The LG Optiumus 3D is something of a heavyweight (literally), in the world of Smartphones. It needs to be to house a 1GHz dual-core processor and a 4.3-inch LCD screen (with 480 x 800 resolution).
Out of the box it feels strong.. and solid, you would soon notice if someone tried to steal it out of your pocket. The other side of your body would straighten up.
It’s main party trick as you may have guessed from the name, is its 3D capabilities. You can shoot 3D photos and video, and play 3D games on it without the need for any special glasses.
When I took my first 3D picture on it (the phone actually has 2 front facing 5 megapixels cameras that combine to make the 3D image), I was genuinely excited and impressed. It’s very ‘cool’, and guaranteed to make your mates boring run of the mill non-3D phone feel distinctly ‘last week’.
I was so enthused I was having visions of re-making Avatar (obviously with a slightly lower budget), using the Norfolk Broads as a replacement for the living planet Pandora.
And then the battery went dead.
The problem with such processing intensive phones is they use up a lot of power. During the testing period I made a few calls, a bit of gaming, some browsing, and the odd picture, and the battery was nearly empty by early evening.
With breakthrough devices, especially those on the bleeding edge of technology (like the Optimus 3D), concession have to be made. Heavy phone users would have to carry a charging hub of some kind for piece of mind to ensure they didn’t run into problems.
Especially when you first buy one, as the 3D stuff is such a novelty you’ll be playing with it non-stop.
It comes with half a dozen 3D games installed and they have a Nintendo 3D DS feel to them. You can buy more from between £2-5 per game. Call me old fashioned but I actually really liked the Golf.
The HD video is really fun to watch back (in 3D), and you can upload your videos to YouTube via a special LG YouTube 3D app. Apart from that though you need a 3D compatible device, and these are still relatively few and far between.
It does have a HDMI output though, so if you don’t have a 3D TV yet you can still shoot regular video and stream it straight to your TV (but then so do most other phone in this price range).
Until everyone else in the world catches up the 3D functions are brilliant, but if anything are a bit too ahead of their time.
The Android 2.2 Froyo OS used on the Optimus 3D, while now eclipsed by Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich is easy to use, and LG’s interface is smooth and clear (you can also upgrade to 2.3 if you need to). Meanwhile the Android Marketplace is an ever expanding world of things to make a train journey go faster than ever before.
So is it worth the current £400 price tag?
That’s tricky to answer. The Optimus 3D is a great phone and the 3D results are excellent. Battery life might be an issue though, and the 3D novelty factor may wear off after a while. If you love having the latest things my advice would be to go ‘Gecko’ and cut a deal with your network provider.
But be tough though, and remember lunch is for wimps.