MWC 2011 Live: LG Optimus 3D Hands-on Preview

Tweet

Following the LG Optimus Pad I went ahead to check out the LG Optimus 3D, the first 3D smartphone in the world, and a powerful on. Oh, wait a second, it’s a super smartphone since that’s how LG’s staff was trained to refer to during their presentation. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The super 3D smartphone went down in flames (okay, without the flames) a bunch of times while I was looking at it and eventually I had to swap units in order to check out all the features. In fact check out the image below that shows the buttons lit up while the screen isn’t really responding to commands. But I’ll cut LG some slack just as I did with everyone else these days. These are prototype devices on display for now and the final versions will be a lot different.

We’re looking at a large Android phone here, a Galaxy S 2 rival when it comes to sheer size, but I bet you’ll appreciate that extra screen real estate once you get it. What’s annoying from the start is that we’re looking at an Android 2.2 Froyo device. No Gingerbread here, at least not now, but we can only expect a proper upgrade later down the road.

Speaking about the road, there are no prices and release dates just yet, so hang on to your hat while we scoop them out.

The super smartphone looks great and has some tremendous muscle under the hood. After all this is the world’s first handset that offers a “tri-dual architecture: dual-core processor, dual-cannel and dual memory”. Then it’s also the first phone in the world to offer a full 3D experience: 3D “recording-viewing-sharing.” We have seen that 3D experience: 3G gaming, 3D picture-taking and video-recording and 3D video playback. It’s impressive, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like the right thing to do with a phone at least not right away.

The phone can be used in combination with 3D TVs too and it can act as a controller for various 3D games in the future, which kinda shows us where we’re headed with these super-smartphones.

Overall we can only congratulate LG for trying to innovate in this tough business and we’re glad to see that unlike in 2010 this year they have a slew of LG competitive devices. Will the 3D factor weigh in when it comes to buying the Optimus 3D instead of the iPhone 5? I personally am not interested in 3D on the go, at least not right now. But that doesn’t mean other people won’t appreciate LG’s interest in pushing as much 3D content as possible to its devices, including its super smartphones.

On the other hand I certainly understand where LG is coming from. Convincing the public to get a 3D handset will eventually lead to convincing it to buy a 3D HDTV. Not a bad marketing idea right there.