LG L Fino Smartphone Review
For the original German review, see here.
"Smartphone fun at its best" - that's how the manufacturer from South Korea advertises their new smartphone L Fino on their German website. LG positions the new offering as a well-equipped, compact entry-level smartphone with an MSRP of 159 Euro (~$200). The specs look promising: 4.5-inch IPS display, 1.2 GHz Qualcomm quad-ccore SoC, 1 GB of RAM, as well as UMTS and NFC.
Of course, there are plenty of entry-level smartphones that compete in the price range of up to 200 Euro (~$250), including the Alcatel One Touch Pop C7, HTC Desire 310, Kazam Thunder Q4.5, Motorola Moto G2 and the Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ.
Case
The case of the LG L Fino is made from polycarbonate and is very sturdy, which is a pleasant surprise considering the price. Even strong localized pressure or twisting attempts had no noticeable affect, although there's a tiny bit of creaking when pushing down on the back cover. The build quality and the tight tolerances also give no reason for complaints. In addition, the smartphone is easy to hold thanks to rounded corners and a curved back. The display is a bit of a weak point, as strong pressure distorts the picture slightly. The design is based on the upper-class LG G3. Our review smartphone comes with a matte-black, textured back cover, which improves the grip nicely. We are less impressed with the material used for the back cover, however, because our phone already had some small scratches at the beginning of the review. LG also sells the smartphone in white, red, and green.
The LG L Fino weighs in at 145 g and is thus a bit heavier than most competing smartphones, although the Motorola Moto G2 and the Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 are a bit heavier still. The phone isn't exactly thin either at 11.9 mm - all the competitors are slimmer.
Connectivity
The LG L Fino is powered by a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 MSM8212 quad-core SoC, which comes with an integrated Adreno 302 GPU. In combination with 1 GB of RAM, most day-to-day applications shouldn't be much a problem for the smartphone. Storage is a bit meager at 4 GB - especially since only 1.4 GB are usable. Not so great: although a microSD card (up to 64 GB) can be used for applications, larger apps can't be installed at all if the main storage flash is out of space. The physical ports - limited as typical for this entry-level device - include an audio combo-jack up top and a USB 2.0 port on the bottom.
Software
The L Fino runs Android 4.4.2, which has been modified slightly with LG's EasyUI interface. Changes include the unlocking of the phone via "Knock Code", which requires tapping a personalized pattern anywhere on the screen, and neatly arranged settings. A Guest Mode allows the user to lock certain functions and applications. For more information on the EasyUI interface please check our review of the LG G3. We appreciate the fact that there's a limited amount lot of bloatware; preinstalled apps can be removed easily as well if so desired.
Communication & GPS
LTE is not included, but that's understandable given the price bracket. Only the Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 supports the faster technology. The LG L Fino works with UMTS dual-band (900/2100 MHz) and GSM quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz). The former supports downloads of up to 21 MBit per seconds. WLAN 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 are on board as well, which is standard for the class. The smartphone showed decent receptions about 10 meters from the router through three walls without any drops in quality or disconnects.
A-GPS handles the location services. During a test outside, the smartphone quickly established connection to a few satellites and allowed us to determine our location very accurately within a few meters.
Telephone & Sound Quality
The phone app is - aside from a subtle change to the graphics - identical to Google's standard phone application and all important functions like call lists, favorites, or groups are therefore available. The phone app can, if so desired, set to float in a window above all other applications so it can be easily accessed.
Making phone calls is easy thanks to the intuitive interface and the decent sound/speech quality. Our call partners also had no issues with the transmission and could understand us well. The phone doesn't do a very good job filtering out background noises, however. The speakerphone doesn't get overly loud and the sound is a bit tinny, but overall the quality is good enough for phone conversations in suitably quiet environments.
Cameras & Multimedia
The main camera sits on the back and features a resolution of 8 MP, which is comparatively high. The camera features autofocus and an LED flash and supports features like panorama, voice control, and geotagging. We also enjoyed the "Touch & Shoot" functionality, which allows the user to focus and take a picture by tapping on the desired area on the display. As long as the brightness is adequate, the resulting photos are sufficiently sharp with low pixelation. Under low light conditions, the noise increases significantly, however - to the point where even the rather weakly flash can't help. Considering the price bracket, the performance is still more than acceptable.
The camera up front only supports VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels) and isn't suited well to picture-taking, so selfies and group selfies lack a little, even though "Gesture Shot" is ideal for this purpose. Here, the user can start a countdown timer when making a fist in front of the camera. The intelligent "flash", which decreases the Live View area and uses the rest of the display as a light, doesn't help much, however.
Input & Operation
The capacitive touchscreen is easy to operate, very precise and is very sensitive even in the corners. Multi-touch gestures like zooming are also no problem. A cool feature is the "Knock Code", which makes it easy to wake up the phone from standby with a personalized pattern.
Just like on the LG G3, the physical buttons are located on the back of the smartphone. The buttons have a well-defined click-point and work without any problems.
Considering the size of the screen, the virtual keyboard is a tad too small, although the user can make various modification to allow a speedy and intuitive operation. The buttons in the bottom row can be adjusted and the entire key panel can be resized vertically.
Display
The 4.5-inch IPS display has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, which is slightly lower than what most competitors offer, although still within expectations. Only the Motorola Moto G2 offers a significantly higher 1280 x 720 pixels on its 5-inch display. Evidence of the fact that the resolution is slightly behind the times is the somewhat fuzzy picture.
With a maximum of 318 cd/m², the brightness also leaves to be desired, as only the HTC Desire 310 is dimmer still. The brightness distribution of 93 % is very even and only the Motorola Moto G2 is slightly better.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 93 %
Center on Battery: 299 cd/m²
Contrast: 598:1 (Black: 0.5 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.41 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91
ΔE Greyscale 5.44 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
Gamma: 2.23
| LG L Fino Adreno 302, 200 MSM8212, 4 GB Flash | Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 Mali-400 MP2, MT6582M, 4 GB Flash | HTC Desire 310 Mali-400 MP2, MT6582M, 4 GB Flash | Kazam Thunder Q4.5 Mali-400 MP2, MT6582, 4 GB Flash | Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 Adreno 305, 400 MSM8226, 8 GB SSD | Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ Adreno 306, 410 MSM8916, 8 GB SSD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen | -13% | -48% | 33% | 21% | 12% | |
| Brightness middle | 299 | 351 17% | 272 -9% | 525 76% | 349 17% | 336 12% |
| Brightness | 303 | 329 9% | 255 -16% | 521 72% | 348 15% | 339 12% |
| Brightness Distribution | 93 | 88 -5% | 85 -9% | 87 -6% | 96 3% | 92 -1% |
| Black Level * | 0.5 | 0.44 12% | 0.5 -0% | 0.49 2% | 0.4 20% | |
| Contrast | 598 | 798 33% | 544 -9% | 1071 79% | 873 46% | |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.41 | 9.86 -82% | 12.13 -124% | 6.39 -18% | 3.74 31% | 5.19 4% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.44 | 9.33 -72% | 14.77 -172% | 3.97 27% | 4.52 17% | 3.75 31% |
| Gamma | 2.23 99% | 2.19 100% | 2.42 91% | 2.24 98% | 2.63 84% | 2.36 93% |
| CCT | 7400 88% | 10114 64% | 17097 38% | 7310 89% | 7336 89% | 7152 91% |
* ... smaller is better
Although the black level of 0.5 cd/m² is up to par with the competition, the contrast of 598:1 is somewhat low. Subjectively, the picture looks three-dimensional and blacks are dark, but the colors are not very vivid.
Our analysis with the CalMan software reveals a very minimal bluish cast, which is especially noticeable when looking at lighter grays. The color accuracy is decent, only blues and reds deviate a little more from the ideal values. Overall, the color reproduction is pleasant - especially at this price point.
Like all smartphones, the LG L Fino suffers from a highly reflective display, which makes viewing the screen outdoors more difficult. The maximum brightness is sufficient enough to ensure the display remains readable. Direct sunlight is best avoided, however.
Since the display makes use of IPS technology, the viewing angle stability is high. At very shallow angles, the screen content gets darker, although the colors remain stable for a long time.
Performance
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 MSM8212 is a quad-core SoC which operates at 1.2 GHz and comes with an integrated Adreno 302 GPU. In combination with 1 GB of RAM of system RAM, the LG L Fino offers enough performance to handle most daily tasks. Starting apps or opening menus does take a brief second, however.
The competition offers slightly better processor performance according to Geekbench 3. The Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 outperforms the other phones when running this benchmark.
The synthetic graphic tests show mixed results: the LG L Fino can hold its own for the most part compared to the HTC Desire 310 and the Kazam Thunder Q4.5Test Kazam Thunder Q4.5 Smartphone, which is evident when looking at the results of the GFX Benchmark. The Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 once again offers more performance across the board.
| Geekbench 3 | |
| 32 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| 32 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| 3DMark | |
| 1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| 1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| 1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| GFXBench 3.0 | |
| 1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 | |
| T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| 1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
When we ran the browser benchmark tests, the LG L Fino scored well when running the slightly older Sunspider benchmark, but failed to impress elsewhere. The performance results can be linked to the Android browser, however: when we used Google's Chrome browser, which is preinstalled as well, pages loaded quicker and the browsing experience improved significantly.
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| Sunspider - 1.0 Total Score (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
* ... smaller is better
The 4 GB flash storage drive is reasonably fast and the LG L Fino ended up somewhere in the middle of the field when compared to its competitors. Both the Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 and the Motorola Moto G2 perform considerably better.
| AndroBench 3-5 | |
| Random Write 4KB (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| Random Read 4KB (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| Sequential Write 256KB (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
| Sequential Read 256KB (sort by value) | |
| LG L Fino | |
| Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 | |
| HTC Desire 310 | |
| Kazam Thunder Q4.5 | |
| Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ | |
Games
The GPU is powerful enough to handle many games, even more demanding ones like Dead Trigger 2 or Trials Frontier run without stuttering if the settings are on low. Control via the touchscreen and the position sensor is also easy and very exact.
Emissions
Temperature
The case of the LG L Fino gets quite warm under continuous load, but not overly so. Some spots on the front reach 38.3 degrees C; the back is not critical at all at a maximum of 33.8 degrees C.
During idle, the review smartphone remains cool throughout. We measured between 27 and 28.5 degrees C on the back and front, respectively.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 38.3 °C / 101 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 33.8 °C / 93 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.5 °C / 83 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speakers
The single speaker on the back gets quite loud, but sounds somewhat constrained with distorted highs. Lows are almost non-existent. The 3.5 mm headphone jack is very usable and and provides noise-free sound.
Battery Life
The battery has a capacity of 1900 mAH or 7.22 Wh and is larger than the ones found in either the Kazam Thunder Q4.5 (6.66 Wh, 1800 mAh) and the Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 (7 Wh, 1900 mAh). The rest of the smartphones in our comparison have larger batteries. Our review smartphone managed to last 6 hours 47 minutes during the practically relevant WLAN test and 13 hours and 21 minutes during idle, which is not as long as the competition in either case. The LG L Fino will only last the entire work day if used moderately and if the brightness is adjusted accordingly. With a run time of 3 hours 48 minutes, the slightly smartphone outperforms the competition slightly, however.
| LG L Fino Adreno 302, 200 MSM8212, 4 GB Flash | Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 Mali-400 MP2, MT6582M, 4 GB Flash | HTC Desire 310 Mali-400 MP2, MT6582M, 4 GB Flash | Kazam Thunder Q4.5 Mali-400 MP2, MT6582, 4 GB Flash | Motorola Moto G 2. Gen XT1068 Adreno 305, 400 MSM8226, 8 GB SSD | Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 SM-G357FZ Adreno 306, 410 MSM8916, 8 GB SSD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | 15% | 28% | -16% | 56% | 41% | |
| Reader / Idle | 801 | 853 6% | 1210 51% | 1195 49% | 1452 81% | |
| WiFi | 407 | 566 39% | 542 33% | 347 -15% | 904 122% | 594 46% |
| Load | 228 | 228 0% | 230 1% | 191 -16% | 221 -3% | 221 -3% |
| H.264 | 941 | 623 |
Verdict
The LG L Fino is a solid entry-level smartphone which sells for only 159 Euro (~$200). The L Fino is a good potential choice for smartphone novices thanks to its bright display with solid viewing angles and good colors. Aided by smartly-designed software and a precise touchscreen, operation of the phone is easy and intuitive. The performance is decent and the phone doesn't heat up too much. The main camera produces decent photos in bright environments. The case is compact, light, and looks quite upscale.
The low display resolution and the sub-par speaker are less appealing. The battery life is also only average.
All things considered, the LG L Fino is a decent choice provided the expectations are not too high and the shortcomings we mentioned above are acceptable. Users who are willing to spend 40 Euro (~$50) more should also take a look at the Motorola Moto G2.
