As the Kenyan entry level Smartphone arena gets more crowded with small sized devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Pocket and Huawei IDEOS Ascend Y100, the LG Optimus L3 E400 with its conspicuous and blocky body steps out of the field to play its game in a different league.

The bold, blocky look of the LG Optimus L3 gives it an elegant look that lacks in most of the other rival droids. Photo by Ninjaromeo.com

Weighing 110g, the LG Optimus L3 E400 packs a few more grams than its similar priced rivals. The extra weight and width as I later discovered accommodates a larger capacity battery (1500 mAh) and a slightly bigger screen (3.2 inch) which when compared to the screens of its rivals is less tasking to type on.

LG Optimus L3 E400 is available in Kenya at an average market price of USD $ 142 or about Ksh.12, 000 though you might find it cheaper at LG Stores. It is available in Black or White and has been in the market for about a month as I write this.

LG Optimus L3 E400 Pros

Battery Life

The LG Optimus L3 is probably the best Android device under the Ksh.12, 000 price range that will give you a decent battery life especially ideal if you spend the whole day running errands, away from the wall charger. With average use of tasks such as browsing, texting, social networking and making calls, this device easily lasts two days on a single charge.

Typing is a breeze

LG engineers did an admirable job in mounting an impressively responsive touchscreen on this device. The screen is also large enough to allow typing with minimal errors even for those with large thumbs and index fingers.  If you still find the keys a bit cramped, you can always rotate the virtual keyboard to landscape mode for more square footage.

Stylish looks

The bold, blocky look of the LG Optimus L3 gives it an elegant look that lacks in most of the other rival droids such as the Galaxy Pocket. The square edges ensure the phone stays in your palm comfortably during long calls or instant messaging sessions.

1 GB inbuilt storage space

LG allocates 1 GB for this device which should be sufficient for an average user to store apps. If you are into music and movies, you might need to get your hands on a microSD card. The LG L3 E400 supports up to 32 GB of external memory.

Adreno 200 graphics processing unit

It’s hard to find Smartphones in this price range coming with a graphics processing unit. The inbuilt GPU is good to go for casual 3D games but struggles with some of the HD games available in the Google PlayStore.

LG Optimus L3 E400 Cons

Pixelated Screen

Although the screen size on the LG L3 E400 is bigger than its competing droids, it maintains the same screen resolution of 240 * 320 which makes pixels on it bigger so as to cover the larger screen. This leads to distorted images and texts with visibly rough edges.

Music quality

Although the LG Optimus L3 E400 is mostly targeted for the young users in emerging markets, its music playback is nothing to write home about. If you still have the Nokia 5800 somewhere among your disposables, you would be better off using it now for music as the LG L3 is likely to disappoint you.

Video for LG Optimus L3 E400

Conclusion

The LG Optimus L3 E400 is a Smartphone for the learners of Android who still need to have a battery that lasts as long as those of their previous phones. It is a phone for those who are relatively new to virtual keyboards thus need a wider screen to get accustomed to typing by touch. It would be a perfect budget Smartphone gift to both the young and old.

Dennis Mayeku

Dennis Mayeku has contributed 82 awesome article(s) for The Openbook Blog.

Dennis Mayeku has a great fondness for open media and keeping tabs with the latest in mobile phone technologies and web-based applications.

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