Review: LG Optimus F6 for T-Mobile
Oct 23, 2013, 6:43 PM by Eric M. Zeman
LG spits out an entry-level Android smartphone for T-Mobile. The budget-friendly Optimus F6 has a lot going for it, and a few things going against it, too.
Is It Your Type?
The LG Optimus F6 in an entry-level smartphone for T-Mobile that covers the basics and not much else. If you're on a budget, the F6 is a reasonable point of entry.
Body
The LG Optimus F6 is a rather plain slab that blends in well with the smartphone masses. It has a conservative look and doesn't offer any flashy design flourishes. The F6 has a highly glossy finish that always seems to be reflecting light.
The F6 doesn't have any hard angles; all the sides and edges have rounded profiles and are smooth to the point of being slippery. The design is a little chaotic. There is a dark, chrome-colored band that circles the entire outer edge, and two brushed-metallic bands that fill in most of the left and right side edges. The front is black, but the back is more navy blue. That's a lot of colors/shades for a phone.
The F6 is comfortable to hold and use. I like the rounded shape of the side edges. The build quality is quite good, and the pieces all fit together firmly. Nothing about the F6 feels cheap. With the slippery surfaces, the F6 will easily slip into pockets, though at 10.2mm I wish it were a bit thinner. The size of the phone and its weight won't be too noticeable at rest in your pocket.
The display takes up a decent chunk of the F6's front surface. There's a bit more bezel than I'd like to see, but that's par for the course considering the F6's entry-level status. The chrome LG logo is above the screen and is always visible thanks to its reflective nature. The F6 has a physical home button and capacitive back and menu buttons. Like other LG phones released this year, the home button also serves as the notification light and it pulses in a green ellipse when there are messages or missed calls. It will also flash a rainbow of colors if you set the alarm, red with there is an incoming call, blue when there's a calendar alert, etc. The button itself is easy to find and has good travel and feedback. The back and menu touch buttons flank the home button. They only light up when the home button has been pressed, and remain illuminated for only a few seconds before they disappear.
There are two buttons on the left edge of the F6: the volume toggle and a dedicated QuickMemo button. The QuickMemo button is small and placed closer to the top edge of the phone. It has a small profile, but isn't too hard to find. Travel and feedback were okay, but not great. The volume toggle has a similar low profile. The travel and feedback was OK, but it's impossible to tell the up from the down because there are no markings on the button to differentiate the two ends. I often found myself turning the volume up when I meant to turn it down. The screen lock button is on the right side and mirrors the shape and feel of the QuickMemo button, though travel and feedback is a bit better. The stereo headphone jack is on top and the micro-USB port is on the bottom.
The battery cover forms the entire back surface of the F6. It has a neat pattern that's similar to the speckled pattern on the back of last year's Nexus 4. On the F6, there are tiny squares that glisten and change color when the F6 is moved around in light. The cover itself peels off easily. The battery is removable, which means you can swap power supplies if need be. The microSD memory card can be swapped without pulling the battery.
In all, the F6's hardware functions very well, and certainly befits its $49 down payment price with T-Mobile.
About the author, Eric M. Zeman:Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.
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Comments
BTW, have you figured out how to unlock the bootloader of the Optimus L9 P769 T-Mobile phone?
F6 vs Blu life play.?
Because my L9 was starting to slow down a little bit. Then I was introduced to the blu life play by a friend. Except for it lack ing LTE the blu life play beats the F6 in every category and the price was even lower than the F6. I highly recommend the blu life play.
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