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LG Solo LTE (L423DL) Review: Pros and Cons

LG Solo LTE (L423DL) is an affordable phone coming from LG this year. At $119.99 price tag, does this phone delivers what customers need? Find out at LG Solo review here.

LG Solo Review

LG Solo LTE is a phone LG released in early 2019. This phone features a sleek design with a 5.7-inch HD+ Full Vision display.

Snapdragon chipset powers LG Solo and it has 2 GB of RAM. Camera lineup is comprised of an 8 MP back camera and a 5 MP front camera.

LG puts Solo among its affordable mid-range devices. It is priced at $119.99 with TracFone bundle.

How does LG Solo’s price compare to the features we get from it? Below is the complete LG Solo review categorized into several points.

Key Specs

LG Solo LTE (L423DL) specifications:

  • Weight: 150g
  • Dimensions: 153 x 71.9 x 8.3mm
  • OS: Android 8.1
  • Screen size: 5.7-inch
  • Resolution: 720 x 1440
  • CPU: 1.8 Ghz Octa-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 450
  • RAM: 2GB
  • Storage: 16GB
  • Battery: 3000mAh, Non-Removable
  • Rear camera: 8MP
  • Front camera: 5MP

Design

LG Solo LTE L423DL Pictures

LG Solo LTE features a beautiful design that sets the phone above its actual price, especially at first sight.

This impression stops upon a closer look. It’s clear that LG Solo’s body comprises mainly of plastic. However, it doesn’t come as a surprise for a phone at this price.

Since LG Solo has a plastic body, there’s a hint of cheap build quality. The phone is lightweight at 150 grams. It lacks the solid feel just like when you hold a metal-based phone.

But LG has designed Solo good enough that it looks luxurious and neat. The body is mainly black with a silver frame around the edges. The phone rounds up slightly toward the edges for ergonomic handling.

The screen, although not fully occupies the front side, it almost has no bezel on the right and the left side.

The front part looks symmetrical and balanced, which adds points for aesthetic. The top and bottom bezel have a similar thin size and there is not much clutter there, not even a logo.

We also admire the appearance of LG Solo from the back. It’s neat and everything is perfectly placed. The back cover is more shiny than matte. Here we can find the camera and the flash, followed by fingerprint readers and TracFone logo below.

However, the tidy looking design stops when we look at LG Solo’s edges. Ports and speakers cram the bottom part of the phone, where everything looks a bit messy.

On the right side, LG puts Google Assistant key, volume keys, and the SIM card slot, which in our opinion, is too many buttons on a tiny space. The right side is far from looking neat.

Display

LG Solo Side View

LG Solo LTE comes with a 5.7″ edge-to-edge display with a resolution of 720 x 1440 px. Technically, the resolution categorizes LG Solo’s display to HD+.

It’s an improvement from just an HD display. HD+ display presents more sharpness in color and details. It also stays bright under sunlight.

An HD screen is not a full HD screen with a 1080p resolution, though. We see many competitors have already moved to Full HD screen at this price.

Although LG Solo display performs reasonably well, we hope it at least has a Full HD resolution. Therefore colors could come out more punchy and deep.

The screen ratio is 18:9, like many other phones today. This is the perfect ratio for an ultimate cinematic experience. You can watch widescreen movies on full screen and nothing would be cropped.

LG solo also allows users to stretch YouTube video to full screen for the best viewing experience.

All-in-all, LG Solo’s display quality is decent at best. LG Solo’s display uses an IPS LCD technology. It’s not comparable to a display with an AMOLED technology. But it’s not too bad for a phone at this price bracket.

Related: LG Solo LTE (L423DL) User Manual

Camera

LG Solo LTE Camera

The camera is where LG Solo LTE falls really short. At almost $120 price tag, getting an 8 MP camera is rather disappointing. Although megapixels isn’t everything, it is important in producing a good quality picture.

There’s no official information about aperture as well, but we guessed it’s around f/2.2. The bigger the aperture, the better it is. A good mobile phone’s camera usually have an f/1.8 aperture.

As a result, LG Solo produces average pictures. The best you can get for a picture is when the lighting is optimal, such as during bright daylight.

Even so, sometimes the result juggles between underexposure, where the picture looks dim, to overexposure, when there’s a light source that’s too strong. It needs a bit of effort to capture a perfect image.

But as far as casual picture-taking goes, we’d say the camera is passable. It does its job as long as you don’t demand a pro image result. The camera also has a flash to help during low light conditions.

The camcorder is capable of taking a full HD video (1080p). So the camera isn’t all bad. There’s also a fast catch feature, which lets you take an object in motion, such as pets or sports activity.

The front camera, at 5MP, also comes with a flash. Camera performance is also pretty much the same as the main camera. Image results are okay, and there’s a portrait feature for that popular blur effect.

Storage

LG Solo’s internal storage is quite small at 16 GB. The users-ready amount is even smaller at 8 GB. It’s enough for some time, but soon the capacity would decrease after daily use.

That’s why LG Solo LTE is SD Card ready. The maximum capacity allowed is up to 2 TB. This is the biggest capacity we can find on a phone at this price range.

However, note that the SD card is not included upon purchase. Consumers will need to buy an SD card separately.

Performance

The reason why LG seems to cut back on storage and display is its focus for performance.

LG Solo LTE runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 450. It’s an octa-core processor with 1.8 GHz clock speed. Many middle-range phones use this processor for faster performance than phones on low-range price bracket.

That’s why, based on its processing power, we can categorize LG Solo as slightly advanced than many of its peers. The performance was top-notch.

Delays and lags are more manageable. Loading apps feel fast and seamless too. LG Solo is also theoretically capable of running 3D mobile games really well.

Sadly it seems that LG Solo won’t reach its maximum potential due to its limited RAM. At 2 GB, RAM is decent but could be better.

It means users will need to be mindful of how many apps are running in the background before the phone starts to lag. On daily use, it’s recommended to clear the memory regularly so the phone keeps running smoothly.

Moving to the software, LG Solo comes with Android 8.1 Oreo. LG also equips the phone with its own launcher LG UX 7.0.

LG packs custom features and pre-installed apps such as notepad QuickMemo+, and Smart Cleaning (Cleaning up memory and app cache with one tap).

It’s comfortable to navigate through the user interface, everything is nicely designed and neat.

LG Solo has a fingerprint feature, which is a nice addition for security. Audio comes with DTS:X 3D Surround for a better experience when watching movies and listening to music.

LG Solo is hearing aid compatible with M3/T3 rating. To conclude this part of LG Solo review, when it comes to performance (software, hardware, and sensors), LG Solo has everything basic users would need.

Connectivity

LG Solo is 4G LTE capable, which is a must for a phone nowadays. It ensures fast connection and uninterrupted calling.

Dropped calls are no longer a problem on 4G. LG Solo is also Wi-Fi ready, accompanied by extended features such as Wi-Fi Direct and Mobile Hotspot. Bluetooth is also available but sadly, there’s no NFC.

The USB connection on LG Solo still uses micro USB instead of the newest USB Type-C. It’s not a big issue and understandable looking at Solo’s price tag.

GPS comes with Qualcomm-specific technology for enhanced location accuracy. LG also still equip this phone with FM radio for entertainment, complete with a headphone jack.

Battery

LG Solo LTE Back View

The battery that powers LG Solo LTE is a Li-Po non-removable battery with a capacity of 3000 mAH.

With a 3000 mAH battery, we think it is enough to power a big display plus running day-to-day tasks.

LG claims the battery handles up to 12 hours of talk time. On standby, it can reach 10 up to days.

On real use, the battery is capable to get through to the end of the day without recharging again. The phone OS has a battery saving feature, but from the battery itself, there is no additional feature such as speed-charging.

Wrap-up

After looking at each point, then determining the overall score, we consider LG Solo LTE (L423DL) as average. It’s slightly below on several points (eg. camera). There are better phones at this price range, or even on under $100 phones such as Moto E5.

The highlights of LG Solo LTE lie on its display size, fingerprint sensors, and up to 2 TB external storage.

We also consider performance as one of Solo’s strengths. Having 1.8 GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon processor is probably the best thing about LG Solo.

In conclusion of our LG Solo LTE review, this is a phone for someone who puts performance as a priority and doesn’t care much about display or camera.

Pros:

  • Large display
  • Up to 2 TB external storage
  • Fingerprint feature
  • Android Oreo
  • Fast processor

Cons:

  • Average camera
  • Only 16 GB internal storage
  • Small RAM

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