LG K50S and K40S mid-range phones lead company's IFA 2019 charge

IFA 2019 is a few weeks away so, unsurprisingly, those companies who aren't too preoccupied with Gamescom this week have started preparing their wares and their press team for the upcoming international electronics show. LG has, of course, started teasing its new dual-screen LG V or G series but it is now fully announcing two phones to be part of the show. These aren't your LG flagships though as the K50S and K40S are your average mid-range smartphone affairs.

The "S" in the phones' name might actually be a clue to LG's strategy for the second half of 2019. The LG K50 and LG K40 are phones that the company launched way back at MWC 2019 in February. That's around the same time LG announced the LG G8 ThinQ and LG V50 ThinQ. From the sound of it, it seems that LG will be reusing some names and appending an "S" to their names and selling them as new.

It's not like they're exactly the same. Both the LG K50S and K40S represent upgraded versions of their earlier 2019 predecessors but not by much. The phones are larger and have octa-core processors inside. RAM remains mostly the same and, depending on how you look at it, the cameras have gone down a bit in megapixel count at least for the main sensor.

• CPU: 2.0 GHz Octa-Core• RAM: 3 GB• Storage: 32 GB• Display: 6.5-inch 19.5:9 HD+ FullVision Display• Main Camera: 13MP with PDAF / 2MP with Depth Sensor / 5MP with Super Wide Angle• Secondary Camera: 13 MP• Battery: 4,000 mAh• CPU: 2.0 GHz Octa-Core• RAM: 2 or 3GB• Storage: 32 GB• Display: 6.1-inch 19.5:9 HD+ FullVision Display• Main Camera: 13MP with PDAF / 5MP with Super Wide Angle• Secondary Camera: 13 MP• Battery: 3,500 mAh

The K Series is LG's play for markets in Europe, Latin America, and Asia and the new K50S and K40S will be launching in Aurora Black and Moroccan Blue colors in October. This rehashing of names and models might be the same play it will make with the LG V50 successor, a.k.a LG G8X, that's also expected to debut next month.