Basic Features

Released for Cingular, the LG F7200 has dual-band GSM (850 / 1900 MHz) network support. Rating the 960 Li-Ion battery at 3.0 hours and 8.3 days (200 hours) of talk and standby times, actual times will be slightly less. Handset manufacturers and carriers often list talk-time and standby-time ratings with disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times.

Being built for Push-to-Talk use, the F7200 features a dedicated PTT Key on the left to activate off-network walkie-talkie calling.

Much like instant messaging, except with voice, users will need to first add their buddies for up to 99 individual and 30 group contacts. Once added, customers can see who's available before calling by friendly icons indicating status (Available, Silent / Vibrate, Do Not Disturb, and Unavailable). With just the press of a button, the F7200 can have unlimited access to friends, family, and co-workers. Users can even convert PTT calls to cellular calls should they choose to.

Not limited to one-on-one, a major benefit of PTT (aside from unlimited usage) is group calling, allowing up to 20 users connect at once. No longer having to decide who to call first, PTT Group calling lets customers talk to everyone at once, instantly.

Consumers should note that while access is unlimited (meaning no incremental charges for minutes used since it doesn't use voice plan minutes), PTT requires an additional monthly service charge of $9.99 per line with individual plans or $19.99 for all lines on a family talk plan.

Screen

Having enough space for 8 lines of text, the F7200's 128 x 160 px LCD displays phone status icons, menu items, web information, pictures and more in full color.

Displaying 65K-colors, the F7200's screen is vivid albeit average. Multimedia-intense devices regularly run up to 262K-colors, but since the F7200 is used for communication, for most consumers 65K- and 262K-colors is a barely noticeable difference. Built on TFT (Thin Film Transistor) technology, the F7200's screen is brighter and move responsive than standard STN (Super Twisted Nematic) screens.

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