Our LG Optimus 3D Review

LG Optimus 3D - The Optimal Option

How does a glasses-free 3D phone sound to you? The LG Optimus 3D smartphone jumps on the hot trend bandwagon in the hopes of attracting consumers who insist on the latest technology. With the Optimus 3D, not only can you take pictures with a 3D camera and record videos in 3D, but you can also watch them on your phone display in 3D. This phone has cutting edge technology in every respect but watch out for the price. This type of technology comes with a big price tag!

Hardware and Lots of It

3D technology requires lots of hardware and it’s packed into the LG Optimus 3D cell phone. LG has named the technology tri-dual technology because there are three sets of hardware – dual cameras (MP), dual core processors and dual channel memory. The amount of hardware accounts for the weight of the phone which is a whopping 168 grams compared to many other phones considered heavy at 130 grams.

The LG Optimus 3D camera does everything you would expect a top quality smartphone to do including the capability of web browsing, 2D video recording in HD 1080p image format and 3D recording at 720p resolution, and much more.

Big Screen Smartphone

Like everything else about this phone, the screen is large and measures 4.3 inches. 3D display resolution is 480 x 800. There’s a toggle button on the outside of the camera that lets you switch between 2D and 3D. The most recent upgrades to the phone made it possible to edit both 2D and 3D videos while using preview mode.

The screen features include wide viewing angles and a crisp text that’s easy to read on the large display. The question people have is whether there is a genuine 3D effect. You do get that and the quality is great.

Multimedia

It wasn’t there when the first phones came out, but the newest version of the LG Optimus 3D smartphone has the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update. This improves just about everything in the camera from web browsing to multimedia capabilities. Since there’s a front facing camera, you can video call with ease. The phone includes messaging, web browsing, 2D to 3D video media conversion, ability to integrate Facebook and Twitter (and others) and a lot more.

Battery Life

The 1540mAh battery is actually a slightly bigger than the ones found in other large screen phones. If you use the 3D camera much or play the 3D games, the battery won’t last very long though. Perhaps future models will include dual batteries too but right now you get one!

What We Liked

The phone is well constructed and durable. The buttons are easy to access which is always appreciated. There are plenty of options when it comes to customizing the phone so you can set it up to suit your personal needs without difficulty. For example, you can resize the widgets and customize the Social+ aggregator. The 3D technology is fun to use too.

What We Disliked

Thanks to the need for additional hardware to make 3D possible, the camera is bulky and feels quite heavy in the hand. Also, the 3D content needs to be expanded because the phone comes with only 3 preloaded 3D games, and 3D content elsewhere for smartphones is scarce right now. And the image quality can be improved a bit when in 3D mode. The battery life needs improving too since this is a resource hog phone.

Our Final Verdict

This is a solid phone that brings you state-of-the-art 3D technology. It has a nice streamlined appearance despite its bulk and a wonderfully large screen. The LG Optimus 3D also performs quite well in all regards except maybe battery life. It’s a speedy phone. Those consumers who enjoy being 3D pioneers will like this phone and especially now that it has Gingerbread.

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	LG Optimus 3D
General
Form Factor	Candybar
Dimensions	128 x 68 x 11.9 (mm)
Talk Time	452 mins
Standby Time	390 hours
Weight	168 g
Quad Band	Yes
Photo and Video
Integrated Camera	Yes
Camera	5.00 megapixels
Camera Flash	Yes
Video Player	Yes
Phone
Polyphonic Ringtones	Yes
Smart Phone	Yes
Internal Memory	8GB
Memory Card Type	Micro SD (up to 32GB)
Messaging
Instant Messaging (IM)	Yes
EMS	Yes
MMS	Yes
Photo Messaging	Yes
Video Messaging	Yes
Screen
Colour Screen	Yes
Touch Screen	Yes
Screen Resolution	480 x 800 pixels
Screen Colour Depth	16M colours
Connectivity
3G	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
Email	Yes
Web Browser	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes
Music and Radio
MP3 Player	Yes
MP3 Ringtones	Yes
Additional Content
Downloadable Content	Yes
Downloadable Games	Yes
Downloadable Ringtones	Yes

LG Optimus 3D Full Specification

General

Photo and Video

Phone

Messaging

Screen

Connectivity

Music and Radio

Additional Content