With the way things are going, it’s no wonder why a lot of Filipinos are still hesitant into trying out a Windows Phone. We only have three Windows 7 phones available in the country. One is the HTC Mozart launched last December, the HTC HD7 afterwards, and then LG’s Optimus 7 which was made available to Smart subscribers three months back and just landed in LG stores couple of weeks ago.
The LG Optimus 7 can be considered a high-end phone if it was launched last year. With its 3.8-inch screen, 1GHz single-core processor, 16GB internal storage, and 5mp camera, it’s hard to justify its Php29,990 price tag it currently comes with in today’s standards.
Is it the price of using a Windows Phone 7 OS? Just like it’s cheaper to get a Linux-installed laptop as compared to a Windows’ one? Microsoft said it’s not that case for mobile phones. It’s just that these Windows Phone OS has a lot of interesting features that you would want to pay money for. Hmm, until I see more apps for WP7 I would want these phones to be a bit more cheaper.
Back to the LG Optimus 7, this phone is somewhat un-elegant as compared to other LG phones such as the Optimus 2X or Optimus Black. It has three embossed buttons below the screen which I don’t find that appealing. The curves remind me of the first LG Android phone which was the Optimus GT450, only super-sized.
The back has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and a tiny mirror so you can capture proper self-portraits. There’s a dedicated camera button on the side as well. There is the absence of a front camera so future plans of voice chatting won’t do well with this phone.
What would probably make it a phone to own is if you want to try Windows Phone 7 and its fresh, interesting take for a UI. The Live Tiles are like widgets without making a mess of your homescreen. It has the minimalist look that would appeal to a lot of people, including me. One huge advantage of Windows Phones over Android is that when an upgrade becomes available, all devices can be upgraded over the air. No need to wait for the phone manufacturer to release their own upgrade. If you already own a Windows Phone 7, the next upgrade would be something to look forward to when it becomes available later this year.
LG E900 Optimus 7 Specs:
- 1 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 200 GPU
- Qualcomm QSD8650 Snapdragon chipset
- 3.8-inch display @ 480 x 800 pixels
- Gorilla glass display
- 16GB internal storage
- 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n w/ DLNA
- Bluetooth 2.1
- HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
- 5MP autofocus camera w/ LED flash
- 720p video recording @ 24fps
- GPS w/ aGPS
- Windows Phone 7 (upgradeable to 7.1)
- Li-Ion 1500mAh battery
- SRP: Php29,990