If you are an American Idol fan, you might have seen this phone being advertised by Cingular in a show or two.  Cingular couldn't have chosen a better audience.  If you aren't familiar with American Idol, the fans vote on their favourite singers by text messaging their responses with their phone.  If you are the person who does a lot of text messaging, then this phone is for you.  LG's unique phone makes it easier to send larger quantities of text with its built in keyboard.

Although this phone is designed for text messaging, it doesn't mean that this phone is perfectly flawless in that area.  Unfortunately, you won't be able to use the keyboard with all the applications.  The other features of the phone aren't particularly outstanding either, but they still do hold their ground.
 

The LG F9100 is a solid black mobile phone which has a notable rectangular shape.  When looking at the phone, it does have a nice black and silver design.  The screen has a 65k color display which is 128 x 160 pixels. 

When turning the phone on its side, you will find few buttons.  The left side of the phone has your typical up and down buttons used to control the volume of the phone.  The other side of the phone has a jack which is used for a headset.  Once you have a glance at the side, you will immediately notice the bulkiness of the phone.  The phone is rather thick and it does feel slightly heavy as well. 
 

The main attraction and feature of the phone is the keyboard.  The phone is held together in two pieces.  The keyboard is revealed by sliding the bottom-half of the phone out.  The sliding keyboard gives more insight into the reason why the phone is thicker than most phones.  When holding the keyboard in your hands, the thickness of the bottom-half of the phone allows your fingers to grip onto the keyboard.

The keyboard has your typical QWERTY layout, therefore finding letters should not be difficult if you are used to a computer keyboard.  One thing I noticed about the keyboard is that the keys were placed to lean toward the right of the device.  This is because it will give a better sense that you are aligned with the screen which is also slightly to the right.

 

With the keyboard slid out, the screen automatically rotates automatically to allow you to use the phone horizontally.  This is the reason why there are two buttons placed on the right hand side of the screen.  They allow you to select menu items when using the phone horizontally.  You are presented with two options: you can do instant messaging or send a text message.
 

Just like the recently reviewed LG L1400, the overall interface and menu system of the phone is very similar.  The menu on this phone is slightly more animated, but is generally the same.  The menu is presented with a series of icons.  Once you choose an option, most of the menus are presented in a list which is fairly easy to navigate.  If you are used to a phone of a different brand, it shouldn't take long to find the settings that you need to change when using this phone.
 

This phone has a rated 4 minimum hours of talk time and up to 330 hours of standby time.  I was able to get close to it in terms of talk time, but the standby time was signifcantly less.  I had to charge the device after approximately 2 days of use.
 

The basic features of this phone allow you hold up to 255 entries in the address book including multiple phone numbers and text with the entries.  In addition you can speed-dial up to 9 numbers or Voice dial up to 10 numbers.  Other features are a basic organizer which includes a calendar, schedular, notepad, calculator, and organizer.  There is also an alarm clock and voice recorder. 
 

As expected, the advanced features may involve additional costs depending on your usage and service plan.  Advanced features include instant messaging, Internet Express, Multimedia Messaging Server (MMS),  Java enabled games, and ring tones.  The instant messaging supports AOL instant messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ and CW.  As is expected with text messaging, this phone includes the T9 predictive text input to make it easier to type out large quantities of text. 
 

I went to Cingular's website to look up the price of the phone if it was included in a service plan.  This phone retails for $249.99 and is approximately $149.99 if it is bought with a service plan.  When comparing this price tag with comparable phones, it is a bit disappointing that this phone lacks additional features such as a built-in camera, Bluetooth technology, or even an infrared port.

The LG F9100 is a phone which seems to be suited best for those who truly place a priority on instant messaging over other features.  If you text message, I mean a lot, then this phone would be justifiable for your needs.  If you would like a more well-rounded phone packed with more features, then you may want to consider other ones. 

Reviewed by ronald@digitalreviews.net