LG Optimus L7 Pro Reviews

Reflective screen and sluggish performance detract from what is otherwise a good phone

As much as we wanted to like the Optimus L7, we must strongly urge those who want an entry-level smartphone to look elsewhere. It's quite a shame, really, because LG's design efforts hinted at something so much greater. We genuinely appreciate the phone's display, handy NFC capabilities, excellent battery life and even its software, which features LG's UI 3.0 layered on top of Android 4.0. Unfortunately, that's where the party ends. The Optimus L7 is a sluggish performer that is further hindered by unnecessary animations and transition effects in the UI. While that alone wouldn't qualify as a deal-breaker in the budget category, its slow data transmission speeds, incompatible trans-Atlantic 3G bands, woeful camera, lack of an ambient light sensor, subpar voice quality and flaky touch response all point to a regrettable purchase. As it stands, if your budget dictates your next smartphone, look instead toward the HTC One V, Sony Xperia U and Samsung Galaxy S Advance for more compelling options. Similarly, if you're able to avoid the contract subsidies and go SIM-free, the Galaxy Nexus is now more affordable than ever.

LG has succeeded in creating a desirable, well-built device, but has burdened it with an underpowered processor — that’s really all that’s missing here. The L7’s IPS display is very good for a budget device, and Android 4.0 is a huge selling point. LG’s problem, however, is that it’s not alone in wanting a piece of the budget smartphone market. HTC’s One V is almost exactly the same price as the L7, is very well built, and also offers Android 4.0 alongside better performance and camera quality. Cheaper still is Sony’s Xperia U, which promises to bring a lot of features from the company’s flagship Xperia S down to the low-end — although it’s presently stuck on Gingerbread. There are also a number of Windows Phones at this price point that offer similar specs and much more fluid performance, provided you don’t need the wider app choice of Android. The L7 shows that LG can nail both industrial design and software. Even a slightly improved processor would alleviate 99 percent of my issues with this device, but as is, it’s tough to recommend the L7. If it can pull all the elements together for the higher-specced Optimus 4X HD 2012 could be a good year for LG.

The Optimus L7 really catches the eye. With its large, bright screen, slim 8.7mm waistline, and pleasantly-textured back panel, it is a very comfortable phone to hold in hand. The interface is littered with cool transitions and effects, and the presence of all those nifty Ice Cream Sandwich optimizations are a welcome sight. It comes with Gorilla Glass and a hefty 1700 mAh battery. When you look under the hood however, things are not nearly as pretty. The single-core 1 GHz processor may have been great a few years ago and maybe good enough last year, but nowadays it seems that it's go multi-core or go home, at least as far as ICS smartphones are concerned. More often than not the phone keeps up with what you're trying to do, but performance hiccups are not too rare a sight, especially when you're trying to do multiple things at once and that's really damaging the whole experience. And let's not forget the particularly bumpy ride that is web browsing on the L7.

The LG Optimus L7 is a good-looking design, with decent build quality and the latest Google software. However, it is severely let down by its poor performance – both in terms of subjective speed and in poor battery life. The price seems attractive when compared to high-end phones but there are much better Android handsets available for less.

The LG Optimus L7's slow processor is ultimately a real deal killer for me. It's annoyingly slow and doesn't do the sleek device justice. Especially since the smartphone is running the latest Android OS and sports a modern design, having that extra lag time is a drag. However, if you put that issue aside (or you simply don't need a fast CPU), the L7 definitely pushes the definition of "midlevel" up a few notches. Its NFC capabilities and solid Nova display alone already put it ahead of most midrange LG handsets, and the Ice Cream Sandwich OS is the pleasant cherry on top.

The LG Optimus L7 had the potential to be a decent phone, its big screen, Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and NFC technology are sadly put on the back burner thanks to the incredibly slow processor and user experience. If you want a decent, single core phone with all the key features then you're better off looking at the HTC One V or Orange San Diego. If you fancy something slightly different then check out the Nokia Lumia 710 or BlackBerry Curve 9320, as the LG Optimus L7 comes in behind all of these.

As far as style goes, the L7 can't be faulted. It's a nice-looking phone - we'd rather have it in black, but even so, it's well-designed and well-built. But when it comes to the stuff that matters, the L7 falls down because it has a slow processor running the latest version of Android. This is daft, and was never going to end well. And true to expectations, the day-to-day use of the L7 is hampered by lag and general slow performance. It's a real shame. We like that LG has thought about the design, and has brought NFC to a mid-range phone, we just wish it had thought to include more ooomph to keep the frustration at bay.

Despite being the flagship of the new L series, the LG Optimus L7 main virtue is that it ships with the newest Android Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, rather than design and specs. The handset is indeed thin and light, but the chassis looks run-of-the-mill with its rectangular shape made of black plastic, despite the metal plate around the camera module. Whether it's software optimization or just the single-core processor and 512MB of RAM, shmoozing around in the interface, browser and apps isn't devoid of slowdowns and interruptions. There are some really neat ideas in the new interface, like the scrolling connectivity toggles in the notification bar, but these are overshadowed by the mediocre pictures and video quality, for example.