Home

Video: Rogers LG Optimus 3D Review

08.08.11

The Optimus 3D is what polite people would call rotund, though we like to refer to it as having a substantial heart. The 4.3” display appears gargantuan, owed to the fact that LG smartly eliminated much of the vertical bezel from the proceedings, pushing the LCD all the way to the horizontal edge. There is a VGA front facing camera above the 800×480 pixel display, and a jagged-edge speaker grill affixed below a thin piece of glossy plastic appearing to bookend the screen. There are four capacitive touch buttons below the display — menu, home, back, search — the way we like to see them, and unlike the Optimus 2X, no space was wasted in the making of this phone.

Around the left side we have microUSB and miniHDMI ports, covered by a hinge door that we could have done without. Having the HDMI is a bonus, as the O3D is capable of mirroring its screen up to 1080p@60hz. The right side of the device finds the volume rocker near the top, a beautifully delineated piece of plastic that gives back the right amount of feedback; Samsung could learn a thing or two from LG in this regard. Below, near where a dedicated camera button would be, is what we’ve affectionately started referring to as the Portal. In fact, it’s a 3D toggle button that when pressed will take you into LG’s 3D portal which, though it sounds superfluous, is necessary since it’s the only place you’ll experience 3D throughout the UI. More on that later. The top of the device has a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a nice, clicky power button. The back is where it gets interesting, however: two 5MP cameras jut out slightly on a raised plane, marshaled by a metal stripe. The textured backing is fundamentally about adding friction and because it’s a high-quality matte plastic there is no fear of the device dropping which, considering its heft, is an achievement. At 168 grams, the O3D is heavy. It doesn’t feel onerous to hold, however, but the weight will turn off some. A hair under twelve millimetres at its thickest point, the phone is actually quite skinny, but the sheer overall size of it, combined with the density, requires big hands and plenty of pocket space. And a note on the colour: it’s all black, all the time. But for the silver racing stripe, the O3D has one of the most blend-in phone designs we’ve seen: austere, like a blank slate. What’s important is what’s on the screen, and LG is wise to recognize it.

Source: MobileSyrup.com