LG Optimus F3 Review

Introduction:

LG is never one to shy away from gaining traction in the entry-level segment of the market, seeing that it’s still highly regarded as the bread and butter of a company’s growth opportunity. Likely one to attract people to its $29.99 on-contract cost, the LG Optimus F3 for Sprint might look like an inferior port of LG’s flagship devices, but don’t be fooled for a moment to think it’s automatically a forgettable thing.

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Quick User Guide
• Important Safety and Handling Information

Design:

When you’re priced so low, there are only few directions you can go with design – so that’s the case here with the Optimus F3! No doubt, the handset does feel cheap with its construction, due to the handset’s hollowness, lightweight feel, and textured plastic casing. Nevertheless, we do appreciate that it’s compact and comfortable to hold in the hand. Visually speaking, it might have a similarity to some of LG’s more prestigious offerings, but upon closer inspection, it’s obvious that it’s rather boring with its design.


Just like some other recent Optimus devices, the F3 also features an LED-lit home button, which pulsates in various colors depending on the type of notification – something that proves to be useful in keeping us aware. Looking around the sides of the phone, we spot its power button, volume control, noise-cancelling mic, 3.5mm headset jack, standard mic, and microUSB port for charging/data connectivity.

Armed with a 5-megapixel camera in the rear, with a front-facing 0.3-megapixel VGA one in the front, it’s pretty much within line to what we expect out of an entry-level device. However, it’s comforting to know that it’s also packing along a microSD slot after its rear casing is removed, which also conceals its microSIM slot and beefy 2650 mAh battery.



Display:

Once thought as a cutting-edge resolution, the 480 x 800 WVGA resolution of the Optimus F3’s 4-inch IPS-LCD panel easily fits its budget status – albeit, it’s nothing to write home about. For the most part, it’s usable enough to use with most things, but it’s still without its own flaws. Specifically, details can be insignificant at times, which is noticeable when you’re in a zoomed out view in the browser. At the same time, its weak viewing angles can cause things to distort and fade – making it difficult to view under the sun.







Interface and Functionality:

Well, there’s nothing terribly new with the experience here, since it’s the same LG Optimus UI skin running on top of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Yeah, we’ll lament that it’s an older build, but it’s nice to see that the experience features some of LG’s latest enhancements – like the QSlide function that allows for better multi-tasking with some of its apps. Besides that, we’re presented with all the personalization and functionality of the Android experience that we all know and love.


In contrast to some of the handsets out there with ginormous displays on them, there’s a lot of adjustment needed to get used to the on-screen keyboard of the Optimus F3. Unfortunately, it’s intermittent unresponsiveness and cramped layout makes it tough at first, but after a while, we’re better able to cope up.



Processor and Memory:

Hardly imposing in this day and age, the dual-core 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM in the Optimus F3 is ample for all basic tasks, but it struggles with more advanced operations. Needless to say, we wouldn’t associate processing prowess with this entry-level model.

Out of the box, there’s a paltry 1.24GB of free storage with the handset, but at least we have an available microSD card slot to help supplement its internal capacity.

Internet and Connectivity:

With the stock web browser, it struggles to handle rendering on the fly, seeing that delays are prominent when scrolling or pinch zooming very quickly. However, it’s never stalling the performance to the point of making it unusable, but then again, the Google Chrome browser is preloaded too, to provide us with an alternative option.


Who would believe a couple of years ago that a $29.99 priced handset can have nearly all the same connectivity options as some high-end stuff? Well, everything we’d want is found here, as it features 4G LTE connectivity, aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and NFC.

Camera:

One part expected, another unfortunate, the 5-megapixel camera of the Optimus F3 is a nice touch to find on a budget thing, but sadly its performance is utterly disappointing. With still snap shots, it lacks detail to make it a noteworthy thing to use for important moments – while its washed out color reproduction gives everything a hazy look. And its low lighting performance gets much worse, as things become super noisy. In the 1080p video recording front, we find the same displeasing elements that prevent us from making it an instant call for shooting things candidly.



LG Optimus F3 Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Using the same Optimus music player that we’re familiar with, its presentation is pretty much the traditional fanfare we’re accustomed to seeing – as an alternative, though, there’s the Google Play Music app that’s preloaded. Sure, its audio quality is loud, but at the highest setting, it tends to exhibit some sharpness that makes it a little irritating to the ear.


Despite its lack of support for playing videos encoded in DivX, it didn’t have any problems whatsoever playing a 1080p one in MPEG-4 format. However, due to its low quality display, it doesn’t particularly offer the best experience. Regardless, it’s nice that the QSlide feature allows us to watch movies on top of whatever else we’re doing on the phone.

Call Quality:

So what’s the good in the calling quality department? For starters, its earpiece produces a strong output, giving voices a crisp tone to them. As for the bad, the speakerphone exhibits some crackling at the loudest setting – while its noise-cancellation feature fails to mute background noise.

Battery:

Carrying along a 2460 mAh battery, we’re shocked to find something of this caliber with a beefy battery life that. Providing us easily with a solid one-day of normal usage, which consists of mostly web surfing, emailing, texting, and the occasional phone call, light users will be pleased by its all-day worth. At the same time, though, power users will be able to get through a work day without worries.

Conclusion:

Indeed, there’s just so much where an entry-level smartphone can go – especially when last year’s mid-rangers tend to occupy the same space nowadays. Looking at the $29.99 on-contract price point of the LG Optimus F3, it might not scare the pants off us with its meager specs sheet, but at least it’s treated to some of the enhancements that are found with LG’s higher-end offerings. It’s cheap, and definitely looks and feels that way, but heck, it doesn’t falter too much in its overall performance to make it feel like a debilitating piece of hardware.

Software version of reviewed unit:
Android version: 4.1.2
Build number: JZO54K
Kernel version: 3.4.0