LG Optimus L7 (hardware)
The first thing you notice with the LG Optimus L7 is that it's a fairly large smartphone, at least bigger than the Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus. The display is 4.3 inches. In terms of looks this L7 fits perfectly in the line of LG smartphones, with its square design. It's 9 mm thick.
The processor is less powerful than you'd expect for a phone this size. The Qualcomm MSM7227A belongs to the S1 line of Qualcomm's SoCs, which means it's an entry-level chip. The cheaper Alcatel One Touch 995 also has a single-core Qualcomm SoC (the MSM8255T), but that's at least one from the more advanced S2 family with a CPU that's 1.5 GHz instead of the 1 GHz in LG's phone. The Adreno GPU in the LG Optimus L7 is also less advanced than the one in the Alcatel phone.
The 800x480 display on the L7 looks good, even if it could have been brighter. The 252 candela are fine indoors, but you'll struggle to see the display in sunlight.
In terms of connectors you only get a micro-USB port for the charger and for connecting the phone to the computer. If you remove the back of the phone you'll find a microSD-slot. That's good to have, considering the limited storage capacity of 4 GB (only 2.7 GB of which you can use). The home button at the bottom of the screen is a physical button, but the other two (Back, Menu) are capacitive. Those two are only visible when you press them, which takes a bit getting used to before your brain has learned where they are.
