LG Optimus 3D review

Introduction

The magical allure of 3D is stronger than ever but manufacturers struggle to meet the demand for better and cheaper ways of 3D capture and viewing. And while glasses may feel alright in the cinema, wearing them to watch TV is perhaps too much to ask of the general public. In the 3D dawn, users are already waiting for a revolution. Surely, there are many reasons why the goggle-free 3DTVs can’t enter our homes yet, but we're lucky to have a piece of that magic in our pocket.

And while the other manufacturers are still mulling it over, LG is taking the lead. The first ever mobile phone with a 3D display - the LG Optimus 3D - was announced back in February at the MWC and is now available.

   
LG Optimus 3D official photos

In one swift stroke, LG caught the competition off guard. It seems the Optimus 3D holds all the cards right now. There is barely a phone that can compete succesfully on all levels. Although the screen and pair of cameras are the key features, it has everything to become a bestseller even without the 3D trickery. Starting with the dual-core processor and latest-gen graphics, through the capable camera and connectivity package, and the snappy Android Froyo (hopefully, soon to be replaced with Gingerbread).

No more teasing, here is the full feature list.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and 3G support
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.3" 16M-color capacitive LCD stereoscopic touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
• Android OS v2.2 Froyo with LG 3D UI
• Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, TI OMAP4430 chipset
• 512 MB RAM
• 8GB internal storage
• Dual 5 MP autofocus cameras, LED flash; stereoscopic 3 MP pictures, face detection and geotagging
• 1080p@30fps video recording, stereoscopic 720p@30fps videos
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• microSD slot up to 32GB
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and an auto-brightness sensor
• Front facing camera with video calls
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• microHDMI port
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• DivX/XviD video support
• Office document editor
• Innovative gesture controls
• Adobe Flash 10.3 support
• Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement

Main disadvantages

• No FM radio
• Less than impressive camera performance
• Very limited third-party 3D apps
• Unimpressive with the screen's outdoor performance
• Performance not quite as convincing as other dual-cores
• No dedicated camera key

LG Optimus 3D is far from perfect, but there is no such device out there anyway. The thing of utmost importance here, beside the Optimus 3D being the first of its kind, is that it does an excellent job at it right away. You know most tech pioneering gadgets are nice concepts but rarely turn out polished enough to make a difference. Well, the Optimus 3D is no tech demo. It works as it is supposed to – there are the 3D menus, the 3D gallery, the 3D pictures and videos and finally, real 3D games. And the best part is that they look awesome.

   
LG Optimus 3D live pictures

Surely, there are a few things that might turn out deal breakers for some, but hey, nobody's perfect. If you can forgive the lack of a few features and you're willing to wait until October for the Gingerbread to fix the few performance issues - you should know it will be worth it.

Design and construction

Despite its entirely plastic construction, the LG Optimus 3D is a pretty good-looking handset. The front is a well-done mix of faux brushed metal (the two plastic pieces at the top and bottom), touch-sensitive keys and an ample LCD.

The back has the LG’s trademark styling with a metal stripe on soft rubbery plastic. We liked that back in the Optimus 2X and a few months later we're glad to report we haven't tired of it.

If anything takes away some points from the Optimus 3D design, it'd be the thickness. Now, we do realize it's probably impossible to squeeze all that functionality (including two cameras and a stereoscopic screen) in anything slimmer so we are not blaming LG here. However, the fact remains that, when placed next to one of its slimmer competitors, the Optimus 3D loses some of its appeal. It simply looks and feels chubbier.

    
The LG Optimus 3D sized up against the Galaxy S II and the Optimus 2X

The increased thickness also has a slightly negative effect on handling. It's harder to wrap your hand around the Optimus 3D and have the entire surface of the screen within comfortable reach. It's not too bad though, and the result is most probably worth it.

Now that we’ve taken the 3D screen out of the way, we can continue our tour of the LG Optimus 3D externals. Just above the display, you can notice a video-call camera, right next to the proximity sensor and the earpiece.

 
The earpiece, the video-call camera and the proximity sensor are all on top

The four capacitive keys are on the opposite end of the front. The Menu, Home, Back and Search keys are haptic enabled and brilliantly backlit, and have the usual Android functionality upon a long press.

 
LG went with capacitive keys for the Optimus 3D

The left-hand side of the LG Optimus 3D hosts the HDMI and microUSB ports, neatly covered by plastic caps. The lids might get in the way a bit, but it's a price you have to pay for keeping dust and moist away.

  
The two ports on the left are hidden under small plastic covers

The dedicated 3D key is on the opposite side of the smartphone, exactly on the spot usually reserved for a shutter key. The volume rocker is on that same side too. Both keys are a bit too flat and placed on the sloping rear half of the phone so pressing them is a bit tricky, but you do get used to it eventually.

   
There's a dedicated 3D key on the right • The volume rocker is here too

The 3D key launches the 3D interface that LG cooked up for their latest smartphone. It also makes a point in a way that this particular part of the UI is quite important to LG (you know, like a mini-banner).

The top of the LG Optimus 3D hosts the power/screen lock key, the second microphone (the smartphone records videos with stereo sound) and the 3.5mm audio jack there. The power key has the same problem as the volume rocker and the 3D knob.

  
The power key, the 3.5mm audio jack and a microphone pinhole is what you get on top

The primary microphone is located at the bottom of the device. Naturally, this is the one that is used when you make phone calls.

  
The main microphone is at the bottom

Finally, we turn the LG Optimus 3D around to meet the dual 5 megapixel camera lens combo with a tiny LED flash squeezed in between. The loudspeaker grill is around too.

  
There are two camera lenses on the back this time

The microSD card slot is under the battery cover, but fortunately it is hot-swappable. It handles all kinds of memory cards currently available so you can easily expand the Optimus 3D storage by up to 32 GB.

 
The microSD card slot sits under the back panel

Another thing of notice under the back panel is the 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery. It’s said to last for up to 100 hours of stand-by or up to 4 hours of talk time, not quite impressive numbers. Unfortunately, we can’t comment on the Optimus 3D real-life battery performance.

The general build quality of the Optimus 3D seems pretty great. The smartphone seems sturdy and its exterior durable enough to last for quite some time without losing much of its appeal. A big and heavy phone, not particularly slim either, it does look impressive and handles reasonably well.

  
Handling the Optimus 3D

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