LG Optimus T hands-on (update: no WiFi calls)

The low-end LG Optimus S that wowed us earlier the other day has a magenta twin -- the LG Optimus T, headed to T-Mobile with very similar hardware. Considering that both carriers' phones will come in similar shades of purple and black, you could easily be excused for confusing the two -- aside from a prominent logo and the physical button arrangement, they've got the exact same build. That's not a bad thing, mind you, as it means the Optimus T is similarly solid as a rock, but there are a few differences here and there, like the lack of dedicated camera and voice buttons this time round. Whether it's extra bloat (of which there's some) or a slower chip, the T's also not as wonderfully lag-free as the S, though both phones would handily beat most of the other low-end Androids we've seen.

The 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen's just as responsive, though the physical buttons here aren't quite as nice -- we prefer Sprint's distinct, textured keys to the slick plastic rocker for Home and Back and the Menu and Search buttons here. We weren't able to download Quadrant on the T for benchmarking like we did for its sister phone nor verify the same exact specs inside, but paging through menus we spotted mobile hotspot functionality and WiFi calling, just as originally foretold, not to mention support for old-school FM radio. Now we just wait to see if T-Mobile follows Sprint's lead and offers the phone at a similarly fantastic price.

Update: It's a bit of a shame, but LG just informed us the Optimus T won't have WiFi calling after all -- it was originally considered for the device, but the software we saw was apparently a old, out-of-date build. T-Mobile reps wouldn't confirm or deny that, but told us that the option is something they'd like to bring to more devices later on, though they said it might require Android 2.1 or higher to function properly.

LG Optimus T, hands-on