Design
With a new line of phones featuring the Optimus L3, Optimus L5 and Optimus L7, LG is committed to satisfying the desires of the most design-minded users.
The top-of-the-line phone in this lineup is the LG Optimus L7, but that doesn't mean it's a high-quality modern phone comparable to the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X. It doesn't even compare to lower-end devices like the HTC One V and Nokia Lumia 710.
Like all members of the L line, the LG Optimus L7 is a rectangular device with a metal bezel around the edges. The manufacturer uses a new technology in the design of this phone, due to which the thickness of the phone case is uneven. The Optimus L7 is quite thin at only 8.7mm and weighs only 121g. The plastic body of the phone is well made, quite sturdy and doesn't crack when pressed. The LG Optimus L7 is available in black and white.
There is a fairly large LCD OLED WVGA screen with a size of 4.3 inches and a resolution of 800x480 pixels.
Below the screen is a multifunctional button, divided into two: Menu and Back. Above the screen is a front-facing VGA camera and a light sensor.
On the top edge there is a power / lock button for the phone and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Reaching the power button can be difficult at times, especially since the sharp corners make the phone a little uncomfortable to hold in your hand.
The sound rocker is located on the left side, its location is quite good and it is easy to use it. On the bottom edge of the Optimus L7 there is a microUSB port and a microphone hole.
The back cover of the phone is made of thin textured plastic that bends easily, so use the Optimus L7 with care. Luckily, the texture on the plastic doesn't pick up a lot of dust and dirt. The back cover houses a 5-megapixel camera, LED flash and speaker, and on its back there is an NFC antenna.
In order to open the back cover, you need to pry it off with something sharp. Under the cover are slots for a SIM card and a microSD memory card if you need to expand the 4GB of internal storage. Fortunately, the SIM and memory cards can be swapped out without removing the battery.
Operating system and work
LG Optimus L7 runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. In addition, the manufacturer has installed their own Optimus UI 3.0 user interface here. Although the single-core Cortex A5 processor with a frequency of 1 GHz, which is installed in the phone, does not always cope with its work, especially when it comes to animation. Working with widgets, the processor also fails. Sometimes it takes the processor up to five seconds for the widgets to appear in the list. This problem also manifests itself when opening applications.
Four applications can be launched from the lock screen, which can be changed in the Settings menu. Five desktops are available to the user, like in One V, with the ability to remove those you do not need at the moment. If you click on the button below the screen, a multitasking menu will appear, showing all currently running programs and making it possible to close unnecessary ones.
There is a standard set of Android widgets. These are Phonebook, Weather, Gmail, Dictaphone. But there are no popular Facebook and Twitter apps here. The manufacturer added the Smart World widget, which is a version of Google Play from LG, with the only difference that applications load slower, and their choice is small.
As a program for reading text files, Polaris office is installed here.
Phone book and call quality
LG has barely changed the default Phonebook app for Android. At the top there is a search bar with a button for adding new contacts next to it.
Contacts can be combined into Groups or added to Favorites. It is easy to import your Google contacts, but there are some problems when integrating with Facebook and Twitter.First of all, you need to install these apps for these social networks to appear as options. There is no built-in video call function and you have to install a third-party application.
As for the quality of communication, it is acceptable. The sound is quite clear and loud, the phone picks up the signal well.
Communication
The LG Optimus L7 offers all the basic communication features that an Android device has to offer.
To work with e-mail, there is a Gmail application and a standard Android application. The Email app does not automatically connect to your accounts, you need to configure everything manually. For people who don't know much about technology, this may not be the most pleasant news.
LG kept the default Android virtual keyboard on the phone, which isn't too bad. The buttons are large enough and comfortable, especially if you choose the horizontal screen orientation mode. There is no Swype support, but there is Google voice dialing.
the Internet
The browser on the phone is simple and straightforward to use, but problems arise when the Optimus L7 tries to load pages. Even using a Wi-Fi connection, you have to wait a couple of seconds for the phone to load the site. Fortunately, when the page is loaded, the large screen makes text and images look crisp and vibrant.
Optimus L7 does not support Flash technology, even if you download the Adobe Flash player from Google Play, the content will not be displayed in the browser.
Cards
LG Optimus L7 runs on the Android operating system, which means that Google Maps is installed here. A-GPS allows you to quickly and clearly determine your location, even if you are on public transport. A bad processor, of course, has a hard time displaying maps, though.
Camera
The camera in the LG Optimus L7 is pretty mediocre. It has a sensor of only 5 Mpx, which is comparable to the HTC One V. It has one LED flash and a front VGA camera. The Camera application can also be accessed from the lock screen, although there is no separate physical button for taking pictures, but pictures can also be taken using the sound rocker. The app takes about five seconds to load. This means that you will not be able to take a photo quickly.
There are quite a few settings and five modes of operation: portrait, landscape, dawn, night and motion. In addition, shutter speed, white balance and ISO can be adjusted. There are only three color effects: mono, sepia and negative. Autofocus is also available here, you can also focus on the image by clicking on the desired part of the screen.
Digital zoom is also included, but as with most phones, the more you zoom in, the poorer the image quality. Panorama works as well, but the Optimus L7 doesn't combine images very well, leaving obvious connection lines. There is also the option to take a burst of shots (6 photos), which is fine if you are shooting a moving subject, although the L7 takes a long time to focus.
Due to the fact that the LG Optimus L7 has only a 5-megapixel sensor, the device is only capable of shooting video in 640x480 (VGA) resolution, which is quite good for viewing on a phone, but will look terrible on a large screen. Before you start shooting, you can choose whether you need a flash and which of the two cameras to choose. Once shooting has started, the settings cannot be changed, but you can activate the digital zoom. When shooting movies, the same three color effects, white balance and exposure are available.
The video quality is quite adequate to the level of the device, although it seems a little grainy and faded.
Multimedia
With its large WVGA screen, the LG Optimus L7 is a decent multimedia device, although the slow processor makes it a little less enjoyable.
4GB of internal storage and expandable up to 32GB gives you the ability to create a fairly large collection of music, pictures and videos.
Loading media content on the Optimus L7 is done using the classic USB cable that comes with the phone.It can be connected to a computer or other media. After you have connected the phone using USB, you can choose the method of copying files: just drag and drop them to the desired folder using Windows Media Player or the LG PC Suite program, which will need to be downloaded from the manufacturer's official website.
The PC Suite software offers you a very simple method to add and remove content from your phone, which is especially helpful if you don't want to search through a large number of folders for the one you want. Although this program does not have additional functions, as in iTunes, the manufacturer did its best and the PC Suite is much easier to use than the Kies program offered by Samsung.
If you do not want to use a USB cable or have not installed a microSD card in your phone, then you have the opportunity to use the SmartShare application, which transmits data over wireless networks, connecting to other media devices, including computers, laptops, tablets and TVs that support this technology. While the app is completely self-explanatory and easy to use, it takes additional time for the software on the phone and the other media device to recognize each other.
Music
Optimus L7 comes with a standard Android music player, allowing you to access all of your audio files and combine them into playlists. There is no equalizer here, so there is no way to tweak the sound. The player supports most types of audio files: MP3, eAAC +, WAV and WMA.
The Optimus L7 also comes with standard headphones, but if you want to really enjoy listening to music, you better get something better.
Unfortunately, there is no widget for accessing the music player without launching the application.
The L7 also has an FM radio with the ability to auto-scan stations and save them to your favorites.
Video
The LG Optimus L7 has what many modern smartphones lack - a good video player. Optimus L7 supports many video formats including AVI, MP4 WMV, DivX and Xvid. The functionality of the player is basic, but that only means that it is easy to use. There are only possibilities to change the volume, rewind, turn on / pause the video. In addition, in the upper right corner of the video player screen there is a small lock icon, by clicking on which you will lock the screen from accidental clicks during video playback.
The playback quality is good and the large screen provides a pleasant viewing experience.
The Optimus L7 comes with YouTube preinstalled, but due to the processor, videos load very slowly.
Gallery
This program in LG Optimus L7 offers a simple and easy way to view images and videos captured with the camera.
There is no social media integration here, but there is a basic editing feature: four color enhancement options, seven visual effects, and eight color effects.
Battery
The LG Optimus L7 has a pretty good 1,700 mAh battery. This processor, which is far from ideal, allows the phone to work all day without recharging, even if you actively use it. Moreover, even if you browse social networks, e-mail and listen to music, the L7 can easily work for three days.
Another plus is that the battery is removable. Thus, you can not only change the SIM card or memory card without turning off the phone, but also carry an additional battery with you.
Output
The LG Optimus L7 has the potential to be a decent phone, with a large screen, modern operating system and NFC technology in its arsenal, but all of this fades into the background compared to the incredibly slow processor that interferes with normal use of the phone.
