The Optimus 3D will mark a first in the world of mobile phones as it will be the first smartphone to successfully implement 3D technology. While the 3D technology employed on the phone’s screen is not quite as sophisticated as 3D technology found in the world of cinema, it remains something unique to the Optimus 3D for the time being. Only time will tell whether this feature will become more commonplace in the smartphone industry like cameras and social network support, or whether it will be consigned to the dustbin of pointless gimmicks.

LG Optimus 3d

The 4.3″ LCD capacitive screen on the Optimus 3D is not truly 3D in the strictest sense, and does not require the use of 3D glasses. This can only be deemed a good thing as there are undoubtedly not many people who would be willing to walk about with LG glasses glued to their face just to make use of a smartphone. Having said this, perhaps it is not that unlikely an outcome judging by how widely adopted the equally silly looking Bluetooth headsets have become. The screen on the Optimus 3D instead works by coming with a multi-layered set of filters. While the benefit of this design is that it does not require glasses, the drawback is that the 3D effect can only be felt from certain angles.

This is not the only area of the handset that incorporates 3D technology however. The Optimus 3D comes with dual 5 megapixel cameras on its rear that allow you to record 3D videos and capture stereoscopic images. The 3D videos can be recorded in a high 720p quality and adopt a true 3D rendering that can be fully enjoyed on home 3D televisions. To aid this feature the Optimus 3D comes with an HDMI port as well as DLNA enabled Wi-Fi so that you can easily stream content to your home TV. The cameras are also capable of recording 2 dimensional video at a higher quality of 1080p.

While the Optimus 3D can support 3D video playback not all entertainment is yet 3 dimensional, but the Optimus 3D does an excellent job of supporting 2 dimensional video content as well. There is a hefty 40GB of storage space available when using additional microSD cards and the handset can also provide video entertainment from online with a dedicated YouTube app and Adobe Flash support.

Like all the best smartphones the Optimus 3D comes with excellent messaging features as well. The phone supports threaded SMS, email and instant messaging and comes with fantastic integration for social networks like Facebook. While Facebook has yet to go 3D there is nothing stopping you from uploading your stereoscopic images to your profile, even if they may be somewhat confusing to your 2 dimensional friends.

While 3D phones have been on the cards for some time the LG Optimus 3D is the first such device to make it to the stores. While some people are eagerly anticipating this smartphone others are already dismissing it as a pointless gimmick. However, it should be remembered that people also said the same thing when music and cameras were first introduced to mobile phones – and they were wrong.