PERFORMANCE: While the LG K7 garners some high scores, many others score better. This phone could still be a good budget choice if you can get it at a good price or if you need only a basic smartphone. Ergonomics on the K7 were fair. This is a smartphone you may want to hold and try using before you buy it. Call quality and convenience on the K7 were not the best but they were very good. Sound while on a call was very good in a quiet room and with background noise. Your sound quality will vary due to many factors including background noise, if you are moving between cell towers, the quality of the phone on the other end of the call, and the quality of the cell tower and antenna.
DURABILITY: After 50 drops in the tumbler, our experts rated it as very good. An included protection cover was used in testing. There were just some minor scratches but it was still in good working condition. After our more strenuous 100 drops in the tumbler the screen and body are bruised but not broken. Our experts rated it as good. Even with the cover, the frame was scratched and the back cover dented. Overall it was still in working condition.
PORTABILITY/BATTERY: The 5-inch screen on the K7 comes in a body measuring 5.7-inches tall, 2.9-inches wide, 0.4-inches thick, and weighs 5.7 ounces. Those measurements mean the phone is an average size phone. At 19.5 hours, it has an average battery lifespan. Its battery is removable but the phone doesn't support wireless charging.
CAMERA: The K7 has a single 5-megapixel camera. The camera does not have optical image stabilization so handheld photos in low light may be blurrier than cameras with optical image stabilization. Overall the camera performance was only fair, well below that of many models but still good enough for casual photo taking. Images are evaluated on high quality 24-inch LCD displays. The test photos are taken in a brightly lit studio and outdoors on a sunny day. In the viewing tests the images were rated only fair overall. These image results are noticeably not as good as most smartphones for color quality, exposure level, sharpness (noticeable over sharpening), and image noise. The K7 comes with a 5-megapixel selfie cam. Overall the selfie camera quality was only fair, well below that of many models but still good enough for selfies viewed on social media.
DISPLAY: Overall the display quality was only fair. The display resolution was not high enough, so it was noticeably not as smooth and crisp as it needs to be. Readability outdoors is a combination of brightness, measured in candelas per square meter, and reflectivity. The readability rating was good. Brightness was a little dim for outdoor sunlight at 315cd/m² and reflective glare was slightly noticeable.
