LG Optimus 3D MAX Review
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The LG Optimus 3D MAX is the second edition of the world's first 3D phone announced – the Optimus 3D – and it is more of a refresh than anything else. The processor is clocked higher and we have 1GB of RAM now, but most else stays the same, save for one important detail.
This season's 3D phone from LG is much more compact and light than its 2011 predecessor, which was a heavy hitter. LG has also thrown in a bunch of new 3D-related content in it as well, like a 3D Converter and video editor, as well as cubicle icons, but are these enough to lure you into the third dimension? Read on to find out...
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- Travel charger
- microUSB cable
- In-ear stereo headphones
- Sleep Mode, Car Mode and Office Mode NFC tags
- Warranty and information leaflets
Design:
With full 2mm thinner and 20 grams lighter than its predecessor, the Optimus 3D MAX hasn't maxed out on size, bringing its chassis in line with the average non-3D Android crowd out there, but not in line with the ultrathin high-ends of today.
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The LG Optimus 3D MAX brings its chassis in line with the average non-3D Android crowd out there | ||
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You can compare the LG Optimus 3D MAX with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.
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Front sides | Backs | Rear cameras |
The LG Optimus 3D MAX (left) and the LG Optimus 3D (right) | ||
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Right side | Left | Top | Bottom |
The sides of LG Optimus 3D MAX (top) and the LG Optimus 3D (bottom) | |||
It feels pretty solid in the hand, as it's not very thin nor light, and the palm grip is improved by the patterned back, which has a slight hump at the bottom where the speaker grill is. Two 5MP cameras with LED flash in the middle are the crown jewel of the Optimus 3D MAX, as they serve the third dimension to your pictures and video.
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Android buttons | Front-facing camera |
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Left | Right | Top |
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microUSB port | 3D button | Bottom edge |
The sides of the LG Optimus 3D MAX | ||
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Back | Dual cameras | Speaker | Battery compartment |
Display:
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The screen's biggest virtue is the parallax barrier overlay on top of it, of course, which makes you enjoy the 3D content without glasses by sending different sets of pixels to your right or left eye, fooling the brain that it is seeing things in perspective. We wish the screen resolution was higher, though, since together with brightness and contrast it is diminished when the parallax barrier overlay is switched on, making the view appear grainy as in a stereoscopic postcard bought from a flea market.
Drag the picture or use the keyboard arrows to rotate the phone. Double click or press keyboard Space to zoom in/out
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LG Optimus 3D MAX
- Specifications
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- Review 7/10
- User Reviews
13 Comments
1. kshell1 posted on 22 May 2012, 07:15 3 0
Practically same phone as last year for a higher price. If i want this phone ill get a LG thrill and overclock it a little
2. Tjey007 posted on 22 May 2012, 07:18 3 2
it got 7 !!! that means galaxy note and this thing is on the same page !!! you gotta be kidding me...if note got 7 than this thing should get not more than maybe 5.5, maybe 6 max.
3. kshell1 posted on 22 May 2012, 07:28 5 2
4 in my eyes. hell 480*800 is so last year. and a 4430? what was LG thinking
6. Birds posted on 22 May 2012, 08:10 2 0
I'm guessing the scorring system for phonearena is an inconsistent ratio of gadget to phone capability. The Optimus 3D Maxx, I must admit, is a hell of a gadget, but sucks at being phone. I think the score is appropriate but it us maybe a little to generous.
4. mercorp posted on 22 May 2012, 07:51 2 0
This vs 3ds?
Buy this.
But,Lg YU NO PUT QUAD-CORE PROCESSOR INTO IT?
7. OpTiMuS_BlAcK posted on 22 May 2012, 09:49 2 1
Probably because battery would get drained faster.
8. OpTiMuS_BlAcK posted on 22 May 2012, 09:50 2 0
Still a pretty well balanced phone, though resolution is not that great.
9. abhishek48 posted on 22 May 2012, 11:02 1 0
This is acutally the leftr over of last years parrllelx barrier screen, so they are trying to utilize and sell it in new phone.... new A15 phones will have better sterioscopic capability wait for them... this has no improvements over lg thrill, just 200 mhz procesor and 1 gb ram.. which is usefull only for multitasking more apps... no real performancce improvment at all...
10. mcmikechan123 posted on 22 May 2012, 14:11 0 0
what are the 3g bands of this phone? can i use it on tmobile US?
12. linuxluver posted on 13 Jun 2012, 17:06 0 0
The 3G bands are 900/1900/2100MHz. That's a match for T-Mobile as far as I know. T-Mobile use the European frequency set - like Vodafone and others.
13. linuxluver posted on 13 Jun 2012, 17:07 0 0
Unlike anyone else commenting, I have actually bought this phone.
It's a very worthy upgrade. To me, it feels like a Samsung Galaxy S II in terms of performance, weight and size. That is a good thing as the S II is an awesome phone. This phone hits a sweet spot for price and performance....AND it has all the 3D stuff I want. (I've tried the HTC Evo 3D and didn't like its display. The LG display is better for 3D, IMHO).
The dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM give some degree of future-proofing as this is a higher spec than most of the Android phones being sold today. Ok, it isn't the top of the mountain......but they don't have 3D. This one does.
The extra memory means I can happily use ADW Launcher or Launcher Pro instead of the default UI and I see no performance hit. (I always turn animations off on ANY phone).
The Android v2.3.7 on this phone has a default theme that looks a lot like ICS. To be honest, I can't see much benefit in the upgrade to ICS, but I'll take it when it comes....No hurry here.
The battery life is MUCH better. I have been unplugging at 7am and generally around 10:30pm / 11:00pm the battery is still at about 30%. The original LG Optimus 3D would be at 25% around 4pm. So this is a huge imrpovement. Your experience may vary, depending on how much you use the phone in a day. For any phone of this class the display will eat power.
I'm absolutely loving this phone. Yes, I owned the original LG Optimus 3D. Yes, I had the ghost call issue on the Android v2.3 update.....so flashed back to Android v2.2.
The way I see it, LG will have pride and they also are a company that grew quickly and you don't do that if you can't learn from past errors.
The LG 3D Max is proof LG learns from its mistakes. I'm glad I bought it, despite the issues with the previous model. Hopefully the ICS upgrade will sort those out. Whatever.....I love the new LG 3D Max.
If you don't like 3D, then don't buy this phone. But if you do like 3D then you really can't go past this phone. It's the best 3D phone there is. Bar none.
