LG L Fino Review
LG L Fino is the affordable version of the LG G3 it’s almost identical in terms of build , design and also the user interface. Half the price of the LG G3 for just Php7,990 but of course not as jampacked feature comparing to the LG G3 but let’s see on how it performs.
[section label=”Build and Design” anchor=”build”]
Build and Design
LG L Fino build is a compact bulky version of the LG G3 but still very decent in terms of design. Front has the VGA camera , earpiece and the LG Logo at the bottom center it’s doesn’t have a capacitive buttons all are in-display buttons.
Rear Camera is 8-megapixel with the unique power button with volume rocker at the back. it takes some time to get used to the buttons at the back, and the downside is once the back buttons malfunction or you break the back cover the phone is dead since all the functionality for it to operate is in the back.
LG L Fino is a Dual Micro SIM with a Micro SD that supports up to 32GB, Battery capacity is 1,900mAh Li-ion.
Not a OTG capable smartphone but has 10 multi-touch points, overall the build is elegant, minimalist and lightweight. Feels comfortable holding in one hand since it has a 4.5-inch form factor.
The 3.5mm Jack is at top and the Micro USB port at the bottom.
[section label=”Display” anchor=”display”]
Display
Having just a 4.5-inch display is just OK with the L Fino since it has thin bezels, a WVGA 480 x 800 display resolution with 207ppi. Not a OGS display but a gr has great viewing angle even it’s just an IPS display. The glass is almost flat with the panel and no issues of Inverting color but has a slight shifting of brightness in the lower right bottom corner. Touch responsiveness is very smooth and precise with the L Fino, the on-screen buttons can be customized, changing color, adding buttons and changing the order of the button for ease of use.
[section label=”Performance” anchor=”performance”]
Performance
L Fino is using a Quad Core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A7 CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 with Adreno 302 GPU. It can handle high intensive graphic games even on a high settings no huge stuttering while playing games on a long duration. The interface is very smooth responsive even it has tons of LG built-in apps and the great thing about it you can almost uninstall all of them but still available in the Google Play store if you want to use it again.
Having a 1GB of RAM is sufficient for it to perform very well on multi-tasking, even watching videos on a long duration didn’t gave me a huge drop of frames. Highly recommendable for multimedia use.
Here is the Benchmark results comparing to other devices.
Even it has low score on some of the tools I’ve used it still for me out performs other devices in terms of responsiveness and fluidity even having a custom build Skin on top of the KitKat 4.4.4. One thing to note is on the time I had the LG L Fino it’s constantly having an update with their apps which is a big plus for me. Real world performance is great even just having the snapdragon 200 for WVGA display.
[section label=”Camera” anchor=”camear”]
Camera
Main camera is 8-MegaPixels with a maximum resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels having a f/2.4 aperture 3mm focal length. On a Daylight shot it can take great quality photo’s very sharp and bright while on a studio lighted environment is also ok doesn’t have any banding issues. It has an autofocus features which is also great in taking macro shots.
Full Resolution and Album Click Here
The only drawback of the camera it lacks features like HDR Mode but it’s surprisingly can take burst shot upto 99 shots but it’s really slow it takes 1 second iteration before it takes another shot for the burst mode.
But for the camera you can switch to manual or auto mode, if you tap on the screen it will automatically focus and take a shot or you can also use the dedicated camera buttons on the screen. Video maximum resolution is just WVGA (8004380) 30fps and it doesn’t have Image stabilization feature. you can switch camera by swiping on the screen or manually clicking the switch camera mode. In the camera app it can also switch the storage from internal or SD Card.
[section label=”Interface UI/UX” anchor=”Interface”]
Interface UI/UX
The UI/UX of the LG L Fino is quite similar with the LG G3 but with the lower resolution the icons are large. Transparent Navigation bar and Notification bar is a nice feel on the device, it can also add widgets and other nifty apps while on the notifications it’s a customize UI you can all change it in the settings.
The Settings can be a single flow or tabbed navigation. All are flat shadow icons which I really love the design, it has tons of features that you can play with like the Guest mode that you can set if you to let your friends use your device with limited app access. While the knock code feature lets you set how you will unlock your device and use the other features by just doing a multiple tab on the screen (depending on what you have set).
Here is a closer look at the system apps interface, on the message if you have 2 sim card attached you can select which one you want to send and also the SIM swap feature that you can use if you want to switch the 3G signal of the other SIM.
[section label=”Features” anchor=”features”]
Features
LG added nifty feature on the L Fino like you can change the font type and sizes, changing the Screen-off effect so when you unlock the device you will a cool animation. Shortcut key is a feature where you can set which app you want to open when you press the buttons at the back. the best feature I really like is the Pop-out windows it works almost on any apps like video player, message dialer and many more. you can use multiple apps at the same time while you are still on the homescreen, although since the device has a lower resolution it tends to clog on the screen but it’s still a great added feature with the phone.
The biggest drawback of the LG L Fino is the Storage since it only have a 4GB of ROM and only have 1.5Gb usable internal storage. Installing large games is the problem I only manage to install 1 large size game and I can’t install any apps due to insufficient storage and you cannot transfer it on the SD Card which is really a bummer if you’re into playing games with this device. Since it has lots of pre-installed app I also needed to remove them just to install a game. But for the Photo’s and video it can be stored on the External Micro SD.
[section label=”Audio and Video” anchor=”video”]
Audio and Video
Good news it’s a CTIA compliant device but some earphones that has buttons will not work due to compatibility issues but the sound quality is great even the speaker is very loud. the video player also can play HD videos without any drop frames.
[section label=”Battery Life” anchor=”battery”]
Battery Life
Li-Ion 1,900 mAh battery is removable and took around 3 hours and 30 minutes for full gaming until it reaches 1% battery with full brightness and 50% audio level. For the video loop playback it manages to give 5 hours and 30 minutes for a 720p HD video. Standby time can reach 1 whole day or half a day depending on the usage if you’re using the powersaver mode it will automatically save more battery juice once it reaches the 30% mark.
[section label=”Verdict” anchor=”verdict”]
Verdict
Overall the LG L Fino still managed to perform well should I recommend it? well like what I said if only this device have large storage and can transfer files to SD card this is will be sufficient for its Price tag of Php7,990. the device has tons of feature that for sure consumer will love if you don’t want a stock android feel and the great thing about the LG Devices, they have software updates so it means they put time to upgrade the device, but still not sure if this will receive the Lollipop update, but then, for its price tag of 7k maybe if this will be on sale and will be lowered to 6k well it must a have device. since there are already lots of new devices having this price range with a better performance and a larger storage.
