Not keen with announcing just the one smartphone before Mobile World Congress, LG has picked up the pace and announced another – the oddly named LG Optimus 3D Cube.
This handset is the successor to the original Optimus 3D (which coincidentally you can win with us, here!), and seems to be the Optimus 3D Max that we reported on very recently. As we heard before, LG’s main aim when designing a sequel to the Optimus 3D was to add style to the device, as the original was rather chunky compared to some rival smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S II.
The Optimus 3D Cube is a fair bit thinner at 9.6mm thick, and 20g lighter too, at 148g. Unfortunately, the aesthetics area is the one LG has changed most in – technical specifications haven’t changed a great deal from the original, although LG tells us many areas have been improved upon. A 4.3-inch autostereoscopic 3D LCD screen adorns the front of the device, showing 3D content without the need for 3D glasses. On the rear of the phone are two 5-Megapixel autofocus cameras, coupled with an LED flash. The dual cameras will capture still images and HD video in both 2D and 3D, which can then be played back on the device’s 3D screen. There’s also a front-facing VGA quality camera for video calling using apps such as Skype.
A 1.2GHz Dual-Core processor powers the beast, which runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), rather than the latest version which is 4.0. The battery is ever-so-slightly bigger at 1520mAh rather than the original’s 1500mAh cell, which should squeeze out a little more daily usage. Storage space is a reasonable 16GB inside the phone, although LG didn’t confirm at the launch if the phone had a Micro SD card slot. It does however feature NFC, the latest tech buzzword, which allows the phone to quickly and easily interact wirelessly with a host of gadgets such as speakers, other smartphones and even labels.
LG’s Optimus 3D Cube features a first, which keeps them on top in the 3D smartphone game – 3D editing. LG has designed an editing app which allows you to tweak your 3D images and 3D videos on the device itself, which is ideal, as you’d need to use a fairly decent editing suite on your PC or Mac otherwise.
South Korea will be the first destination for LG’s second 3D smartphone, and we’re hoping for a worldwide rollout after that. We’d imagine the Optimus 3D Cube to be LG’s star attraction at next week’s Mobile World Congress, along with the new Optimus Vu ‘phablet’.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.