LG Optimus F3 Black (Virgin Mobile)

It's my first smart phone, and now I don't know why I resisted for so long. I love how I can talk my texts and answer emails by talking. Phone has very limited storage for apps, but I am not an app guy, and it's great for email, texts, pictures, phone calls. I only talk on cell about 300 minutes a month, so the cheaper Virgin plan works for me. I don't hear so well so the volume of voice on phone call seems a little low, but it is ok, and speaker phone is great. I keep phone on, and battery lasts about 4 days, not the 9 day standby advertised, also supposed to be good 16 hours talk time, don't think it would do that, but I don't talk much to say. Virgin says the fact that i text and read emails means its not just in standby and they say battery is ok, although they are sending me a free battery so i can compare if this new one will work the same. I bought it because Sprint is Virgin carrier and they are only lower priced plan company that has a strong signal at my vacation home. ATT is the other carrier there but could not find a cheap service through them. At my city house I knew from the service map I also had 4g, although I am on edge of top service and my workplace 3 miles away has weak 4g but 3g is fine for what I need there, checking emails and texts.

I remember when the iphone came out and had a 3.5" display and it seemed crazy big compared to the existing trend of smaller and smaller phones. Now the trend is to have bigger and bigger phones. I have a Galaxy Note 3 (5.7") that I absolutely love. This phone bucks that trend with a high resolution, crystal clear, and vibrantly colored 4" screen. The phone really feels small in my hand and back pocket. (I use it for my business line). But that's not a detractor. It's actually perfect as a second phone or a phone for a kid (just don't forget the microsd card for their games). The phone has a toned down version of LG's android "skin" and it is zippy fast, especially for a phone that goes for $80 on amazon. If you don't mind the screen size I would buy it in a minute. Just don't forget the case, this little bugger is SLIPPERY. I love it and a lot of times when I put my Galaxy Note 3 'to bed" I will continue to surf on this phone while watching tv. Dual 1.2 ghz processors aren't the best specs, but they get the job done. I had a Samsung Galaxy Victory LTE before it, and it felt really sluggish and laborious to even swipe screens. The f3 does a great job at everything I throw at it. And did I mention the display was great? Battery power is excellent too as its battery is way bigger than any other prepaid phone I've seen. Hope this was helpful, just remember when you order a case make sure it's compatible with the VM720 because the t-mobile and metropcs versions are flat on the top and the virgin mobile is rounded, making some cases incompatible. Most amazon listed cases include information about this in their description. Enjoy!

This will be my 4th Android smartphone & 3rd from LG. After 2 years with the LG Optimus V on Virgin Mobile (VM), I get T-Mobile prepaid a try when I found their LG Optimus L9 at a good price earlier this year. Too bad T-Mobile's prepaid plans aren't as good as VM's, neither is their mobile data network in this part of NW Ohio. So after a month of limping along with a serious Android device, I went back to VM with their Samsung Galaxy S II 4G (as in WiMax). The build quality of the Samsung is quite good, but I never got used to holding the thing, it's a little to large for my liking (see my review elsewhere on Amazon). I did get to like the size of the display (very little squinting needed), and the speakerphone in the car was good enough I didn't need my Bluetooth speakerphone (much). And of course, WiMax is doomed, so the 4G on that device was useless. So when I saw that VM was offering the LG Optimus F3 with 4G LTE, I got one, although Sprint doesn't have much 4G in OH yet.My first impression of the hardware was favorable: I like the physical Home button, and the build quality is acceptable (I don't think it's as cheap as other reviewers). The size is about right for me, especially the thickness (same as the Samsung).Other reviewers' complaints/concerns about the internal memory (1.2 GB) are unfounded, in my opinion. I installed all the apps I was using on the Samsung, and still have 600+ MB remaining (that's way more than the ancient Optimus V had to begin with). Worried about space for music, ringtones, photos, etc. ? Get a fast microSD card and put those things there. And VM/LG didn't add too much bloat to the phone; at least they give ways to remove much of it.Swapping from the Samsung to the LG was smooth enough, though VM's instructions could be a little clearer (how often do they think the average VM customer swaps their phones, anyway?).The 4.0in, 800x480 display is small compared to the 4.7in display on the Samsung, but the resolution is the same, so we're not missing anything (it's just smaller). For this resolution, the 4.0in screen is just fine. Screen brightness in outdoor ambient light is OK, too. I like the Screen Brightness control in the Notification bar Quick Settings: tap for low, half, full, & a custom setting - who needs more than that ?This phone comes with Android 4.1.2 without too much LG modification. I like that LG didn't mess with the stock Call Reject feature; Samsung either hid or disabled it, so a 3rd party app was needed to have the phone reject calls from a black list, also on 4.1.2.Connectivity is decent enough on 3G & good on WiFi - I get a 19Mbps connection from my home office on the 3rd floor of our late 20s frame house with the router in the basement. And while 4G LTE continues to roll-out (none in NW Ohio yet), throughput is impressive when I can find a 4G signal in SE Michigan (around Detroit Metro Airport) - 350kbps vs 17,000kbps. The GPS receiver seems to perform well, too (look out Garmin).The 5MP camera is fine for a smartphone camera -- remember, it's (mostly) a phone, not a camera. It's very fast, and has decent resolution.The speakerphone is on the anemic side, so unless you're driving an Audi S8 with an active sound isolation system, best to pair the F3 with a Bluetooth device. And while I'm on the topic, voice calls to both land-line & mobile phones sound fine (on both ends).And I shouldn't forget to mention the battery life with the stock 2,460 mAh battery -- it is astounding. The Samsung Galaxy S II needed to be charged constantly as soon as any data connectivity was involved (WiFi or G3). As other reviewers have suggested, I fully expect that the F3 could go days between charges if one only used the phone or SMS text messages. But what would be the point of that ?I don't mind that the phone doesn't have a mobile WiFi Hotspot. For as little use as that would get, I don't plan on paying extra for that, anyway.Bottom line: the LG Optimus F3 is a great 4G value if you can take advantage of it.

I replaced a Galaxy S2 with this because I wanted an LTE device. Shipping was fast and I had no problem switching phone on the VM website. The phone is much smaller than my S2 and a perfect size for me. I haven't had memory storage issues as many have commented about. I downloaded about 20 apps to my phone and I still have about 300MB free internal. Of course you'll want to buy an external Micro SD card as well. Battery life is better than expected. With light use I get about 2 whole days before it's time to recharge. The phone is very responsive. No lag as far as I can tell. All in all I am happy with my purchase.A few features that I was pleasantly surprised to see included for such an inexpensive phone were: Smart screen. It can sense if your eyes are viewing the screen and it will not turn the screen off if it does. It also has a voice operated camera. With the camera app open you can take a picture by just saying "Smile."Great phone!