LG F2100

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With the industry gearing up for the coming onslew of music-phones, sometimes what users just want is a phone with a respectable sound quality. The F2100 does just that with built-in dual 3D stereo speakers powered by a 3D Engine, and it's impressive for enhancing gaming experience, too.

Design
We are not pointing fingers, but the F2100 looks strikingly similar to the Samsung SGH-E700, albeit larger in size. At 90 x 47 x 23mm, weighing 89g, the mobile may be a tad bulky but still provides a sturdy grip in the hands. Silver is the primary finish here with a dark blue panel holding a VGA camera and LED flash. As it is, VGA cameras sitting on clamshells tend to be a disadvantage as the cover is angled when opened. Thus, users will have to adjust their viewfinder especially during timer shots.

Two curved slits can also be found on the flip cover for its 3D stereo sound, providing rather loud tones. Dedicated volume buttons are located on the left side while the IrDA, camera button and headset connector are on the right. When using the headset, one must use caution when pulling the rubberized stopper as it is dangerously stretched to the side to accommodate the connector.

Unlike some phones, we're pleased that we didn't have to fumble with any plastic covers to get to the battery as it serves as a back cover to the handset. The wide terrace-like keys also offer easy messaging, although we did find the Favorites button too close to the Clear button. On that note, its four-icon directional pad serves as shortcuts to submenus, but is not programmable.

The external LCD looks impressive at 96 x 96 pixels with 65K colors, and provides useful information like time, reception and battery life. Upon opening, the large internal TFT LCD display with 262K colors and 240 x 320-pixel resolution shines brightly with pictures and menus offered in sharp contrast and detail, although the onscreen pixelated words tend to mar the gorgeous wallpapers.

Features
On our initial trial of the phone, the key numbers "2", "5" and "8" produced distinct squiggly noises on its default keytone. Much as we were sensitive to the puppy that greeted us on the startup, we weren't able to change the greeting image.

The nine icons on the menu were sharp and clear, and we didn't have any problems with the speed of the interface. In terms of usability, the makers did brilliantly for ease of adding favorite menus to the Favorites folder (accessed by pressing the Favorites icon), without having to go through layers of screens to customize. The vibration on silent mode at times could hardly be felt, though the ringing was audible even in a noisy environment.

Messaging was interesting as we were able to add colors to the background as well as change the alignment of the text, while there's still the usual features like dictionary, T9 and font included. As for its external display, this tended to black out due to battery-saving purposes and we couldn't set it to stay on all the time. Consequently, we kept opening the phone to see if we had any missed calls.

On its camera menu, you can find three functions: Take picture; Take in modes; and Take in continuous. The significant differences between the first two are resolution adjustment and picture frames, respectively. What's puzzling is that the rest of the settings in either mode are the same. We felt the two functions could be housed under one approach. Under continuous menu, users can take up to nine multiple shots under 2 seconds on each take, though the period given was hardly enough to capture moving objects. Video recording is also not included. Timer shots can be adjusted to 3 or 5 seconds interval, but it wasn't sufficient for us to move into position quickly.

Its external camera button allows easy access to taking pictures, slide shows and activation of the torch. What annoyed was the number of occasions when it failed to activate promptly, and we had to hit the keys several times before the menu was displayed. Its contact list still offers the ability to put an icon on each entry, and there's quite a range to choose from.

Reception, Battery Life And SAR
Using a 830mAh battery, the F2100 lasted close to one-and-a-half days on normal usage. We had no reception problems, either.

The phone meets the international requirements concerning exposure to radio waves with the highest Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value of 0.7W/kg.

Conclusion
With no Bluetooth, no expansion slot, no MP3 playback, this LG mobile may not appeal to the tech-savvy but nevertheless is appropriate for those looking for a simple functional phone.