Landvo L200 Review – Quad-Band 3G For <$85

NOTE: The Landvo L200 is not the same mobile as the LTE Landvo L200G

Summary:

The Landvo L200 is a competitive, quad-band 3G, KitKat phone. It offers a straightforward, no-nonsense approach in a practical budget smartphone.

Highlights:

• High value, low cost: less than $100
• Quad-band 3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
• 5-inch display
• Android 4.4.2 KitKat
• Expandable storage

Introduction

Landvo has jumped into the worldwide ultra low budget 3G smartphone scene, and made quite a noteworthy splash. In the sub $100 price range, the Landvo L200 packs a surprising wallop with a huge focus on practical features and a refreshingly lean approach to technological frills.

First and foremost, a quick discussion on what isn’t there. The Landvo L200 makes no attempts at NFC, OTG or Qi Charging. Similarly, this set parallels features many casual users tend to utilize least on other full-featured smartphones. In short, it seems Landvo was thoughtful in feature trimming to provide the most useful bang-for-the-buck.

Now for the features actually included in the Landvo L200. From the outset, it appears like many others with a generous 5” display, quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. It has a 2MP front camera, and a capable 8MP rear camera with flash.

What truly sets this budget phone apart is its network support. In addition to standard quad-band 2G support, the Landvo L200 offers quad-band 3G as well. The 3G frequencies covered are WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz. The inclusion of 1900 MHz makes it a noteworthy contender in the United States on both AT&T and T-Mobile, and the inclusion of both 850 MHz and 900 MHz in addition to 2100 MHz make it capable of obtaining 3G coverage in a tremendous majority of the world as well.

Flash sale: The Landvo L200 is available for $84 from Gearbest with coupon code “L200LM”

Landvo L200 review build and feel

The L200 phone construction feels stable and the phone itself is surprisingly light. The plastic rear cover is slightly thicker than most and snaps very securely into place. The front screen is clear and comes equipped with a screen protector. An extra screen protector was included as well.

The phone is also packaged with a snug-fitting TPU case. The matte feel of the rear of the case compliments nicely with the sticky sides to make the phone feel even more secure in hand. The TPU case fits the phone well, and sits flush with the screen in the front. While this does provide a really slick feel and look to the phone, an added 2mm or so of bumper along the front of the phone would have been nice in case of an accidental front fall onto a flat surface.

Landvo L200 review Hardware and Antutu Scores

The Landvo L200 comes equipped with a quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM – plenty of power for most applications and casual use. The 8GB ROM is on the lean side, but the phone’s storage can be expanded with a microSD card for up to an additional 32GB.

Some quad-core MediaTek devices historically exhibited GPS problems. This was not the case with the Landvo L200, which achieved a solid lock within seconds even while tested indoors.

The Antutu scores for this phone are posted below. It scored an overall 18,949 which falls just short of a Nexus 4, and just ahead of a Moto G. Surprisingly good considering the L200 costs roughly half the price.

Landvo L200 review camera

Both the front and rear cameras proved adequate, performing reasonably well in both indoor and outdoor settings. While not necessarily on par with the latest flagship technology out there, the camera produces images consistent with its other 8MP competitors. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so attached are some examples of both indoor and outdoor shots taken in auto-mode with the stock camera app. No filtering or post-processing of any kind has been applied.
[flickr_set id=”72157646419784824″]

Landvo L200 review audio

While not by a long shot the most important feature, the first thing any user will notice audio-wise is the startup sound. When powered on, the Landvo L200 produces a blaringly loud startup tone. If I were to use this as my everyday phone, especially in business settings, I would either keep it on silent or replace that tone altogether in case of any incidental reboots.

Call quality was loud and clear, both through the phone’s headset speaker and through speakerphone. The microphone also seemed solid with no tweaking needed for other parties to hear my clearly.

Unlike several other Chinese phones, headphone jack does not require an OMTP-CTIA adapter for the use of a standard mic-headset.

Noteworthy Competitors:

In the major brand USA market, the Landvo L200 would find itself competing most closely with the Motorola’s budget offering in the Moto G. Although the L200 lacks some of the 3G (and all of the 4G) network bands, its Antutu scoring stacks up rather favorably. Beyond that, adding the possibility of expanded storage via microSD card, and coming in at a fraction of its cost makes the Landvo a considerable competitor.

Within the Chinese Phone market, the L200 competes in a similar arena as Doogee DG580 Kissme and Doogee DG310. Although the DG310 and DG580 have OTG. the L200’s inclusion of the 3G 900MHz band may prioritize it for some users.

Flash sale: The Landvo L200 is available for a limited time for $84 from Gearbest with coupon code “L200LM”

Landvo L200 review verdict:

The Landvo L200 presents a noteworthy bang-for-the-buck, with capable hardware for a very reasonable price. The ultra-budget offering of quad-band 3G coverage makes it a uniquely tempting phone for any users in that market.