Samsung and LG could both be on the hook for launching new low-cost phones at CES 2018 in January.
Which phones, you ask? According to Korean news site ETnews, Samsung may unveil its new Galaxy A8 and A8+ devices, while LG is reported to announce its next K series phone. Exact dates weren’t shared, but CES will run from Jan. 9-12, which is right around the corner.
Samsung’s Galaxy A phones from 2017 offered the Galaxy experience for a price in line with your budget.
Once a major stage for phone debuts, CES has shifted focus in past years to highlight smart home appliances. Phonemakers, meanwhile, have pulled back to focus on the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), held every year in Barcelona at the end of February. Still, some handsets do appear at CES, though these days they’re more likely to be entry-level or midrange phones, or else US variants of devices already launched in other countries.
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Both the Samsung A and LG K series fit the mold. They don’t have all the glitz and glamour of the companies’ premium flagship models — like the Samsung Galaxy S and Note series or the LG G and V series — but they tend to be much more reasonably priced. It’s worth noting that both LG and Samsung announced their latest K series and Galaxy A series phones at CES 2017, so a CES 2018 announcement would continue this trend.
The Samsung phones are rumored to get the following features:
- 18:9 AMOLED Infinity Display with slim bezels (akin to the Galaxy S8)
- AI functions like Bixby Home and Bixby Remind
- Samsung Pay
- Fingerprint recognition
- “Split View” and “Pop-up View” multitasking
Alleged renders of Galaxy A8 phones have popped up online, corroborating the rumor that the A8 may look like the Galaxy S8. So if you’re a fan of the S8’s large-screen look, the Galaxy A8 may catch your eye.
Meanwhile, the report claims the LG K series phone may get things like:
- LG Pay
- FM radio
- 5.3-inch full-HD display
- 3GB of RAM
- 32GB of storage
Be sure to stay tuned to CNET from Jan. 7 through 12 as we cover CES 2018.
Samsung and LG declined to comment on this story.
