LG's Optimus L3 was always designed with modest ambitions -- mostly of scooping up the starter smartphone crowd -- but a new variant for Russia and the Ukraine has our ears perked. The tiny L3 DualSim includes two SIM slots to let locals hop between two different phone numbers with a switch. Ostensibly it's to give jetsetting businesspeople a way to switch between their home and work phone lines, although the abundance of prepaid service options in the two countries makes us think there's some cost-saving involved as well. The tweaked L3 isn't just another dual-SIM conversion; LG has also seen fit to overcome qualms about performance with an 800MHz Snapdragon replacing the 600MHz of the original. Sadly, we're not seeing any upgrades to the creaky Android 2.3 install or the 3-megapixel camera, so this won't let you get a shrunken L5 on the cheap. At a price of 1,500 Ukranian grivnas (6,169 Russian rubles, or $186) without a contract, however, we suspect many Muscovites and Sevastopolians won't have objections to picking up the L3 DualSim for themselves come the July release.

LG slips out Optimus L3 DualSim for Russia and Ukraine, keeps you in touch with both Kiev and Kursk originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 08:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.