Samsung, the leading Korean maker of smartphones, has been carving a niche for itself in the world with the up-market lineup of its Android phones. It has made a name for itself in the shelves of retail stores as well as in the courts.

But LG, another Korean company and the number two ranker in the field in that country, has without a fuss started to make itself prominently known by throwing its Optimus line into the highly competitive field of handsets. It has devices that are pioneering ones – the Optimus 2X and the Optimus 3D, along with the Optimus One for example. 

The company has made it clear that it is willing and unafraid of pushing the limits of technology to expand and give a run to the best in the business. This aim has naturally resulted in LG being chosen to devise the Nexus 4.  But amidst all the talk about quad-core CPUs and hi-def displays comes the unveiling of the Optimus L9 on T-Mobile.

It may not be in the top line segment but it has several great features that a user will normally find in a premium gadget, like the 4.5 inches IPS display and the double core CPU. The Nexus 4 is expected to join the T-Mobile so where does the Optimus L9 stand in the glittering lineup? Let’s take a look.

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Design

LG is finding its way in design language in the last one year. The L9 is built in the similar angular and minimal architecture that LG has brought out. The 4.5 inches IPS screen stands out, and below it is a thin home button.  Keys that are capacitive and that are both in the menu and placed in the back, straddle the home button. The volume controls and power button on the side are somewhat lesser in size than what one would expect. They work fine, nevertheless.

The Optimus L9 has tapered edges and a back that belongs to the soft touch category. It’s breadth is just 9.1mm and is thus pretty comfortable in the hand. The battery door opens up to the 2150mAh battery inside, the SIM card as well as the microSD slot. Quality plastic makes the L9 light, but it doesn’t have a cheap feel. Overall the L9’s design is good and it does not give the user the feel that it is a budget model.

Display

The 540 by 960 qHD IPS display resolution makes for decent 245 ppi density. LG is known for its excellent displays. The L9 shows just why. Though it can’t boast of the highest resolution, IPS technology renders shining and vibrant displays combined with great viewing angles. The clarity too is really good.

Interface, Software

With an Android 4.0.4 base, LG has dressed the Optimus L9 in its highly recognizable Optimus UI. The Optimus L9 has some special LG features including QuickMemo which allows the user to notate shots, and SmartShare which allows the user to flow content to a DLNA gadget. But it doesn’t have the Optimus G’s notable options -- QSlide and Live Zooming. Besides, the Optimus UI is not as unrestrained as HTC Sense or the Nature UX in Samsung. But its overall performance is smooth and the covering doesn’t impede the phone’s working. The Optimus L9 has quite a few apps that are pre-loaded, which, incidentally, have become a hassle for other top line phones.

Processor, Memory

The Optimus L9 is a step up from its previous single core that was found in its L7. Here it has a double core TI OMAP 4430 CPU. It has 1GB of RAM, besides 4GB inside storage. More than half is utilized to run the system. But you can comfortably ramp up the storage capacity by using a microSD card. The Optimus L9’s functioning is solid. There are no significant glitches when you use the phone.

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Connectivity, Internet

A 4G gadget, the Optimus L9 operates on T-Mobile’s 21Mbps network. However, it does not sustain the quicker 42Mbps one. Other connectivity alternatives are the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS but the Optimus somehow lacks NFC that one finds in the L7 and most of the other Android handsets that were recently introduced. But the Optimus L9 offers Wi-Fi straight for ease in file-sharing. Browsing on the standard browser as well as Chrome is what one would expect. Page loading is quick. Besides, the panning along with pinching and tapping bring out reliable results.

Camera

Optimus L9’s 5MP camera too churns out decent results. They are not too good, though. While the full resolution results are blurry the color comes out fairly accurately. Images of outdoors were better than the indoor ones. But when the light was strong, the images were grainy. The results may be good for Facebook or social networking and sharing sites. But, the camera disappoints. It can record 1080p video rather well, but the noise in the background is overwhelming. The camcorder also is bereft of detail. However, it can nicely keep up with objects that move.

Multimedia

No surprises here. Media as well as video players in the handset performed just as one would have expected them to. Pre-loaded Google Play Music for cloud streaming as well as playback and lots of other alternatives are accessible to the user in the Play Store.

Performance

The Optimus L9 impressed in overall performance. It got a high 8.5 points in rating from callers who said that it had very good clarity. They said it belonged to the clear phone category. They added that they found some hollowness, but the voices were sharp. They could hear everything clearly. There was lots of volume and the voice reproduction was very natural. Even accounting for a raucous background, they did not have any hassles listening to the caller. LG says that usage time is one day plus 5 hrs on the 2150mAh battery. That sounds somewhat vague. In testing there were no problems going through a day trouble free.

Conclusion:

Buying a smartphone eventually boils down to the bills the buyer has to pay for it eventually. It is the same for potential customers of all smartphones, with the exception of the very rich for whom money is no problem at all. They can keep on changing phones at will. But for the majority of people counting cash does count, most of the time.

Thus the LG Optimus L9 comes with a terrific budget option in the T-Mobile lineup. It may not be as good as the forthcoming Nexus 4. It, however, can stand up on its own and offer options that would rival those of the big league -- HTC as well as Samsung.

The 4.5 inches of IPS display is truly great. And display is one of the most looked forward to features in these devices. The dual core TI OMAP CPU also gives a very smooth performance. Users may think that the camera could have been a bit better, but when the on contract cost is just $80, none of the users can complain very much. The call performance, so vital in this device, plus the life of the battery, were well above expectations. Users will love the Optimus L9’s slick design too. Though T-Mobile has better offers than this, Optimus L9 is great for the price.

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