LG Optimus L9 hands-on: Packed with dual cores

SAN DIEGO -- At MobileCon 2012, T-Mobile demoed its newest device from LG: the LG Optimus L9. Packed with a dual-core CPU and 4G capabilities, the L9 is the highest-tier phone of the L-series family. It will be available for the upcoming fall season, although the carrier hasn't announced pricing.

Design
The Optimus L9 is 5.19 inches tall, 2.69 inches wide, and 0.36 inches thick. It weights 4.41 ounces, and during my brief time with the phone, it felt light in the hand and was comfortable to hold.

Since it falls into LG's L-series umbrella of phones, its design isn't anything new. In fact, the build is very similar to the LG Optimus L7 and L5.

The device sports a 4.5 inch qHD Corning Gorilla Glass 2 display. The back plate is slightly textured, but is made out of a matte plastic. This keeps it from being too slick for butterfingers and it keeps fingerprints off.

Features
The Optimus L9 is equipped with a 1GHz dual-core processor. Though I didn't get to spend any meaningful time with the device, its speed seemed relatively zippy. Shooting photos was a breeze as there was barely any lag time between taking shots. Simple tasks like transitioning back to the home screen and flipping through apps were executed smoothly.

Powering the phone is a 2,150mAh battery, which will hopefully provide enough juice to power the device's dual-core CPU. In addition, it will include 1GB of RAM and 4GB of embedded memory.

The handset runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but will unfortunately have LG's Optimus 3.0 UI overlaid on top of the original ICS skin. I'm not a huge fan of the Optimus 3.0 since it's not as sleek as the default UI, and its widgets, especially the weather one, look dated and boxy.

Other software features include LG's QuickMemo app, which enables users to quickly jot down notes or doodles from their devices.

In addition to its VGA front-facing camera, the handset has a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera that is equipped with an LED flash and can record 1080p HD video.

Outlook
As LG's top-tiered L-series handset, the LG Optimus L9 packs a punch with its dual-core CPU. In addition to these (hopefully) zippy internal speeds, the device will also run on T-Mobile's 4G network. While I'll withhold judgment until I get my hands on a review unit, the Optimus L9 is sporting some impressive specs that may be worth a glance for T-Mobile customers looking for a fast phone.