LG announces L Series III budget line a week before MWC

A week ahead of Mobile World Congress, LG is letting us know about their L Series III line, a selection of decidedly mid-range devices that do not compromise on style and design. The LG L40, LG L70 and LG L90 range in size and specifications, ideal for those that do not desire the size and power found in LG’s G line of devices but still want a beautiful phone that runs Android 4.4 Kit Kat.

The L Series III line will get you 3.5-inch, 4.5-inch or 4.7-inch screens for the L40, L70 and L90 respectively. A number of further specs are listed as “depending on the market,” but all come with various 3G radios only, ideal for emerging markets, or the casual international traveler.

The LG L40 gets 480 x 320 resolution on that 3.5-inch display. It packs a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 4GB of internal storage over top of 512MB RAM. A1700mAh or 1540mAh removable battery keeps it running with a 3MP camera on the back.

The LG L70 steps it up to 800 x 400 resolution on a 4.5-inch IPS display. Also runs a 1.2GHz dual-Core processor and 4GB of internal storage, but gives you 1GB RAM, 2100mAh removable battery, an 8MP (or 5MP) rear shooter and an unspecified front facing camera.

The  LG L90 is comparatively high-end, with 960 x 540 screen resolution on the 4.7-inch IPS display. The device bumps it up to a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and 8GB of internal storage, but keeps the 1GB RAM and 8MP rear camera. A 1.3MP front shooter and 2540mAh removable battery complete the picture.

For official details we’ll have to wait for LG‘s MWC presentations, but LG Mobile Communication Design Lab has put out a short video featuring Vice President Chul Bae Lee telling the story of the L Series III Design, check it out below.

Before you write these phones off as unworthy, I will admit that I still have an active LG Optimus One P500 in my collection. There is no question it is unable to handle KitKat, seeing as the L40 would be a significant upgrade, but it travels very well as an unlocked GSM phone and is my goto device when I go out hiking. It somehow takes very impressive photos for its tiny 3.2MP camera, has immensely impressive range as a WiFi hotspot and is still in near pristine condition despite a significant number of drops and spills. At home, it connects to the stereo to play my music, and does so better than my Nexus 7. I suspect that the performance of the L Series III devices will far outdo our expectations, despite their relatively lower-end specs.

 What do you think, are these devices capable enough to satisfy users’ needs? At what price will these need to be priced to adequately compete with the Moto G?