LG Optimus L9 P760 Review

LG has made some very great customizations of Android for its LG Optimus L9 that include the inclusion of QuickMemo, how modifiable it is and the way it looks. Furthermore, there are some other customizations as well that LG has included in Android or you can say “Ice Cream Sandwich”, and these customizations include themes, menus and icons as well. Even, users can change or replace every icon in LG’s Android overlay. In addition to this, application menu shortcut can also be moved and this is something that we all wish for on Samsung’s smartphones. The dock can take a maximum of six shortcuts which is a nice enough feature.

It can be said that with Optimus lineup LG has silently begun to make a name for it. The company has clearly stated with its Optimus lineup that it is not afraid in pushing limits of technology. One more thing that we have not seen in prior phones is the neat ability to edit the quick settings power control available in the top drop-down for Android. With this, users can select whatever they want to be shown and can also move it around, and generally make your menu controllers show up to eleven different items, or just the few you want to quickly switching things on and off. Well let’s see whether this smartphone is going to live up to the expectations.

Let’s see what LG Optimus L9 has to offer us in terms of design. LG Optimus was built on angular and minimalist design that we have seen LG put out. The handset comes with a large 4.5” IPS display that for sure is a dominating feature but there are lots more. There is a slim physical home button and hidden capacitive back and menu keys flank the home button.

The LG Optimus L9 is very comfortable to hold with its tapered edges, a textures, soft touch back and measuring only 9.1 mm in thickness. Moreover, the battery door is removable to gain access to the 2150 mAh battery, SIM card and microSD slot. With its quality plastic housing, the phone does not look cheap but is extremely light. On the whole, the phone does not look and feel like a budget model in any way as far as the design is concerned.

The LG Optimus L9 comes with IPS display that has a 540x960 qHD resolution that makes for a respectable 245 ppi density. We have seen some really excellent display from LG and LG has really made its name with its recently released excellent display handsets, and of course Optimus L9 is no different from that. Despite the fact that LG Optimus L9 does not have the highest resolution, it provides bright and vibrant displays with supers viewing angles thanks to its IPS technology. You will not have any problem in using Optimus L9 in any lighting condition. Furthermore, the clarity is also good enough.

The LG Optimus L9 is skinned with LG familiar Optimus UI and based on Android 4.0.4. Though there is nothing new to talk about yet there are some unique features that Optimus L9 boasts. These features include QuickMemo that allows you to get down screenshots and SmartShare that allows you to stream content to a DLNA device. On the other hand, it does lack some of the Optimus G’s standout features that include QSlide and Live Zooming.

On the whole, the Optimus L9 UI is not as expensive as HTC Sense or Samsung’ Nature UX. On the other hand, the performance of Optimus L9 is fluid. In addition, there are a number of pre-loaded apps with the Optimus L9, which is becoming a real problem for carrier branded phones. There are nine T-Mobile apps alone, and when starting the phone initially the user is presented with a number of apps, wallpapers and widgets to install.

The phone is packed with a dual-core TI OMAP 4430 processor that is better than the single core unit that was used in the L7. The phone also features 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage out of which half is used for the system however users can increase the storage capacity with a microSD card. Despite the fact that the Optimus L9 does not have the most impressive hardware specs still its performance is solid and you will not have any noticeable lag or hang-ups while using the L9.

The Optimus L9 runs on T-mobile’s 21Mbps network however it does not support the faster 42Mbps network. There are some other connectivity options too that include Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth 3.0. It also offers Wi-Fi direct for easy file-sharing. On the other hand, the handset lacks NFC that is found in the smaller L7 and several other Android handsets. As far as web browsing is concerned, no matter which browser you – the stock browser and Chrome – the results are just as you would expect. To be specify page loads quickly and panning, tapping and pinching produce good reliable results.

With a 5 megapixel camera, the LG Optimus L9 produces acceptable and impressive results. Although, when you look at the images at full resolution you will find that details are blurry. On the other hand, color reproduction is fairly perfect. Outdoor images are better than indoor shots where even in strong light images appeared to be grainy. For Facebook and other sharing services, camera results are just fine but on the whole the camera is a bit of disappointment. You can record 1080p videos that turn out to be fairly well. However, background noise can be devastating. The camcorder - similar to the camera, also lacks details but nevertheless is able to keep up with moving objects fairly well.

The LG Optimus L9 multimedia contains media and video players that without any surprise perform just like you would expect them to. Moreover, Google Play Music is also pre-loaded for cloud streaming as well as local playback moreover there are a lot of other choices or alternatives available in the Play Store. There is an FM radio on the LG Optimus L9 too with RDS support that you can use with a set of headphones or the loudspeaker. Either way, you need to plug in headphones as they act as an antenna.

Performance wise as well, users will not have any problem as it is one of the more clear phones that we have tested so far. The voices are clear and loud and users do not have any problem in hearing the other party although they said there was a slight hollowness to it. With plenty of volume and natural voice reproduction, voices at the both end are great even with a noisy background, users will not have any problem in hearing their callers.

So, we see that there is quite a lot to like about this handset mainly its big screen and retina levels of pixel density which is hard to come by in this price range. But, still there are some disadvantages as well that users need to keep in mind if they are going to buy this handset. These include insubstantial construction and no Jelly Bean upgrade. Furthermore, its camera is also a bit of disappointment.

LG Optimus L9 is a good choice for those users who are looking for a budget big screened smartphone. The L9 offers reasonably powerful hardware, decent looks and of course excellent custom user interface which are some of the good reasons to buy this phone. Though, there are some cons as well but the feature this handset offers are hard to find in this price range. The 4.5” IPS display is magnificent, and the dual core TI OMAP processor delivered smooth performance. The camera could have been better but at $80 on contract one should not complain too much.

On the whole, the performance of the Optimus L9 is flawless and battery life also exceeds the expectations. Moreover, its sleek design makes this smartphone a preferred choice for young audience as well. There’s certainly no doubt that you can find a bargain, but like always, you get what you pay for.