-saving operation, using the best combination of antennas to provide the best possible signal. The best quality is achieved with minimal power consumption. The new 600 MHz band is also supported for the North American market.
The technology of the global satellite navigation system used in the K40S series phone has been upgraded. The smartphone has receiving sensors for the main navigation systems: GPS, Glonass, BeiDou or COMPASS, Galileo. Processor core improvements provide 57% faster TTFF, a 10% improvement in accuracy, and a 24% reduction in power consumption.

The device works perfectly in the Smart Home system thanks to the latest version of Bluetooth. Compared with the previous version, the data transfer rate has increased by 2 times, the range by 4 times, and the broadcasting capacity by 8 times. Simultaneous coexistence of BT and Wi-Fi (now 802.11ac) delivers 5 times more Wi-Fi throughput than the previous generation.

Memory

The phone comes with two memory options:

• base assembly - 2 GB of RAM plus 32 GB of internal;
• a more nimble option is 3 GB of RAM plus 32 GB of internal memory.

The external memory can be expanded up to 2TB using a microSD card.

Battery

The autonomy of the phone is provided by a non-removable lithium-polymer battery with a capacity of 3500 mAh. This is not the largest volume for games, but together with the chipset and processor, which are aimed at energy saving, this is quite enough for active use of the phone during the day. Many popular models today have a similar capacity.

Core technologies

Wireless connections

Wireless Internet connectivity is supported by Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), GSM, HSPA, and LTE (supporting band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). The phone has acceleration sensors and a fingerprint sensor. LG K40S supports face unlock screen.

The smartphone supports DLNA, which allows compatible devices to share images, music, videos, and display them in real time over the home network. The technology allows you to automatically connect home computers, mobile phones, laptops and consumer electronics into a single digital network. The medium for transferring media files is usually a home local area network; it is possible to form both a wired and a wireless connection.

There is no sensor for playing radio.

game system

These attractively priced phones have been designed for gaming and multimedia viewing. The screen of the K40S phone has a 6.1-inch diagonal display and HD + resolution, which is in line with the parameters of premium phones. The bezels are minimal, and the display is interrupted by an attractive and unobtrusive front camera connector. The device has a slim modern design.

Audio

Enjoying multimedia content without really great audio playback is very problematic. The K40S is equipped with 3D Surround Sound for realistic and dynamic sound.

Protection

The materials used for the production of components of the latest LG K models have a guarantee of durability and quality.Guaranteed to withstand even the toughest daily abuse, the K40S meets the US military's MIL-STD-810G durability standard. The screen is protected by 2.5D glass.

SIM cards

LG K40S works with two SIM-cards (dual sim), the size of accepted cards is Nano-SIM. The dual SIM system is Dual Standby, which means that the phone supports two SIM cards, but in standby mode. Simply put, when neither SIM is in use, both are active, but when one of the SIMs is in use, the other becomes inactive.

Another problem is that when using the 3G/2G network on one card, the other SIM card also becomes inactive. In normal use, this is not a significant problem, however, inconvenience occurs when downloading a large file or watching streaming YouTube videos, at which time the other SIM card is inactivated.

Many users of two cards often use only one, and the second is needed for personal use. In such cases, the Dual Standby mode does not cause inconvenience.

Interface

LG K40S runs Android 9 Pie. The latest version of the operating system allows you to make the most of the internal "stuffing" of the phone. Useful Google Assistant opens with a click of a button.

Advantages and disadvantages

Like every device, LG K40S has its advantages and disadvantages. The average price in the range of 160 USD smoothes out some shortcomings.

• Productive energy-saving system MediaTek Helio P22 with an eight-core processor;
• Convenient screen size and aspect ratio for viewing multimedia content, navigating the Internet and reading;
• Meets MIL-STD-810G durability standard.

• Insufficient battery capacity for active games and multimedia content;
• The pixel density on the display is average, not suitable for high-end video viewing and games;
• A maximum of 3 GB of RAM is not enough.

Outcome

The review showed that the phone has good functionality, but the price of the device was probably in the first place during development, so it does not reach the high bar. Selection criteria differ from buyer to buyer, but, in general, the device is fine for the average user without excessive requests for playing games and videos. The device can be described as a reliable smartphone that has replenished the rating of high-quality and inexpensive devices. At the moment, there are still no reviews in large numbers; the phone entered the market in early September 2019. About the main thing: How much does it cost? Where is it profitable to buy? You can buy online for 150 USD. In a regular store it will be a little more expensive.