14 DAY TRIAL // Rumors on the upcoming QWERTY slider smarpthone to be released by US-based carrier T-Mobile emerged online a few weeks ago, along with a release date.
Today, the carrier announced the LG Optimus F3Q is now available for pre-order and will go on sale through select dealers and national retailers, as well as online beginning February 5.
The good news is LG Optimus F3Q will be available for $0 down with 24 equal monthly device payments of $131 (€95) with T-Mobile's Simple Choice Plan.
Unfortunately, the slider will ship with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, which is rather old for these times. Still, the smartphone could sell well given its target are heavy texters.
On the inside, the Optimus F3Q comes equipped with a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, an Adreno 305 graphics processing unit and 1GB of RAM.
The phone's main selling point is the full QWERTY keyboard, along with some nice innovative features such as QuickMemo, which lets users write or draw on any screen shot or photo using their finger, and QSlide function that allows users to float and use two apps over the main screen simultaneously.
Furthermore, LG Optimus F3Q sports a 4-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display that supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution and features Corning Gorilla Glass 2 coating for extra protection.
The smartphone comes with only 4GB of storage inside, but users will be able to further expand internal memory up to 32GB via microSD card.
The slider packs a 5-megapixel main camera on the back, which features autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, as well as a secondary VGA camera for video calls.
Other highlights of the device include: HSPA (42.2Mbps) and HSUPA, LTE support, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, GPS with A-GPS support, 3.5mm audio jack and NFC (Near Field Communication) support.
On a side note, along with the Optimus F3Q, T-Mobile confirmed the LG G Flex curved smartphone will be available for purchase starting February 5, the same release date as the former.