LG is a leading consumer tech manufacturer in the world. A wing of its company- LG mobile has been manufacturing various smartphone to cater the needs of general mass. From average smartphone users to high-end geeks, LG mobiles have been providing gadgets to serve all these categories. Shadowed in the likes of iPhone, Samsung and Nokia, LG phones are trying their best to sustain in this cut-throat competition in the smartphone market.
In Nepalese market though LG’s have had an efficient penetration in the budget range. Distributed by CG Electronics, LG mobiles are offering various range of “L series” “Optimus Series” and the recent “G series” smartphones.
One of these smartphones is the LG G Pro Lite Dual. This Dual SIM smartphone fits into pockets of the average mid-range user at its price tag of Rs. 34,199 and is a best match when it comes to a large screen device at its range.
Pros:
- A large 5.5-inch display
- Wonderful Battery
- Stylus pen
- Low-light camera
Cons:
- Average Gaming performance
- LG UI
- Lesser internal memory
A brief look of the handling of device is shown in the video below:
Design
The LG G Pro Lite Dual has a standard body as seen in the Samsung smartphones. By standard, we’re talking a normal poly-carbonate back with a plastic body and a “metallic” bezel around the smartphone’s body.
The left is accompanied by the Volume rocker buttons and a dedicated customizable shortcut button. On the right there is the Power/Lock Key. Below the device you can find the micro-USB port, Dual Speakers and a microphone, whereas the top is accompanied by 3.5mm headphone jack, a noise-cancelling secondary mic and an infra-red for remote controlling your TVs and DVDs.
The back panel is accessible though, with a casing for a replaceable large 3140mAh battery, two GSM SIM cards and microSD card.
The phone has a regular profile and light in hand to hold.
Display
The LG G Pro Lite Dual has a 5.5-inch IPS display on board with a qHD display. This way the pixel count goes to as much as 200 ppi. Though the pixel density is not that high, I was comfortable with the screen. The only time you could see a pixilation is when you’re reading or browsing the internet, that too in a minimum level.
The viewing angles are good too but the screen is prone to smudges and sunlight glares. The brightness of the device is well-enough to provide lighting in interiors but under direct sunlight you mayn’t be able to read text’s and images.
Software / User Interface
The software behind the LG G Pro Lite Dual is a normal Android Jelly Bean 2.2 with a tweaked LG UI. I’m not a big fan of the UI though I really appreciate the way the settings menu is tabbed for easier navigation.
The features like QSlide offers a way of multitasking which takes advantage of its large 5.5-inch display. Also, the QuickMemo features are well versed with the Stylus pen onboard. This is really good for taking quick notes and doodling if you like to paint on your phone.
The app drawer is normal and the customization features are plenty. I always equipped my device with the “dodol launcher” so, UI looks was never a problem for me. Adding on to that, the Easy Home feature of the LG UI is a good one since it allows you to use your phone as a large-keypad-phone; very good for aged and visually disabled persons.
The stock softwares like Guest Mode allows you to select apps to be run when a third-person uses your phones. A very good addition as the “Kids Corner” found in Windows phone 8 devices.
Plus there are stock softwares like Smart Share, Photos which only add to the productivity this phone has to offer.
Reports are that this phone will be receiving KitKat upgrade really soon, so that’s a plus point!
Hardware
This phone is powered by Mediatek Cortex A9 processor, which handles apps and the OS pretty well. It’s a Dual-core 1 Ghz processor which is better than the Cortex A7 processor found in average mid-range devices. The Graphics is handled by the PowerVR SGX531 GPU which was disappointing in my experience. I got really low scores in the benchmark tests which I’ve posted below. The phone has an AnTuTu score of 8406 which is just “Not too bad” according to AnTuTu. While ranking it with mediocre LG Optimus 2X I got “okay” results. The proecessor does pretty well but the downside is definitely the graphics.
The internal storage is of 8 GB but you will have around 3.5 GB of extra space after you install your essential apps and the space the phone OS will take. So storage freaks are advised to pop-in the microSD card and since apps and games can be installed there, it shouldn’t be a problem.
LG G Pro Lite Dual features a Stylus pen which is pretty basic unlike the one you see in Note 3 but hey, you can’t compare a 70k device with this one, can you? Its good in taking notes but is slightly less responsive.
While the graphics is a downside of this device there’s an A+ side too and that’s its battery. It’s powered by 3140 mAh of battery which will get you a day and a half of normal usage without charging. If you surf regular internet and watch HD videos or play games back-to back this phone should easily give upto 8 hours of life which is really appreciable given its screen size.
Camera
This phone has an 8-megapixel shooter in the back capable of recording good photos and 720p videos. I found no problems in the camera whatsoever though the low-light photos were not that great. But the best part is its “Night-mode” which dramatically balances the exposure at low-light and gives you a perfect photos, even in low-light.
The front is equipped by a 1.3-megapixel shooter which is not a game turner but is good for selfies and instagrammers.
You can view the full gallery of the Camera Samples here.
Gaming Performance:
As the graphics of this device is at average, you can’t expect much from Gaming with this boy. Its like this phone was designed with overall performance in mind rather than the regular hard-core gaming.
Having said that, this phone still handles mid-range games like Temple Run and Subway Surfers but has a hard-time playing High-end games like Asphalt or Modern Combat.
WRAP UP:
With an excellent battery, a good camera and a “okay” gaming performance, I think this phone is for those who are not much into gaming but would love to Facebook or use other apps or even browse the internet. A hardcore geek would not like this device but a medium-user will have no problems whatsoever with this guy.
So, will you buy this device, or already own one?
Let us know!
