US Cellular is offering customers another Android phone in time for the holidays, the LG Optimus U. This Android 2.2 Froyo-toting phone will be free after a $80 rebate. Sounds good to us.
The Optimus U is basically an LG Optimus S (which is a Sprint phone – hence the “S” in the model name), but on US Cellular (hence the Optimus “U” model name).The letter at the end of the name signifies the carrier, (T-Mobile’s is the Optimus T, Sprint’s is Optimus S, and so on).
Expect the phone to ship with a 3.2 inch display, 3.2 megapixel camera, 2GB pre-installed Micro SD card (expandable to 32GB), WiFi, and Swype onscreen keyboard. Running on a 600MHz CPU, the Optimus U isn’t necessarily a speed demon, but it should get you where you need to go relatively fast. And Since it’s running on Android 2.2 Froyo, your experience will be exceptionally snappy thanks to that JIT compiler.
While mail-in rebates may be annoying, plunking down $80 bucks that you’ll eventually get back doesn’t sound too bad. LG has been selling this Android handset as an entry-level smartphone, and that’s the perfect way to describe it. The specs on the Optimus U were somewhat high-end for 2009, but now have fallen into the mid-range realm. Nonetheless, the handset is a solid performer for what you get, and US Cellular should be happy to carry this device.
So whether you’re looking for your first smartphone, or just looking in a certain price range, if you’re an US Cellular customer, this handset is one of the best deals you can get for the price (of free). If you’re looking for something with a slide out QWERTY keyboard, you can grab the LG Apex (Ally) for $5, but if you’re looking for something powerful from US Cellular, we suggest you look into the The Samsung Mesmerize, or HTC Desire.
Anyone grabbing this thing anytime soon?
[Via: USCellular]