Nuu F4L Review

Nuu bites a little more than he can think of with F4L ($ 79.99), a lazy Android-powered phone. Thankfully F4L supports WhatsApp by sending high-quality messaging, but it can use more thinking in software and oomph on hardware. For $ 10 less, get the Nokia 6300 4G, which has no flip-phone features but is a much better tool.
Basic phone for basic needs

Who is Nuu? Nuu is an American type of Chinese phone maker, also known as Sun Cupid, who has been in the electronics business since 1979. For years it has been kicking the edge of the US phone market for years, shutting down phones and calling Android smartphones. We updated Nuu phones back in 2015. The F4L is certified by Verizon, and is sold by US Mobile.



The F4L is an anonymous black, square phone that measures 4.29 by 2.28 by 0.82 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.5 oz. On the front is a 2MP camera, a 1.77-inch 160-by-120 screen, and two small signs: a green light envelope with text, and a bright red battery when yours is down.

Turn it on to find a 320-by-240, 2.8-inch LCD; selfie camera lens, which is an easy way to handle on a flip phone, or on VGA only; and packets of numbers and well-separated keys, rubber keys. The keys take less pressure than those on Kyocera DuraVX Extreme, Sonim XP3, or Sunbeam F1 (our three favorite phones). The back cover and battery are removed.

Like most flip phones, the F4L is waterproof or ruggedized. (Therefore, upgrade to Kyocera or Sonim.) But also like most flip phones, they are mostly made of plastic with very little plastic with little chance of ***** having a glass of smartphone.
Valid call

I tested F4L with US Mobile, a low cost provider that operates on both Verizon and T-Mobile networks. The firm has a text-to-speech program as low as $ 10 a month; it's a big deal. With US Mobile SIMs on both networks, as well as standard Verizon and T-Mobile SIMs, F4L had no problem finding a good VoLTE connection.

The F4L has a frequency band 2/4/5/12/13/17/66, so it will work well for Verizon but will require the availability of T-Mobile when the carrier is using a home band 71. , check Nokia 6300 4G. Mediocre signal reception is expected for the phone in this price bracket. As is common for low-end voice phones, F4L supports HD audio but not high HD EVS. (Therefore, you need to upgrade to a $ 200 + Kyocera phone.)

Ear and speaker volume, at 90.4dB and 88.4dB respectively, have fallen within the range of recently tested voice calls. Only five ringtones are included - all piercing and loud - but you can use your MP3s or record your own sounds. A standard 3.5mm side jackset invites corded headsets; you can also use Bluetooth.

Battery life is almost average; In our tests, the battery dropped after 6 hours, 17 minutes of talk time or about three days of standby time.

See How We Test Calls

Wi-Fi hotspots are supported, and F4L can act as a Wi-Fi hotspot. Like other phones of its kind, it has a basic LTE module with only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. The Hotspot speed on the T-Mobile network was very similar to the Nokia 6300 4G's, with 19.1Mbps down and 24.6Mbps up. That sounds great, but the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra sitting there and voice calls showed 172Mbps down and 49Mbps up. If you are familiar with a smartphone hotspot, voice calls will feel very strong.
Low quality Chipset

The big problem with F4L is that it slows down. There are often several seconds delays when you try to open or close applications, including browser and dial. That’s because the phone is using a Mediatek chipset powered by the MT6731 chipset, which obviously pulls harder under the Myos 8.1-based Myos platform. Sunbeam's F1 outperforms F4L by increasing the note on the MT6739 chipset, which works better.

WhatsApp is a stopgap solution to the problem with the F4L messaging app. As with most phones running OS 8.1-based OS, the text app handles group messaging; in this case, when you reply to a group, your message is sent once per person, so you appear more often in your message history. (Five people? Five duplicate messages.) WhatsApp fixes that with related group messages, as well as voice and video calling on any network or Wi-Fi.

Its interface is problematic, however. When you start WhatsApp, you get into the mode where you move the mouse pointer with your cursor pad. For example, instead of pressing the Up key to select a menu option at the top of the screen, you should hold it down to move the small mouse cursor to the desired option. Improper use of interface for touch screens.

You can write texts by tapping three times or by guessing text. There is no voice-to-text option like Nokia 6300 4G or Sunbeam F1, and you can't send voice clips as slowly as possible to Punkt MP02's Pigeon (Signal) app.

Media options include onboard FM radio (which requires wired headphones as an antenna) and music and video players that play files stored on 4GB of internal storage or on a MicroSD card.
Side of phone

Unusually for a voice phone, there are two cameras: a large 2MP lens and a VGA selfie lens. Both appear complex and often over-the-top images, but you'll get more detail about the 2MP camera than phones like Nokia 225 4G and Nokia 6300 4G with basic VGA cameras.

F4L uses a company called Adups for its software updates. Adups has a mysterious history, but Nuu gave me a strong conviction to clean up his act. You can read more details on our story on voice data security.
F4L Fails Fail, But Doesn't Appear

It’s hard to be happy with F4L. Well, for the price; make calls well, and WhatsApp adds the missing pieces of messaging that are missing.