LG Optimus L3 II Pro Reviews

As our tests make clear, the cheap 99 Euros (~$129) Optimus 430 L3 II from the Korean manufacturer LG excels more than anything at "long-distance running". With a battery runtime of over 36 hours in the reading test, and still more than 16 hours in the WLAN surf test, the "battery giant" even beats potent devices like the Apple iPhone 5 - at least when it comes to battery life. With 1540 mAh, the dwarf's battery isn't especially large, but it manages to keep the cigarette-box sized smartphone running for hours and days - even weeks. This advantage should be appealing to travelers and outdoor fans especially, particularly as its low cost of under 100 Euros (~$131) makes it affordable as a second cell phone for vacation or outdoor activities, where a scratch here and there isn't a big deal. You don't generally want to expose an expensive cell phone to the elements, which you might otherwise have to do on hiking tours and the like. Here our review device recommends itself with its incredibly long standby times of up to a month between charges. All these characteristics make the phone ideal for long nature trips away from power sources.

It’s very cheap, but its tiny screen and low resolution aren't very good for web browsing

With a price of around $140 off contract, the Optimus L3 II has fierce competition among low-end Androids, but not only. We honestly think the small screen in the L3 II takes a lot of the beauty of Android and that's one big reason against buying it. There are phones with slightly larger screens, but even a small increase in screen size makes a big difference for the user experience. The camera is also disappointing even for such an affordable device. Combine those two and you have solid reasoning for going against this otherwise fun chubby little Android. Phones like the Sony Xperia E offer a larger, better screen at virtually the same price point. Cheap Windows Phone handsets have upped the stakes even higher and the Nokia Lumia 520 comes with a spacious 4-inch display with a higher resolution and much more functionality at a price range only slightly higher than the L3 II. But neither of them have such a huge battery that will easily last two full days, and that along with the cheap price would be the strongest features of this phone.