With the popularity of Android getting bigger, we have seen many new launches in the all the segments from LG, Samsung and other manufacturers. Presently even the mid range of Android phones are packed with features and also priced reasonably. LG Optimus Sol E730 is one such Android smartphone, which was announced back in August 2011 and officially launched in India in February 2012. The phone runs which Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) and powered by 1 GHz Qualcomm Scorpion processor, is a mid range Android phone.
Before going into the details, lets have a look at the Specs;
- Android 2.3 GingerBread
- 1 GHz Qualcomm Scorpion processor
- 3.8 inch Ultra AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
- 5 MP, 2592?1944 pixels, autofocus and VGA front camera
- Network: 3G with Video calling
- Memory: 512RAM, 2 GB Internal, 32 GB Expandable
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WiFi Hotspot
- Battery: 1500 mAh
When you first hold the LG Optimus Sol, there are few striking things, firstly the phone is lightweight when compared to the competition and secondly the build quality which is at par with the premium handsets. The phone has a glossy finish and the plastic quality is very good. The top section houses the USB slot, power button and the 3.5 mm audio jack. The left side has the volume rocker keys. The 5.0 camera is available on the back side, but does not have a flash unit. The dedicated camera button is also missing. Removing the back panel, you can see the SIM card as well as the microSD card slot.
The screen has three touch buttons for Menu, Home and back. The three buttons are capacitive and provide haptic feedback when using it. Once you power up the phone, the main striking feature is the Ultra AMOLED display. The 3.8-inch display supports 800 X 480 pixels and is crisp, clear and produces vibrant colors. You won’t have an issue with the screen even when you use it in bright sunlight.
As we said before, the screen is crisp and ultra bright and one of the highlights of this device. But using this brightness inside a room for quite some time might put a strain on your eyes. The home screen is pretty much like other LG Optimus phones and has 7 home screens which are customizable.
The unlock pattern is also similar to other LG phones, you need to swipe from bottom to top to unlock the device. The notification pull down menu has options to make the phone silent, turn on WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and Data connection. You can also select the music and control it from the notifications. Clicking on the menu button allows you to customize the home screen by changing the wallpapers, widgets, apps, folders etc.
LG Optimus Sol comes loaded with most of the apps you need, there is an in build office suite, calendar, alarms, Calculator, email etc. Another feature is the Wi-Fi Cast which can connect to any nearby Wi-Fi Cast supported devices automatically and you can send images, videos and music files. The dailer is also pretty standard and the QWERTY keypad is easy to use.
Coming to the browser, it feature all the standard options including tabbed browsing. The browser is pretty much similar to other Optimus phones from LG.
The camera unit is a 5.0 MP shooter with good set of features which includes shoot mode, ISO settings, white balance and also comes with auto focus, which is a handy feature. The camera produces pretty decent pictures when used outdoor. In low light mode, the captures aren’t great as there is no flash unit available in the phone. Also, there is no dedicated camera button on the phone, you need to activate it from the screen.
The video recorder allows you to take videos in HD 720p at 30fps and you can also change the resolution. The videos taken by the device is pretty much average.
On the performance side, the phone is really fast and there is absolutely no lag when opening apps or switching between them. Android 2.3 is well optimized and the 1Ghz processor does the job neatly even when playing normal games on the phone. We haven’t tested the phone for HD games as well as high memory usage games. The call performance of the phone is also great, there was no call dropping or any other issues. The loudspeaker and the ear phones (included in the box) are pretty good and the clarity is commendable.
On the multimedia playback, it is similar to any other Android phone, supports all generic formats. LG has not mentioned any thing about the availability of ICS for this phone, which means mostly this phone won’t be getting Android 4.0.
On the connectivity front, LG Optimus Sol allows you to access the Internet through GPRS, EDGE, 3G and Wi-Fi. The DLNA technology in the handset allows sharing of digital media between consumer devices such as computers.
The phone comes with a 1500 mAh battery and the performance is really good. With average use, you should easily be able to get more than a day and this is good as most of the Android phones have battery issues.
Verdict:
LG Optimus Sol E730 is a really good mid range phone with nice set of features. The handset has good performance along with a good battery life. While the Ultra AMOLED screen, excellent build quality and also fast processing are the good aspects of the phone, lack of flash, no dedicated camera button and no support for ICS are the downsides for the phone. The phone was launched for a price of INR 19000, but it is already selling for INR 16990 on Flipkart. At this price, the phone is a good buy if you are not too much concerned about ICS.
