The prices of flagship smartphones keep rising, so mid and budget range devices are getting better to offer more features at a more affordable price. While LG has been making good flagship phones for a while, they also offer many lower-range devices at lower prices. The company just unveiled a couple of devices from their brand new K series of phones at CES 2016, focusing on a stylish design and good features. A few weeks earlier, it was reported that LG was planning on bringing the K7 to the US pre-paid carrier Boost Mobile, but it would be rebranded and it would be known as LG Tribute 5. Now we can confirm that information, plus, we now get to know pricing and availability details for the phone.
Boost Mobile is calling the Tribute 5 the “most feature-packed smartphone priced under $100” so we know we’re dealing with a budget phone with some features borrowed from some of their more expensive offerings. The Tribute 5 integrates a 5-inch IPS display and there is 3G and 4G LTE connectivity on this device. Since this is based on the lower spec’d version of the K7, it features 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage, but there’s a microSD card slot for additional storage. Powering up the device is a quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor clocked at 1.1 GHz and there’s a 2,125 mAh battery included. The phone is international capable, so it can be used outside of the U.S. to make calls, text or use data. There’s a 5-megapixel camera on the back and the selfie camera sports the same resolution. LG has included some enhancements to these cameras such as Gesture Shot, allowing to capture pictures with a hand gesture and Selfie Light will assist selfies taken in low-light situations.
The LG Tribute 5 runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop, but LG has made some improvements to the UI including QuickMemo+, which allows to write or draw on almost any screen and some calendar events will show up at specific times. There’s Knock Code to unlock the device and access the Home screen directly. Knock On will put the phone to sleep by double tapping the screen and users can wake it without picking it up or pressing the lock key. This phone is available now at Boost Mobile retail stores as well as online in their official site, it is priced at $99.99 plus tax.