Oh look! It’s the LG Optimus Pad 3D Android tablet, in our hands and in front of a camera. We just went hands on with the 3D slate at Mobile World Congress 2011 for the first time, and we’ve got our findings for you right here alongside a gallery. Read on for our LG Optimus Pad review: first impressions!
Before we get to the 3D, a word about the size. The LG Optimus Pad Android tablet differs noticeably from the other Android Honeycomb tablets we’ve handled so far, the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, in size: its 1280×720 display measures 8.9-inches across rather than 10.1, so it’s a tad smaller than an iPad and easier to handle.
That said, the LG Optimus Pad is still impressively sturdy. While we still love the cold, metal touch of the iPad over the plastic finishes Android rivals have been going for, the LG Optimus Pad feels solid and sturdy – more so actually than the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which we tested out just last night.
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In a trend we’re seeing emerge here, the LG Optimus Pad runs pure vanilla Android Honeycomb 3.0 sans a OEM software skin overlay, which most manufacturers readily paste over the top of their Android blowers.
That’s no bad thing however, as plain jane Android 3.0 is utterly excellent: we love the layout, in app “fragments”, dedicated software home, back and menu keys, and new notification system. We can really see why Google was keen to avoid manufacturers cranking out Android tablets before it was ready, and we can honestly say it’s looking like it was worth the wait.
From the time we had to play with the LG Optimus Pad, we were impressed by the blazing performance of its dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 system on a chip pumping away inside – it certainly seems as fast as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 101.
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Now for that crucial differentiator – the 3D skills. Click through the gallery and you’ll see the LG Optimus Pad Android tablet is equipped with two cameras on the back. One will quite happily shoot 5MP stills and 1080p HD video, but both in tandem can shoot in stereoscopic mode.
We tried it out, and we hate to say it, but it’s a feature that’s as gimmicky as it sounds. Unlike the LG Optimus 3D phone or the Nintendo 3DS, the Pad’s display doesn’t display 3D images without glasses. So games themselves aren’t 3D, nor the homescreens or wallpapers: just the video you record. And because the screen isn’t 3D, you can only watch back your 3D clips in greed and blue 3D, with those old spectacles you’d find in a packet of Shreddies when you were a kid.
Of course, if you’re one of the few people with a 3D TV, you can always pump it out to that through an HDMI connection, but we’d say this is the most disappointing aspect of the LG Optimus Pad so far.
We’ll have a full, in depth LG Optimus Pad review for you in the coming months, but in the meantime, check out the pictures right here. Enjoy!
