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LG L70 hands-on: KitKat diet

By Daniel Petrov

Published: Feb 25, 2014, 12:36 PM

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LG recently announced three new smartphones - LG L90, LG L70 and LG L40 - all part of the company’s latest L Series III. The original L Series (from 2012) and L Series II (introduced in 2013), were pretty good handsets for the money, so we took the latest edition for a spin, with varying results. Let's recap what we found out about the midlevel L70.

Design

The LG L70 is shorter than the L90, on account of the smaller display, but it is almost as wide, sitting well in the hand, perfectly comfortable for one-handed operation. The matte white plastic on the back prevents it from slipping, and overall the handset is very manageable, with clicky side keys.

Display

LG drops the ball again in that department. The L7 II had a 4.3" 480x800 pixels display, while its L70 successor sports the same resolution, but slaps it on a 4.5" panel, lowering the poor pixel density even further. Thus images look pixelated, though the screen is fairly bright, and with decent viewing angles.

Interface

LG's own Optimus UI, with its large icons, and connectivity toggles in the status bar, is coated on top of Android 4.4 KitKat on the LG L70. The latest version of Android doesn't look very good on a display of that resolution, and the huge icons of LG's own UI don't help a bit.

Processor and memory

We've got dual-core 1.2 GHz processor od unknown make, and 1 GB of RAM on the L70, which seemed to power Android KitKat without any hesitation on our demo unit. LG put the measly 4 GB of internal memory, but thankfully added a microSD slot to the L70.

Camera

The handset sports a 5 MP rear camera with LED flash, and a 0.3 MP front-facing shooter, combined with LG's Optimus UI camera interface, which offers just a few shooting modes, indicating we shouldn't be expecting wonders from the camera. Still, it is quick to focus and take a picture.

Expectations

The L70 is the middle child of the new III series from LG, and, as such, it's neither here, nor there. It sports lower pixel density than its predecessor, the LG L7 II, and a much smaller, 2100 mAh battery, versus the large 2460 mAh unit of the L7 II endurance champ. The only thing worth mentioning in comparison, is the presence of the latest Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box, yet with the L70, just like the L90, we can call the upgrade an actual regress, unless the phone is priced very low.

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.

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