LG recently launched its stylish L series smartphones in India and Optimus L5 is one of the mid-range model of the series. L5 runs on Android ICS, has a 4inch capacitive touch screen, 5MP camera, 800MHz processor and is priced at around Rs. 13,000 in India.
Look and Feel
As claimed by the company LG Optimus L5 really looks stylish with its L shape design. The whole front is made up of glass which has a 4” display and there are three buttons at the bottom of the screen back, home and options. The middle key that is the home key below the display is a physical button whereas the other two buttons are touch sensitive.
The left side of the phone hosts the volume rocker which are comfortable to operate just like the home key. The back is made up of good quality plastic and has a nice pattern which helps you have a nice grip while holding the device. On the top it has a 3.5mm jack and the power key while at the bottom you have a mini-USB port and a microphone. The sides of the phone have a metal finish which enhances the look and feel of the handset.
Performance
Optimus L5 runs on Android ICS operating system which is something unique since most of its competitor in this price range still run on Gingerbread. The UI looks stock ICS but LG has spiced it up with features like Quick Memo which helps you take notes in handwriting mode even during calls, this feature is accessible from the dropdown notification bar. The virtual keyboard is also enhanced by making it more spacious.
The handset is powered by a 800MHz processor with 512MB of RAM which gives about an average performance and we did faced some lags during the course of the review which is annoying at times. It has an internal storage of 4GB and a microSD card slot for expansion upto 32GB.
L5 comes with some pre-installed apps such as LG mobile TV which can stream popular TV channels on the go, LG remote call which helps in troubleshooting the device easily, SmartShare for DLNA and NFC, LG SmartWorld which is an app store from LG and Polaris Office Suite.
Display
The 4inch display which is largest in this segment is a big downer. It is bright but you can notice pixelation and the viewing angles are worse. LG should have concentrated more on the pixel density than the overall size of the screen.
Battery
The phone is powered by a 1450mAh battery which gives a backup of around 1.5 days with an average usage which includes calls, web browsing and camera.
Camera
The 5MP auto-focus camera with flash produced good results in proper lighting conditions but don’t expect the same in dim or low light. The camera can record VGA videos only which we didn’t liked at all.
Multimedia
The sound via the loud speaker is average but the phone comes with plug-in stereo headsets which gives good sound output. The music player is stock Android so nothing new in that. Another nice thing about the phone is it can play DivX/Xid videos without the need of converting it into any other format.
Conclusion
LG Optmius L5 will appeal to the style conscious audience since its good looking form factor and large screen. On the other hand considering its below average display, slow processor it might not attract the people who are more conscious about the performance of the phone than looks.
