LG Optimus L7

Editor's Review of the Optimus L7

LG may not be the coolest kids on the block at the moment, but they're keen to push their phones as combining style with usability. They didn't really come good on this attempted image with the recently-released Optimus L3. Can the mid-range Optimus L7 offer the under-represented smartphone manufacturer some redemption?

Design & Build

Despite LG insisting that the 'L' series is some brave venture into more fashion-conscious smartphones, the L7 is pretty much the black plastic slab (with a faux-metal rim) we've come to expect from them. Keys around the phone too embedded into it to be comfortable, but the phone is nice and thin at 8.7mm.

The screen is a 4.3" WVGA display, sporting a 480 x 800 resolution with a yeah-alright 217 pixels per inch. The viewing angles are great and colours and bold. The display isn't as bright as some of the other LG NOVA displays out there though, and viewing the screen in sunlight isn't easy.

OS & Performance

This is LG's first device to come pre-installed with Ice Cream Sandwich, and it goes without saying that we absolutely love the OS. LG didn't deform it too much with their own UI tweaks either, and their inclusion of various useful toggle-widgets (WiFi, bluetooth, mobile data etc.) in the notifications bar is a welcome one. There are also a few different trivial effects with which you can skim through the home-screen carousel.

The L7's weak-point is undoubtedly its underwhelming 1GHz Cortex-A5 processor, which means that you won't be getting as much out of the lovely Ice Cream Sandwich as you'd hope for. Internet browsing is decent, but zooming, text re-flow and touch-responsiveness all leave a bit to be desired. Higher-end apps and games will also struggle, though all those addictive - yet slightly more basic - games such as Temple Run will go down as smoothly as a smoothie.

Camera & Multimedia

The 5MP camera features LED flash. which is the least you'd expect from a mid-range phone. LG Optimus UI doesn't have quite the same flashy options as the default ICS UI, and the phone's limited processing power means there is some shutter lag. Pictures tend to come out a bit soft, faded and fuzzy, so this one definitely isn't for photo enthusiasts.

The music player featured here is very simple and influenced by Android's stock player. From the Now Playing screen, swiping the big album art box in the middle left or right quickly changes song. Holding down on the album art box brings up a screen allowing you to search for the respective artist in your music collection, on the internet and on YouTube.

Battery, connectivity & storage

The 1700mAh battery onboard here will take you a reasonably long way, giving light users a good two days of life, with medium to heavy WiFi, 3G and calling users easily looking at a full day's life.

Aside from your usual WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0, LG has nippy HSDPA speeds of up to 21Mbps, and is also looking to the future by featuring integrated NFC support. Like Samsung and Sony, LG have their own NFC-activated tags (Tags +), which allow you to assign various sets of commands to little tags dotted around your life. Handy, and it could very well catch on.

4GB on onboard storage is perfectly acceptable for a mid-range phone, so long as it's expandable, which here it thankfully is. The microSD slot allows for up to 32GB of extra storage space, which should more than suffice for the presumably non-hardcore phone users who this handset is aimed at.

Conclusion

The Optimus L7 is in a way a definitive mid-range handset, in the sense that it doesn't do anything brilliantly but doesn't do anything awfully either. This may not suffice for people who want a superior camera in this price bracket, or a faster processor however, both of which Sony's Xperia P has at little extra cost.

The Optimus L7 is a good handset with some handy but not too imposing features added courtesy of LG's Optimus UI. LG's may not be as 'cool' as HTCs or Samsungs, but if you want to rebel against the status quo, then this handset's is worth a look, if not quite a definite purchase.