LG Optimus L7 II hands-on: 4.3-inch display, 8MP camera, NFC
Mid-range smartphones in 2013 had to walk a fine line between aspiration and affordability. LG's Optimus L7 II slotted into that conversation with a relatively large screen, a sharp camera for the segment, and a handful of features like NFC that were still rare outside the flagship tier. The handset aimed at buyers who wanted the look and feel of a more expensive device without the premium price tag, a calculation familiar to anyone browsing the floor of a Telstra store in Sydney or comparing plans at JB Hi-Fi in Melbourne.
The follow-up to the original Optimus L7 brought refinements across the board. LG stretched the screen, bumped the camera resolution, and added the wireless convenience of near-field communication for contactless payments and quick pairing. In Australia, where the early 2010s saw 4G rollouts accelerate across the country, the L7 II arrived as an HSPA+ device that still felt snappy for everyday browsing on Optus and Vodafone networks. Buyers in Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide found the phone offered more substance than many of the entry-level Android handsets crowding the shelves of discount electronics chains.
Priced competitively against rivals from Samsung, HTC, and Sony, the Optimus L7 II leaned on design language borrowed from the flagship Optimus G series. That meant a textured back panel, squared edges softened by chrome trim, and a home button flanked by capacitive keys. The 4.3-inch form factor struck a balance for users who wanted a phone large enough for video yet small enough to slip into a jacket pocket during a commute on the Melbourne tram network.
Internally, the phone packed a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Play processor paired with 768 MB of RAM, a modest but workable combination for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Storage came in at 4 GB with microSD expansion, a welcome inclusion for Australians who tended to load up on music for long drives through the outback or podcasts for early morning shifts. Battery capacity at 2460 mAh gave the device respectable endurance, an area where many competing mid-rangers stumbled.
Design and build that borrow from above
LG gave the Optimus L7 II a chassis that echoed the styling of its flagship lineup without crossing into true premium territory. The textured rear cover offered grip that felt reassuring during one-handed use, while the chrome-effect bezel around the display added a touch of visual flair under the bright fluorescents of a typical Australian electronics retailer. At 118 grams, the phone stayed light enough for extended calls without producing the wrist fatigue that plagues heavier handsets.
The physical home button below the screen carried a subtle metallic finish, flanked by capacitive back and menu keys that lit up only when the display was active. This kept the front face looking clean when the phone sat idle on a café table in Sydney's CBD. Volume rocker placement on the left edge felt natural for right-handed users, though lefties occasionally found the buttons a touch high for thumb access. A 3.5 mm headphone jack sat up top, and the micro-USB port on the bottom edge handled charging and data transfer without fuss.
Build quality leaned toward plastic, but LG used the material with intention. The rear panel snapped on securely, and the slight curve along the sides gave the impression of a thinner device than its 9.7 mm profile suggested. Colours included a sober black and a brighter white finish, both of which held up well against the smudges and pocket lint of daily Australian life. Dropping the L7 II into a handbag or a backpack alongside keys rarely produced scratches, a practical concern for users juggling multiple devices.
Display, multimedia, and everyday viewing
The 4.3-inch IPS LCD panel ran at a resolution of 480 by 800 pixels, delivering a pixel density just shy of 217 ppi. Text looked crisp enough for reading news articles and e-books, while colours stayed accurate when watching catch-up TV through the built-in media player. Australians streaming content over their home Wi-Fi or a Telstra 4G hotspot in regional areas found the display handled compressed video without obvious banding or motion blur.
Outdoor visibility proved to be a mixed bag. The screen's peak brightness managed to cut through the harsh midday sun common across the country, although reflections from the glossy glass coating sometimes required users to angle the device or seek shade. Auto-brightness responded quickly when moving between the dim interior of a suburban Adelaide cinema and a bright car park outside. Whites leaned slightly cool, while blacks held depth for a panel of this class, particularly when viewing dark-themed apps.
Audio through the rear-mounted speaker sounded tinny at higher volumes but remained serviceable for hands-free calls and casual YouTube clips. Plugging in a pair of headphones unlocked richer output, with the preloaded music player supporting common formats including MP3, AAC, and WAV. FM radio came baked in, a feature appreciated by commuters in regional Queensland towns where streaming subscriptions sometimes struggled over limited mobile data.
Camera performance for the mid-range crowd
The 8-megapixel rear camera stood out as one of the L7 II's strongest selling points in a segment where 5-megapixel sensors still ruled the roost. Autofocus felt reasonably snappy in well-lit conditions, and shutter lag stayed minimal for capturing kids playing at a Melbourne park or mates gathered around a barbecue in Perth. The dedicated shutter button on the right edge provided tactile feedback, an increasingly rare convenience on touchscreen-only rivals.
Image quality impressed under daylight. Colours stayed vibrant without veering into oversaturation, and detail held up in the centre of the frame. Edges softened somewhat, and low-light photography introduced visible noise that required steady hands or a resting surface. The single LED flash helped in dim restaurants or at evening events, though it tended to wash out closer subjects. A front-facing camera of modest resolution handled video calls adequately for Skype sessions with family overseas, a common use case among Australia's large migrant communities.
Video recording topped out at 720p, suitable for sharing short clips to social platforms but limited for users hoping to capture longer home movies. The camera app itself carried a clean interface with quick toggles for flash, exposure, and white balance. Scene modes covered common situations including night, portrait, and landscape, while panorama stitching worked well for sweeping vistas from a hike in the Blue Mountains or a coastal drive along the Great Ocean Road.
Performance, software, and daily use
LG shipped the Optimus L7 II with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and its own Optimus UI layered on top. The skin rearranged the app drawer, replaced the stock keyboard with LG's own variant, and added a handful of custom toggles in the notification shade. Australian buyers accustomed to the vanilla Android experience on the Nexus 4 needed a short adjustment period, but the interface stayed approachable and rarely got in the way of common tasks.
Performance felt smooth for the basics. Opening apps, scrolling through contacts, and switching between home screens all happened without frustrating stutters. Heavier games like Asphalt 7 or Modern Combat occasionally pushed the dual-core Snapdragon S4 Play past its comfort zone, producing frame drops during intense sequences. Casual titles from the Play Store ran well, as did media playback and web browsing through Chrome. Buyers interested in a similarly positioned tablet experience can read more about the Xiaomi Mi Pad tablet, which targeted a comparable performance bracket at a similar price point.
Set against the wider mid-range market of its release year, the L7 II traded raw power for a more balanced approach to features. Phones with quad-core chips typically commanded higher prices, while the LG kept things affordable by sticking with a dual-core SoC and a conservative RAM allocation. The trade-off paid off in battery life and thermal management, areas where the L7 II rarely grew uncomfortably warm during extended use.
| Feature | LG Optimus L7 II | Samsung Galaxy Core | HTC Desire 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 4.3-inch IPS LCD | 4.3-inch TFT | 4.3-inch TFT |
| Resolution | 480 x 800 | 480 x 800 | 480 x 800 |
| Rear Camera | 8 MP | 5 MP | 8 MP |
| Processor | Snapdragon S4 Play dual-core 1 GHz | Dual-core 1.2 GHz | Snapdragon 200 quad-core 1.2 GHz |
| RAM | 768 MB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| Battery | 2460 mAh | 1800 mAh | 1800 mAh |
| NFC | Yes | No | No |
Software updates for the L7 II arrived sparingly after launch, a frustration shared with many mid-range handsets of the era. LG rolled out bug fixes and minor enhancements over the following year, but Android 4.2 remained out of reach for most users. Preloaded bloatware varied by carrier, with Telstra and Optus versions carrying their own branded apps alongside LG's utilities. Storage felt tight out of the box, but a microSD card of up to 32 GB quickly solved that limitation for users who kept large music libraries or photo collections on hand.
Connectivity, battery, and how it stacks up
NFC support on the L7 II marked one of the more forward-thinking inclusions in the mid-range market of 2013. The feature enabled quick pairing with Bluetooth accessories, contact sharing via Android Beam, and early forays into mobile payments where supported. Australian adoption of contactless payments was still in its infancy, but users in Sydney and Melbourne who owned NFC tags for automation got real value from the chip. Wi-Fi reached 802.11 b/g/n standards, Bluetooth ticked along at version 3.0, and GPS locked onto satellites quickly with assistance data.
The 2460 mAh battery delivered a full day of moderate use for most buyers. Streaming music over Bluetooth during a commute, taking occasional photos, and checking email throughout the day typically left the phone with around 20 percent remaining by bedtime. Heavy users who relied on GPS navigation during long drives across regional Australia or spent hours streaming video found the battery drained faster and benefited from a car charger or a portable power bank.
Against the Micromax Canvas Elanza, the LG offered a sharper camera and NFC at the cost of a slightly smaller screen. The Elanza brought a quad-core chip and more RAM to the table, appealing to users prioritising raw performance over imaging. Samsung's Galaxy Core sat closer to the L7 II in size and price, though it shipped with a less capable camera and a smaller battery.
For Australians weighing their options in 2013, the L7 II carved out a niche for buyers who wanted a stylish, capable device without paying flagship prices. Its combination of a bright display, dependable camera, and wireless features made it a sensible pick for students heading to university campuses in Adelaide or professionals navigating the daily grind in Brisbane. The phone remained a fixture on carrier shelves for several months after launch, often bundled with competitive plans that made it even more accessible. Drop your Optimus L7 II memories in the comments, and share the mid-range Android that defined your early smartphone years.