MWC 2012: LG overview

LG Optimus 3D Max hands-on

The LG Optimus 3D Max is an incremental improvement over the original, but it still brings quite a bit to the table. It's thinner and lighter for one, with a more powerful chipset (slightly higher CPU clock and double the RAM). LG replaced the HDMI port with a MHL port, which we're not too happy about (MHL needs an adapter).

LG's HD Converter enables stereoscopic 3D experience in standard apps like Google Earth and Maps (so you can see those 3D buildings in actual 3D). There's a 3D Hot Key so you can instantly switch between 2D and 3D modes.

LG Optimus 3D Max hands-on photos

By using its two 5MP cameras, the LG Optimus 3D Max can do some cool stuff, like DSLR shot and the Smart Ruler augmented reality app. The DSLR shot mode uses the cameras to estimate how far each pixel is from the camera and blur out the background to simulate some depth of field (check out the two shots below to see the difference). This is usually only possible with cameras with large sensors (like DSLRs), but LG have found a clever way to do it on a phone.

Smart Ruler measures the distance between any two points in the photo. You can even do this at any point after snapping the photo.

Optimus 3D camera and DSLR shot feature • Smart Ruler augmented reality app

LG Optimus Vu hands-on

The LG Optimus Vu is the company's first foray into the phoneblet genre. The 4:3 aspect ratio of the screen is an odd choice in a phone this size. The 5" screen has 1024x768 resolution.

The Optimus Vu is comparable in size to the Samsung Galaxy Note, but noticeably wider and less comfortable to hold. According to LG, the main benefits that the 4:3 screen brings are more comfortable typing, web browsing and photo browsing.

LG will be shipping the Optimus Vu with a capacitive stylus. It doesn't have the function button that we saw on the Galaxy Note as you need a special digitizer layer for that, but the company's engineers have a found a clever workaround here. There's a dedicated screenshot button, which automatically opens captured screenshots in a drawing app, allowing you to make notes over them.

The Optimus Vu is powered by a dual-core processor running at 1.5GHz, so it's behind the 4X HD performance-wise.

LG Optimus Vu hands-on photos

You do get a whopping 32GB of built-in memory and a card slot so there's plenty of room for multimedia, which LG claim is one of the Vu's main selling points. It has Dolby mobile technology to back up those claims, but we're not so sure - when playing 16:9 videos, you either lose a big part of the screen due to black bars or you lose part of the video due to cropping.