UPDATE: It looks like LG’s definition of Europe is different to ours, as a company spokesperson has announced that the LG Optimus 3D Max won’t be coming to the UK, just the rest of the continent. Repeat: The LG Optimus 3D Max will NOT be coming to the UK.
Just look at those horses! They’re all 3D, like! As you can probably see, LG’s still putting a considerable amount of its mobile eggs in the 3D basket and hoping for the best. The LG Optimus 3D Max, first unveiled at MWC 2012, has just had the green light to deploy in Europe after initially declaring that it wouldn’t reach the UK. Is this the first 3D smartphone you’ll actually want? or is there a major flaw? Read on for all the details…
“We are deliberately pushing the limits of mobile entertainment innovation with the Optimus 3D Max,” says LG mobile’s CEO Dr. Jong-seok Park. “Our second generation glasses-free 3D smartphone is as thin and light as any other high-end smartphone while still delivering a spectacular picture in either 2D or 3D.”
And he’s right, from the looks of things. If you forget about the 3D bells and whistles for a moment, the Optimus 3D Max looks fairly competent. Underneath the 4.3-inch 3D WVGA display sits a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU. There’s two 5-Meg cameras on the back (for recording in 3D, natch), HDMI output, 8GB of storage – with the option to expand via Micro SD card – and NFC tech built in.
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The glasses-less 3D tech now upscales 2D to 3D, which means you can turn a standard movie into a Avatar-esque assault on the senses, or make Google Maps’ 3D buildings really pop. It all sounds good for a phone just 9.6mm thick, but there’s still a major downfall: Android 2.3.
LG’s notorious for letting its handsets fester away with older iterations of Android, but launching a flagship phone with Android 2.3 is pretty unforgivable at this stage, regardless. Worse still, there’s no word on when the LG Optimus 3D Max will receive the jump to Ice Cream Sandwich. That, as any current LG smartphone owner will tell you, is a bit worrying.
LG says that the Optimus 3D Max is kicking off its “global roll-out today starting in Europe,” but is its fate already sealed? Is 3D a bit of a dead dog? And, crucially, is Android 2.3 the straw that’ll break the camel’s back? Let us know your thoughts below.
