The LG K8 is a unique, interesting phone that certainly catches the eye. It has a faux weave pattern covering its back and no side buttons at all - only a 3.5mm jack and micro USB port at the bottom edge.

The power and volume keys are at the back of the phone, neatly tucked away under the eight-megapixel camera. While this is an unusual position, it does work after you get used to it.

It has a MediaTek MT6735 (quad-core 1.3 GHz) processor, 1.5GB of RAM and up to 16GB of internal storage (expandable to 32GB with a microSD card).

Its 5-inch, 720 x 1,280 pixels display is dense and bright enough that text looks very crisp. I found it more than adequate for messaging and browsing.

The K8's default camera app is also quite different. When you open the app, there is no shutter button. Instead, when you click on an area, the camera will automatically focus and then snap.

The front camera also has a gesture shutter - you can clench your hand into a fist to take a picture - which is quite useful if you are holding the phone with one hand.

Lisabel Ting

• Price: $249 from Singtel, M1 and A-Mobile