When Apple launched the iPhone way back in 2007, there were lots of people, myself included, who weren’t too sure about the whole full touch screen smartphone phone factor. When the first Android smartphone hit the market a year later, the T-Mobile G1, it had a full touch screen as well, but it also had a slide out QWERTY keyboard. Fast forward a few years and predictive text entry systems have become so good that no one in their right mind would buy a device with a hardware keyboard, right?
Wrong. According to @evleaks, T-Mobile USA will soon launch an LG smartphone called the Optimus F3Q. Like the first Android smartphone from HTC, this LG device has a full touch screen front, but underneath it sits a physical keyboard for those who absolutely refuse to send a text message without clicking on some plastic keys. What else is known about the F3Q? Sadly, not much. There’s no word on system specs, nor which version of Android is on-board. But I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is on this thing. This thing looks like it’s going to be aimed at a budget price point, so it was likely put together using spare parts that just so happened to be laying around LG’s factory floor. Should you buy the F3Q? With no specs and no price it’s hard to come to a clear conclusion, obviously, but I have a hunch that Motorola’s sub-$200 miracle phone, the Moto G, will be a better buy.
