LG Optimus 3D

Announced at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in Barcelona in February, the LG Optimus 3D builds on the Optimus branding which includes smartphones like the Optimus 2X and the Optimus Black. The Optimus 3D, as its name implies, is an autostereoscopic device that lets you view 3D images on your screen without special glasses.

Like the HTC Evo 3D, you can also capture pictures and videos in 3D mode, but the Optimus 3D offers a bit more with the software-based 3D conversion ability that adds depth to 2D images and videos. It is available now in Asia for S$938 (US$719).

Design

The Optimus 3D feels solid and reassuring in our hands--the matte plastic back helps mask ugly fingerprints. The brushed metal accents on the sides and around the camera impart a premium feel to the device.

Now, you will find the handset a bit chunky, but that's unavoidable as it features two different glass panels to deliver stereoscopic images without the need for 3D glasses. The 4.3-inch display sports a WVGA resolution (800 x 480 pixels), which is quite low when compared with the HTC Evo 3D's qHD display.

There are four touch-sensitive buttons below the screen that light up when you touch them, and are visible even when the phone is not in use.

On the right side of the handset you'll find a dedicated "3D" button, and pressing it loads up an interactive 3D menu where you can view the stereoscopic features of the phone. Located further up are the volume control buttons.

On the left side are where you'll find the micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports, and the 3.5mm audio jack and power buttons are found on the top of the smartphone.

Features

As a dedicated 3D smartphone, the Optimus 3D comes running Android 2.2 (Froyo), though an Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) update is coming. Our review unit was running the latest build of the OS, which includes a 2D to 3D game converter app called the "3D Game Converter".

There's a list of supported games--including Angry Birds--but you can add non-supported games to the list. We tried out both the supported Angry Birds and the unsupported Fruit Ninja Free. Angry Birds doesn't really seem to translate well into 3D, the depth seems a little strange, but the overall experience does give a new perspective of the game. As for Fruit Ninja, it was mostly a mediocre affair. You're probably better off playing it normally without the pseudo 3D effect.

The Optimus 3D comes with ten games from Gameloft that have native 3D support built-in. Three games (Asphalt 6, Let's Golf 2 and Nova) are preloaded while the rest can be downloaded from a special Web site.

The LG S-Class UI does a great job of making everything accessible, though we needed to turn on the spell-check for the keyboard manually. LG's keyboard works fine, but we do miss the Gingerbread keyboard found on more updated devices.

The Optimus 3D also lets you convert 2D images and videos to 3D via a built-in software button, and our tests show that it works great with some videos, but photos are generally a hit-or-miss.

Connectivity-wise, the handset comes with the standard range of options found on most high-end handsets. Wi-Fi, A-GPS, HSDPA, DLNA and HDMI are supported. The smartphone is also capable of outputting its visuals to a 3D-capable TV, which can be quite useful when you consider it has two dual 5-megapixel cameras for capturing 3D content.

However, we note that the resolution is capped at 3-megapixels when the handset is in 3D mode, which is a shortcoming that's also present on the Evo 3D (though that phone has a 2-megapixel cap instead). The Optimus 3D's camera also has an LED flash, and captures HD videos at full-HD 1080p, and 3D videos at 720p. The electronic shutter was reasonably fast, but images shot seem to be a little noisy, and details are lost when viewing at 100 percent crop. We also note that taking closeup macro shots with the phone is almost impossible, as the dual cameras need a minimum distance from an object to work with. Too close, and there's just no 3D effect.

Bear in mind that this applies to almost all 3D cameras; we tested the Nintendo 3DS and encountered the same issue. It's not a fault of the phone, rather, it's a physical limitation that you'll likely encounter even on other 3D handsets, so do take note.

Performance

The handset runs on a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and uses the Texas Instruments OMAP4430 chipset. The highlight of the phone's hardware is that it features "dual-channel and dual-memory architecture", allowing things to work twice as fast (according to LG) without bottlenecks.

While it sounds good in theory, we experienced slowdowns and stutters on the handset, which could be due to the phone running Froyo. While the handset runs perfectly most of the time, it's the occasions when it lags that mars the user experience.

We didn't have any issues with the call reception and quality, and the speaker is loud enough to be heard even if the smartphone is in your pocket.

As for the battery performance, the phone lasted about a day at best. This was tested under our normal test settings where we have Twitter and two email accounts on push and the Facebook app on a two-hour sync. It's probably a good idea for heavy users to carry a spare battery or keep it charged while you're at work.

Conclusion

Both the Optimus 3D and HTC Evo 3D offer unique selling points that make them both attractive to consumers. HTC's offering has better specifications, while the Optimus 3D sports better software tweaks. At the end of the day, it boils down to which appeals to you--a better hardware experience or software enhancements that let you do more. We'd choose the Optimus 3D and hope that the promised Gingerbread update fixes the performance issues (which could be due to Froyo).