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LG Optimus L3 Review

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Posted: , by Ray S.

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LG Optimus L3 Review
We'd not recommend the Optimus L3 if you want to enjoy great good sound during phone calls. Its earpiece is very poor, and so is its mic. In addition, there's some nasty noise heard on the other end of the line, which further ruins the phone call quality.

There's one good thing to having a small screen and an overall basic feature set, and it's called above average battery life. Indeed, the L3 should deliver up to 10 hours of 3G talk-time  (12.5 hours for 2G) and 25 days of stand-by, which is a good achievement by today's standards.


Conclusion:

All in all, there's no doubt that the LG Optimus L3 is one perfectly usable handset, with no serious issues to cause problems with its operation. We do like the fact that it looks better than your average low-end affair, and it actually outperforms it due to its smooth UI and ability to play 3D games and Flash content in the browser. Unfortunately, the low-quality, low-resolution screen kind of ruins the whole experience. Well, what can we say - obviously such major compromise was needed in order to keep the price low enough for the L3 to be competitive.

In the end, if you want to buy a smartphone and enjoy it, we'd recommend saving some more money and going for something that's better spec'd, like the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray, for example. Still, if you can't really afford such a purchase, the L3 is not a bad low-end offering, considering its appealing looks.


Software version of the reviewed unit: Android 2.3.6, Build GRK39F, SW Version V10d-MAR-30-2012

LG Optimus L3 Video Review:


Pros

  • Looks better than the average entry-level phone
  • Good performance and fluid UI
  • Flash Player support

Cons

  • Overpriced
  • The screen brings tears to your eyes... literally
  • Very poor camera
PhoneArena rating:
5.5
User rating:
7.9 10 Reviews

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1. kshell1 posted on 17 Apr 2012, 09:39 6

Before everybody starts bashing this phone think about this, a lot of people would probably choose this phone because in today's economy nothing is easy to buy because of insane prices. This phone may not be the greatest in the world but it would fit most peoples needs. Certainly not mine though as I am an avid gamer with various emulators installed that i doubt this thing could possibly handle.

2. DrioDRaTeR posted on 17 Apr 2012, 10:16 9

Unfortuantely teens and cheap adults everywhere will be toting this cheapo droid and going to the store every 3 months to complain about how bad the device lags and freezes, Everyone should do themselves a favor and if they want an LG device buy a washing machine or a tv, leave the mobile phones to a legit manufacturer!

30. JCASCA posted on 24 Nov 2012, 09:31

Interesting comment. I could make the same observation about Nokia and its C1 . . . but isn't Nokia a legit manufacturer?

3. dalodi posted on 17 Apr 2012, 11:11 8

LG is a legit manufacturer. Droid"hater"...

4. Jericho posted on 17 Apr 2012, 12:08 5

Lg is awesome. ANd hey this phone is better than the crappy samsung galaxy y.

5. abhishek48 posted on 17 Apr 2012, 13:03 5

WHAT THE HECK

this phone cost $130 on ebay same as galaxy y which is a smash hit, it has same resolution as galaxy y, it has more ram, better design better camera.

experia ray and neo v cost $270.. how can u even compare phone with double the price.. SI THIS REVIEW A JOKE, there are many people who wanta cheap smart phone on which they can surf internet and maps.. which this phone does... and tell what galaxy y does better than this which is a super hit

6. droiddomination posted on 17 Apr 2012, 13:32

the carrier ought to pay the user to get this POS. I mean, this is a "smart phone" right? so that mean you will, say for ex., use at&t and pay at least say, $20 month for a data plan x 24 months= $480 you spent on this trashy poor excuse for an android phone. now if they allow you to get this for free and come up with a new market for data plans, say inbetween feature phones and smart phones with REAL screens and spec's, say smart phone jr. plans, then it would be accetable. but this is nothing more than a glorified feature phone and should have a feature phone priced data plan to accompany it.

9. abhishek48 posted on 17 Apr 2012, 16:18 4

this phone wont come to at&t as contract it will be like go phone no contract or it may not even come to USA where u have to buy a costly data plan wiht a smart phone.

it will go to countries where carrier have no contracts

7. Joshing4fun posted on 17 Apr 2012, 14:03

It looks like a 2008 iPhone killer. Lame.

21. Raymond_htc posted on 05 Jul 2012, 09:51

your eyes have a problem. Get a spectacle or.. OMg! you have myopia?!

8. TylerGrunter posted on 17 Apr 2012, 15:19 5

I really start having an issue with Ray S. and his biased reviews. Any time he reviews an Android phone the final mak goes 2 points down what it should. But what gets me really angry is his lack of accuracy when doing reviews. This sentence: "it costs just a bit less than majorly-superior phones like the Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V and Xperia ray" it is plainly FALSE. It costs HALF as much as the Ray and ONE THIRD than the Neo.

LG L3 should be in leage with the "SG Y", the "SG mini" or the "Huaweis ideos X3"!!!
Comparing it with the Sony Xperia Neo is like comparing a VW Mini with a Porsche and saying that you should buy the Porsche...

And what´s more: the "Samsung Galaxy Y" got a 7 in phonearena and this one that has a 4! The LG L3 is better in many things, like more RAM, internal memory or the camera. Does Ray S. has his own way to give reviews different from the rest of the reviewers or what???

PS: in fact the LG optimus L7 costs as much as the Neo, not the L3 not even the L5.

10. mercorp posted on 17 Apr 2012, 17:49 1

The galaxy mini 2 can do much better than this Lame phone,.

20. ilovelg2012 posted on 18 Jun 2012, 01:25 1

Battery of android LG phones are better than Samsung android phones.

11. u-suck-more posted on 18 Apr 2012, 03:09 4

it is very apparent that there is a LG hater disliking every pro-LG comment here.
i mean, if u hate LG so much why do u even bother reading this article?! go read OTHER articles which has NOTHING to do with LG. if u want to read an article about LG and comment, DONT put hate comments like ''LG should not make phones'' or ''Samsung and HTC is so much better than this crap'' or ''LG should concentrate on making TVs and home appliances and leave phones to proper manufacturers''. if all you can say is that, i just wanna ask. WHY ARE YOU READING A LG ARTICLE/REVIEW IF U HATE THE BRAND SO DAMN MUCH?!

12. kshell1 posted on 18 Apr 2012, 10:01 1

I don't hate LG personally. I had a G2x and loved it

13. DrioDRaTeR posted on 18 Apr 2012, 18:29

i'm reading cuz i work in the business and actually have to deal with the idiot that buys this peice of crap and comes in and wonders why it doesnt play videos like a droid razr or a nexus ..... Thanks for your concern

14. u-suck-more posted on 19 Apr 2012, 04:12 1

I don't care if u work in the industry or not, the fact is, u still shouldn't be saying stuff like this. Esp to say LG is not a legit manufacturer is just down right rude. Every company, deserves respect. Just like how every human deserves love

15. u-suck-more posted on 19 Apr 2012, 04:32 1

plus, the fact that u are working in the industry means u should not be biased and put personal prefences aside when recommending phones

16. kshell1 posted on 19 Apr 2012, 08:08

I personally think LG is a good manufacturer i just typically don't buy their products because the of UI

18. ajmalvaliyakath posted on 14 May 2012, 08:08 1

Am using this handset from last one week

as a budget android phone i feel better with it ??

And What the heck is the problem with UI ???

19. u-suck-more posted on 15 May 2012, 07:13

my point exactly! the UI isn't as bad as what ppl claim it to be!

17. ajmalvaliyakath posted on 14 May 2012, 08:05 1

I don't Know why Phone Arena trying to sign LG L3 as a bad Handsets with out any pros ???

am using this from last week, its sure that its Display clarity not so much good.but for the price range is there any phone that you can which comes in Amoled ???

the processor is fab (800 mhz,cortex A5,MSM 7225A) and the touch interface is cool and the design is Sexy

its multimedia options works with out memory card which most of the handset doesn't have

for 8000 Indian Rupees its a great handset....

29. turk75 posted on 05 Nov 2012, 13:58

Hey man,

Are you running flash on this phone? If so, how can i do this?

Thx,
Turk

22. KINGJUAN27 posted on 18 Jul 2012, 02:06

It's quite obvious that LG copied the sharp-edged/corners design from Sony! LG was in a hurry in releasing its L series (the cheap L3 was released ahead) to overtake Sony's release of new breed of Xperia (although Sony announced their Xperia S earlier than LG's L3) that's why the L series' specs are sooooo crappy! ughh..

23. u-suck-more posted on 18 Jul 2012, 04:29

u ought to do ur research! LG dint copy! and jesus, the L series is for the low end and low mid range market! how stunning are e specs going to be?! and the LG newchocolate bl40, which came out in 2009, also had this design! so LG didnt copy!

24. KINGJUAN27 posted on 19 Jul 2012, 04:56

but that doesn't change the fact that L3 is an awful low-end smartphone! ;)

25. u-suck-more posted on 19 Jul 2012, 05:48

i never said it wasnt -.-

26. ankush_1986 posted on 11 Sep 2012, 12:05

It is the worse mobile anybody can purchase,
Resolution is very very poor.
Only 150 MB space to install applications so no use of 1 Gb internal memory.
GPRS/3G speed is very slow.
user interface is very Bad, LG has modified many features of Android and made it a dull mobile.
Even local companies mobiles are better then this.
Waste of money!!!

27. arpix posted on 15 Sep 2012, 20:48 1

Great, what phone you can get it for the same price?

28. turk75 posted on 05 Nov 2012, 13:48

Hi everyone,

I just got this phone. It seems okay, but I want to run flash on it. I can't seem to get it to work. This website said that flash works. Can anyone with this phone tell me how to do that? It seems to be a problem since adobe is no longer on google play. This is my first smartphone. Thx, Turk

31. ladyd50433 posted on 05 Dec 2012, 23:59

I have something to say about all this ranting and raving grow up. I thought I would be able to find out on this site about why my internet isnt working when i have tried everything i can think of. But I doubt I would even find an answer at all.

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