The Android smartphone market is such that it seems as though almost every week brings with it a new announcement about another Android-based phone offering yet another innovative feature. LG’s Optimus 3D, which runs Android 2.2.2 (Froyo, upgradeable in the as yet unconfirmed future to the more current Android 2.3), is one of those. The smartphone’s main differentiator, on which it is banking its appeal, is the included 3D display, which does not require glasses and which can capture and display 3D images and video to boot.

However, while this may be its main selling point, and obviously a feature intended to work in its favour, it is not the sole cause of the Optimus 3D’s attraction. We have become accustomed to LG producing phones that sit comfortably in hand, with a reassuringly solid build design. The Optimus 3D is no exception to this trend, and while not the thinnest phone on the market, it was not unpleasantly bulky either. At 128.8 x 68 x 11.9 mm and weighing 168 g, the Optimus 3D is substantial enough to make its presence felt in one’s hand. However, we never minded that, as the casing is ergonomically curved such that it always felt exceedingly comfortable to hold.

Specs

The Optimus 3D sports a bright and sharp 4.3” 3D LCD capacitive touchscreen, with a resolution of 480 x 800, that while not quite as bright as the Optimus Black, was close enough to be imminently viewable outdoors as well as inside. It further boasts a dual-core 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and 512 MB memory, which accounted for a faultless responsiveness when navigating the interface as well as engaging content based apps such as Pulse, 360News, Facebook and Twitter. Internal storage of 8 GB is also included, but this can be expanded by 32 GB with an external microSD card.

Two five megapixel cameras (with resolutions of 2560 x 1920 pixels), autofocus, and a LED flash are also onboard, as is video capture at 1080p at 24 fps when photographing in 2D, or 720 at 30 fps when photographing in 3D. Additionally, the standard four key navigation buttons beneath the screen are capacitive and backlit, which quickly becomes useful when trying to navigate an Android phone in darkness.  

The phone sports dual five megapixel cameras on its back.

On to the 3D

The phone’s 3D predilection becomes apparent before one even switches it on, with the presence of not one but two five megapixel cameras less than a few millimeters apart on the back of the phone, next to the tellingly ‘3D stereoscopic’ logo. Upon turning on the phone and engaging its 3D functionality, it was clearly the phone’s predominant ‘wow factor,’ which impressed us and those we showed it to, and was only enhanced by the 4.3” screen. It certainly made us eager to play around with the phone and see what it could offer, which turned out to be quite a lot.

The camera offers a 2D and 3D mode, and when switched to 3D, provides real time 3D preview on the phone’s 3D screen of the subject. Additionally, images taken in 3D can be viewed stereoscopically, much like the display found on the Nintendo 3DS, after they have been taken, and 3D images are clearly identified in the phone’s image gallery. The quality of both 2D and 3D images were surprisingly good, even when taken indoors in artificial lighting.  

However, the phone’s 3D functionality is not limited to taking or viewing images; the Optimus 3D also offers the facility to browse certain features in a dedicated three dimensional interface, such as the camera, 3D games and apps, YouTube and the gallery. Additionally, some 3D games are available for purchase  through LG’s online games store, including Avatar 3D, Real Football 2011 3D, Assassin’s Creed 3D and Dungeon Hunter 2 3D amongst others. The phone does come with some games preloaded, including Asphalt 6, Gulliver’s Travels, Let’s Golf 2 and Nova.

The 3D in the games listed above certainly work exceedingly well. Oddly enough, we found using the 3D in games to be far easier on the eyes than viewing a 3D image straight on, which is a phenomenon we’ve experienced when playing console games on 3D TVs as well. Even so, the option is there to switch to a traditional 2D view at any point via a dedicated 3D button on the lower right of the phone. Playing Nova - in both 3D and 2D - proved to be enjoyable, and was rendered beautifully on the Optimus 3D’s display.