LG
MSRP: $289.99
Price Range: $19.53 - $49.99
Overview
CNET Editors' Rating: 3.5 / 5
The good: The LG Optimus
F6 has clear call quality, a
decent 5-megapixel shooter,
and a bright, responsive
screen.
The bad: 4G LTE data speeds
were erratic at times, and
because the handset's
equipped with Android 4.1.2,
it runs a slightly dated OS.
The bottom line:
Competitively priced and
stocked with respectable
hardware specs, the LG
Optimus F6 is a worthy buy
for T-Mobile customers who
are big on value.
Design, Features &
Performance (out of 10)
Design: 8.0
Features: 7.0
Performance: 7.0
Review
The LG Optimus F6 may not
be a powerhouse of a device
compared with some of T-
Mobile's other handsets, but
it's still a reliable phone that
will satisfy users looking for a
simple device on a budget.
Reasonably priced at
$289.99 (with the option to
pay $49.99 up front and then
$10 a month for 24 months),
the F6 is equipped with a
swift dual-core processor, a
bright 4.5-inch screen, and a
5-megapixel camera that's
sure to make casual
shutterbugs happy. It also
comes with a handful of
software UI features from LG
that are useful and easy to
use.
If you're a T-Mobile customer
looking for a midrange
Android handset, consider the
F6. Just be aware, however,
that it doesn't run the most
recent Android version.
Judging by our data tests,
4G LTE connectivity can also
be inconsistent.
Design
The Optimus F6 is compact,
measuring 5.03 inches tall,
2.59 inches wide, and 0.40
inch thick. It's easily
maneuverable with one hand
and with its sloping edges
and smooth plastic build, it's
comfortable to hold. At 4.44
ounces, it's also fairly
lightweight, and you can
easily throw it in a small bag
or your back jeans pocket.
On the left edge sits a volume
rocker and a shortcut key to
launch QuickMemo (more on
that later). Up top is a
3.5mm headphone jack and
on the right is a sleep/power
button. Finally, the bottom
edge houses a Micro-USB
port for charging.
The battery door is adorned
with a tile pattern that grows
denser near the bottom of the
device. The design is subtle,
and you can only make it out
clearly when the handset is
somewhere well lit, like
outside in the sun. I like this
stylish pattern, and it's a
unique accent that sets the
phone apart from the other
midrange slabs floating
around in the market.
On the back you'll find a 5-
megapixel camera and LED
flash and two small slits for
the speaker. When you
remove the battery door, you
can access the microSD card
slot (it accepts cards of
capacities of up to 32GB),
and the 2,460mAh battery.
The 4.5-inch qHD IPS display
has a 960x540-pixel
resolution. Though it's
important to keep in mind
that the F6 is a midtier
device, compared with a
higher-end phone like the LG
G2 (which has a 1080p
screen), the F6's display
isn't the sharpest. I can see
some slight aliasing around
icons and texts and color
gradients do not transition as
smoothly. However, the
screen is bright, it displays
colors accurately (especially
when viewing a single white
swatch), and it's responsive
to the touch.
Above the display is a 1.3-
megapixel camera and below
is a physical home key that's
flanked by two hot keys (for
back and menu) that light up
in white. If you long-press
the home key, you can call up
recent apps (and quit them
as well), access Google Now,
and open up the Task
Manager in your phone.
Software features
The handset features Android
4.1.2 Jelly Bean, and while
it'd be nice to see it running
a more recent version of the
OS, you'll still get your usual
collection of Google apps:
Chrome, Gmail, Search, Plus,
Maps, access to the Play
store's Books, Magazines,
Movies & TV, and Music
portals, Talk, and YouTube.
T-Mobile loaded a
conservative number of its
apps in as well. You'll get T-
Mobile My Account, which
gives you information about
your phone and data plan; a
trial subscription to the caller
ID service Name ID; and apps
that help set up your visual
voice mail and mobile hot
spot. Lastly, the media
streaming service T-Mobile
TV offers a 30-day trial to
channels like Fox News and
ESPN.
LG's Optimus 3.0 user
interface comes with a few
signature software features.
These include the option to
customize app icons (with
two different themes), and
QSlide, a multitasking
function that enables you to
view and resize apps (like the
browser and calculator) while
using other apps or viewing
the home screen.
VuTalk lets you create
annotations on documents
and photos on your device
while sharing it in real time
with another VuTalk-enabled
handset through either a
network or Wi-Fi connection.
There's also LG's signature
note-taking app, QuickMemo,
which lets you jot down quick
notes or sketches directly
over images onscreen. As
mentioned before, you can
quickly launch this app with
the shortcut button on the
smartphone's left edge.
Basic apps include native
browser and e-mail clients, a
calculator, a calendar, a clock
with alarm functions, a memo
pad, a weather app, a
dictionary, a to-do list, a
voice recorder, a voice dialer,
and voice search.
Other goodies include two
file-sharing apps
(SmartShare and FileShare),
the Polaris Viewer 4 mobile
office suite, a language
translation app, and Lookout
Security, which backs up data
and scans apps and files for
malware.
Additional features include
4GB of internal storage, NFC,
and Bluetooth 4.0.
Camera and video
Photo quality on the 5-
megapixel camera was great.
Especially in amply lit
environments, images were
sharp with well-defined edges
and showed adequate color
accuracy. Of course, with
dimmer lighting comes more
digital noise, but in general,
pictures were in focus and
clear. In addition, the camera
operated fast, with the
shutter refreshing for the next
photo quickly and I didn't see
any lag between my moving
of the camera and the
feedback I saw in the
viewfinder.
Both the 5-megapixel camera
and the front-facing camera
offer five white balance
options, a brightness meter
(from -2 to +2), four color
effects, a timer, geo-tagging,
and a voice shutter function
that lets you operate the
shutter by saying certain
words like "cheese" and
"whiskey" (don't ask me
why). The two cameras also
have a "Portrait+" function
(previously known as Beauty
Shot) that lets you adjust the
brightness and blurriness of
an image.
However, only the 5-
megapixel camera features
digital zoom, three focuses
that include face tracking,
five shooting modes (which
include panoramic and HDR),
and seven scene modes. It
also has five ISO options, the
ability to save photos in
three sizes (ranging from
1,280x960 to 2,560x1,920
pixels), and Time Catch,
which lets you choose and
save the best shot before the
shutter was pressed. The
front-facing camera,
meanwhile, has only two
image sizes (1,280x720 or
1,280x960), two scene modes
(normal and night), and a
mirror-image option that
saves a vertically flipped
version of your photo.
Video quality was similarly
satisfactory. When I recording
in 1080p HD, both still and
moving objects remained
sharp and clear. The camera
would refocus for lighting
quickly, and colors looked
true-to-life. Though nearby
audio picked up well, I could
hear some rustling
background noise when it
came to shooting outside. It
wasn't overly distracting, but
it was noticeable.
Video-recording options
consist of the same digital
zoom, flash, brightness
meter, geotagging, color
effects, and white balances.
You can also choose from
five video sizes (ranging from
MMS to 1080p full HD), take
still photos while recording,
and pause video without
stopping recording
altogether. There's also the
live effect mode, which will
distort your face (for
example, bulge out your eyes,
squeeze your mouth inward)
while the video records.
Recording features for the
front-facing camera are
nearly identical to those of
the rear camera, including the
quirky effects, except there is
no digital zoom or flash, and
there are four video sizes,
ranging from MMS to 720p
HD.
Performance
I tested the Optimus F6
(GSM 850/900/1800/1900) in
our San Francisco offices and
call quality was reliable --
none of my calls dropped,
audio didn't clip in and out,
and during times of absolute
silence I didn't hear any
extraneous noises or
buzzing. Volume range was
also adequate, though on
speaker, I felt that maximum
volume could have been a bit
louder.
LG Optimus F6 (T-Mobile)
call quality sample
T-Mobile's 4G LTE data
connection was good, but not
the fastest we've seen on
other networks like Verizon.
Most notably, there were
times when the phone would
clock in glacially slow data
times only to speed up after
a restart and then show fast
speeds the next. On average,
however, it loaded CNET's,
The New York Times', and
ESPN's mobile sites all
around 6 seconds. Desktop
sites loaded in 13, 16, and 9
seconds, respectively. To
download the 35.01MB game
Temple Run 2, the device
sometimes took as long as
10 minutes and could take as
short as 2 minutes the next
time. After several trials,
however, I calculated that it
took about 6 minutes and 27
seconds on average. The
Ookla speed-test app showed
me an average of 12.42Mbps
down and 9.22Mbps up.
LG Optimus
F6 Performance
Average 4G
LTE
download
speed
12.42Mbps
Average 4G
LTE upload
speed
9.22Mbps
App
download
(Temple
Run 2)
35.01MB in 6
minutes and 27
seconds
CNET
mobile site
load
6 seconds
CNET
desktop site
load
13 seconds
Power-off
and restart
time
35 seconds
Camera
boot time 2.19 seconds
The device runs on a zippy
1.2GHz dual-core processor
from Qualcomm. In general,
simple but necessary tasks
were executed with no
problems. For example,
opening up the app drawer,
quitting back to the home
page, and switching from
landscape to portrait mode
(and vice versa), were all
done smoothly within a
sufficient amount of time.
Furthermore, while playing
the graphics-intensive game
Riptide GP, I experienced no
stalling or unexpected force
quitting with the app. True,
frame rates weren't as high
as you see on higher-end
handsets, but all in all,
gameplay was smooth. On
average, it took 35 seconds
to power off and restart the
phone, and 2.19 seconds to
launch the camera.
Although I have yet to
perform our battery drain
test , the 2,460mAh battery
has a reported talk time of 8
hours and a standby time of
20 days. Anecdotally, I
noticed that with minimal to
medium usage, it could last a
workday without a charge.
Understandably, however,
turning the screen brightness
on max does significantly
drain the battery, and by the
end of the evening, I received
a usage warning that my
battery was down to 15
percent. According to FCC
radiation standards , the
handset has a digital SAR
rating of 0.98W/kg.
Conclusion
With its $289.99 full retail
price, it's hard to beat the LG
Optimus F6 in terms of value.
True, the carrier does have
better phones (like the $336
Galaxy S II , Samsung's
flagship handset from two
years ago), but you have to
be willing to give up more
dough.
And while the F6 doesn't run
the most recent OS on the
Android market, it's a reliable
candidate to consider for
phones under $300. The T-
Mobile myTouch Q, for
example, is $50 cheaper, but
it lacks LTE, has a laggy
processor, and a poor
camera. Likewise, though the
Nokia Lumia 521 is a
fantastic $144 value, you do
"get what you pay for" in
terms of its low-resolution
screen and lack of a camera
flash. Indeed, when it comes
to the F6, users can get
themselves a great Android
smartphone without breaking
the bank.
Basic Specs
OS
provided
Android 4.1.2
(Jelly Bean)
Style Candybar
Weight 4.37 oz
Width 2.59 in
Depth 0.4 in
Height 5.04 in
User Reviews
Average User Rating: 3.5 / 5
User Rating Breakdown
5 Star: 0
4 Star: 0
3 Star: 0
2 Star: 0
1 Star: 0
Rating: / 5
on December 31, 1969
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