LG Optimus L7 II Review

Introduction:

The LG Optimus L7 II is an affordable Android mid-ranger that brings a lot to the table with a spacious 4.3-inch display and a huge battery. You can also argue that a 4.3 inch device is around the perfect size for single-handed use and that also comes to its advantage.

The Optimus L7 II comes in a single (the Optimus L7 II) and dual-SIM versions (the Optimus L7 II Dual), and we have the dual-SIM one for review here.

Of course, by making this a relatively affordable device, LG had to cut some corners and in this case the cutting happened in silicon as the dual-core processor of the Optimus L7 II seems underpowered and can’t handle the load it’s given perfectly smooth.

If you don’t mind a little lag here and there, you’ll get rewarded with plenty of features and an excellent Optimus UI on top of Android Jelly Bean.

In the box:

• USB wall charger
• USB to microUSB cable
• Headphones
• User manual

Design:

The two biggest Korean phone makers, Samsung and LG, are actually very similar in their design approach. Samsung is now a name that is largely associated with plasticky feeling gadgets, and LG is walking in its footsteps. The Optimus L7 II is a representative of this uninspiring trend featuring a white or black patterned plastic back.



The build quality is fairly sturdy, though, with no screaking parts. On the front, there are four capacitive buttons that bring memories of old Androids. In this case, the fourth button is one dedicated to switching between one of the two SIM cards you can use with this device.

On the right side is the lock key, and on the left a volume rocker and the standard for LG customizable Quick button. Finally, on the back there is an 8-megapixel camera with a single LED flash.

The 4.3-inch IPS 480 x 800 pixel (WVGA) display has great viewing angles and rich, saturated colors. In terms of colors, this is one of the better displays we have seen, especially at the not so stellar price of this device. Its resolution works out to a pixel density of around 216ppi which is below the 300ppi quantifier for “retina” displays. This means that you can see slight pixelization in the icons and you need to zoom in a bit for all text to be perfectly legible.

We like the fact that you can easily adjust brightness right from the notification shade. This is welcome for the outdoors when you often need to pump up brightness for better visibility.



Interface:

The handset ships with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, one version short of the most up-to-date Android version. It’s heavily skinned, though, as companies like LG try to differentiate with their own experience on top of Android.

LG has done a good job with its Optimus UI 3.0 skin. It adds a ton of little tweaks and improvements all over Android. We’d say that the skin has this general happy-cartoony look that we for some reason associate with Asia and might feel a bit juvenile to westerners. LG has gone for the easily legible and large-sized LG SmartGothic font that also adds a bit to that. There is no denying the skin is fun and functional, though, and text is easily legible in the menus.

The fun part of it comes from the cartoony icons and rich customization options. LG includes four themes in the Optimus UI (Optimus, Biz, Cozywall and Marshmallow) that transform the visuals with not just different background but also whole new sets of icons. LG is also the only company to allow landscape orientation in the Android home screen.

The notification shade on the LG Optimus L7 II is rich in options yet not too packed with icons and toggles. It consists of a single row of side-scrollable and customizable shortcuts and a brightness level controller below it.

Like Samsung with its S apps (S Planner, S Health and so on), LG bundles its handsets with a suite of “Q apps.” The Q here stands for quick and those apps include QMemo that allows you to jot on top of what you see on your screen, QTranslator, a real-time translator that scans text using your camera, and QSlide for multitasking. All of those are neat little additions, and we especially liked QTranslator.

Dual-SIM Functionality:

The Optimus L7 II features a dual-SIM hot key, a dedicated capacitive button right on the front of the device that allows you to quickly switch between SIM cards, a decision that makes a lot of sense for those who use the function daily.

The dual-SIM functionality itself is extremely well done. There are two different color schemes throughout all of the menus indicating which SIM card is in use. For instance, by default, the primary SIM card is represented in blue, while the secondary one is magenta. This means that in text messages the send button would have the color of the active SIM card, a simple way to show which card you’re using.


The cards themselves are not hot swappable, you need to remove the battery to switch cards.

Processor and Memory

A 1GHz dual-core processor with 768MB of RAM might sound good on paper but then again this turns out to be a Cortex A5 based chip and it cannot provide enough oomph for a lag-free experience.

Stutter is way too obvious in way too many places on this device. And while we wouldn’t want to be too harsh to a mid-ranger like the Optimus L7 II and we don’t expect it to run the latest games, we do expect to get a smooth experience in the main menu and when switching between home panels. In reality, you get a slight but pretty constant stutter in almost every place - locking the screen, pulling the notification shade and navigating around the device.

Here is how this phone scores on some popular benchmarks:

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu
LG Optimus L7 II	2823	6674
Samsung Galaxy S Duos	2032	-
Samsung Galaxy Young Duos	2119	4749

The device ships with 4GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD cards of up to 32 gigs. Out of the 4 gigs, only 1.78GB are available to the user so you’d definitely want to get a card for more storage space.

Internet and Connectivity:

The LG Optimus L7 II connects to the web via 3G supporting downlink speeds of up to 7.2Mbps or Wi-Fi.

LG bundles both Google Chrome and its own Android browser in the handset and both have their own strengths. Google Chrome has brilliant cross-device syncing capabilities, and LG’s Android browser is also extremely versatile. When scrolling and zooming around pages there is a slight stutter, but the same lag is also present all through the device. Neither browser supports Flash.


In terms of connectivity, the handset also supports Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and GPS.

Camera:

The Optimus L7 II features an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with a single LED flash. Images we captured turned out a bit on the soft side with color burning in some areas, but generally fairly well and with sufficient amount of detail.

We have to highlight the burst shot feature that is a rarity for mid-range devices, but is here on the L7 II. It allows you to take 6 quick continuous shots - perfect for sports events or other occasions with fast moving objects.

LG’s camera interface is also really convenient. The company has gone for large, distinct icons and bundles in its Cheese shutter that fires the camera whenever you say a keyword like “Cheese” or “Smile”.

The depth of the interface would please enthusiast camera photographers too - it has ISO and white balance settings, along with scene modes and color effects.


Video recording is a bit of a disappointment, though. The camera cannot capture 720p HD video - instead video recording maxes out at 480p at 30 frames per second. Colors were mostly in check, but we noticed a few skipped frames here and there. There is also a VGA front camera, good for video conferencing and little else.

LG Optimus L7 II Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The vivid 4.3-inch display is a perfect asset for video playback, and LG capitalizes on that adding DivX/Xvid support out of the box. Moreover, the video player is rich in options allowing you to stream videos via DLNA with one touch and play back videos in a separate window on top of what you are already doing (so you can say text and watch a video at the same time).

Music output is also loud and clear via the rear loudspeaker. The music player is straightforward, simple yet rich in options allowing you to browse your collection by songs, artists, albums and genres. It supports playlists and has folder view for those of you who prefer to manually play back their music from folders.

Call Quality:

Call quality is of topmost importance for a dual-SIM handset that most people buy with the notion of doing a lot of talking. Good news here is that call quality is pretty good.

The earpiece gets very loud at the maximum level and would be easy to hear in noisy environments. Turn it down a bit for maximum clarity. The microphone is also loud and clear if we had to nitpick we’d say voices sound a tiny bit sharp, but generally we’re happy with the call quality.

Battery life:

One of the biggest assets of the LG Optimus L7 II is its huge 2450mAh battery with a talks time of 12 hours and a half. It’s not like any other battery out there - LG is using SiO+ instead of the standard Lithium Ion compound.

This enhanced version of Li-Ion batteries is still researched but so far it seems the consensus is it brings a 6% improvement in capacity at the same size.

In reality, being a dual-SIM handset with bigger power draw, the Optimus L7 II needs that extra boost. It easily lasts through a day, and we’d even say for the average user it would last two days.

Conclusion:

The LG Optimus L7 II is a dual-SIM handset at heart, meant for developing markets where the feature is hugely appreciated. It arrives for a relatively affordable price of $280 off contract (280 euro in Europe), right at the start of the mid-range segment.

The handset does not lack competition from Chinese vendors which often have superior specs but none of the software polish. Samsung is also offering a decent and slightly cheaper alternative with the Galaxy S Duos, but it runs on the dated Android ICS and has an inferior camera.

After spending a few days with the device, it is easy to like it for its just-right-size 4.3-inch screen, great dual-SIM implementation and battery, as well as for its nice and functional Optimus skin. We wish LG had nailed the performance side better - the device simply feels underpowered right now, and lag throughout the menus spoils the otherwise good impressions. If you don’t mind that constant slowdown, though, the Optimus L7 II might be just the right device.

LG Optimus L7 II Dual Video Review: