LG Prada 3.0 review: Slim fit

Synthetic benchmarks

We said the UI is snappy, but nothing speaks better than a few benchmarks. So, we did what we usually do - put the Prada 3.0 through the BenchmarkPi, Linpack, NenaMark and the two browser test - SunSpider and BrowserMark. The new Prada did well, but nothing impressive scoring average or above average results on the CPU and graphic benchmarks, but a bit low on the browser tests.

A familiar phonebook

The phonebook is the same we met on the Optimus Black, but as the rest of the system apps, it got the new black look too. It displays all the contacts in a list ordered alphabetically and there is an alphabet scroll on the right. There's also a regular search bar on top of the contacts list.

The list can be sorted by first or last name and you can choose how contacts are displayed - First Name, Last Name or the opposite.

Viewing the contact list • quick contacts

Filters keep the phone book from getting overcrowded - you can choose which groups are displayed and which are hidden (e.g. Family, email contacts, Twitter contacts and so on).

Each contact is displayed with a contact photo and name - a tap on the photo brings up the quick contacts keys. You can use those to call the contact, send them a message or email or view their profile.

Viewing a single contact

Viewing a single contact uses a tabbed interface. The first tab is Info - and it shows all available info for the contact with handy one-tap shortcuts for calling, messaging and so on. The next tab is History, which shows the communication history with the contact (calls, SNS updates, everything). The third tab is Photos - it holds the contacts online albums. The final Agenda tab shows all the events concerning this particular contact (meetings, anniversaries, reminders, etc.).

You can "join" contacts so that if you have a contact added to multiple services, all the data from them is pooled in one place. When you tap Join, the phonebook will suggest a contact based on name and it's right most of the time.

You can manually pick another one if it's wrong of course. When you add a new account, the phone will offer to import all, only some of the contacts or only those it already has in the phonebook.

Editing a contact is mostly unchanged. You have all the types listed (numbers, email addresses, etc) and there's a plus sign on the right - clicking it adds another item of that type. Pressing the minus sign under it deletes unneeded info.

Editing a contact

The Call log is clever and groups some of the calls, e.g. 3 missed calls from the same contact on the same day. A number next to the contact name shows the number of events. It's a great space saving feature.

The Call log

Good telephony

LG Prada 3.0 showed good signal reception even in areas of poor coverage. The in-call quality is good too.

The Dialer shows a virtual phone keypad that lets you dial a number. Smart Dial is available and works like a charm - it searches both numbers and names. Only one matching contact is displayed, but if you tap the down arrow button, the rest show up as well.

Smart dialing

During a call you can pop-up the dialer should you need to dial another number. Also you can use the phone while on a call, just hit the menu key and a small green line replaces the notification area and acts like a shortcut back to the call.

Call notification • In-call screen • In-call dialer

We also ran our traditional loudspeaker test on the LG Prada 3.0. Scoring a Good result, you can bet you won't be missing many calls with it.

Messaging

The LG Prada 3.0 can handle all common types of messages with ease - SMS, MMS and email. Email support is excellent with support for Exchange out of the box and social media buffs will be pleased with the level of integration of that content as well.

The messaging app

A press-and-hold on the text box gives you access to functions such as cut, copy and paste. You are free to paste the copied text across applications like email, notes, chats, etc.

Creating a message

The extended Gmail features include batch operations, which allow multiple emails to be archived, labeled or deleted, spam report and of course conversation-style email view mode.

The Gmail app

The generic email client supports multiple accounts. If you do add multiple accounts, then the Combined Inbox feature will come in handy. Too bad there's no conversation-style view like in Gmail.

Standard email app

QWERTY keyboard input

The LG Prada 3.0 offers a standard QWERTY keyboard, which feature both portrait and landscape typing. As the rest of the UI, the keyboard also uses the Prada black and white color scheme.

The QWERTY keybords

The QWERTY keyboard looks a little iPhone-like but it's good nonetheless. Portrait mode is accurate enough (though we would get a typo on occasion) for text input and the landscape mode makes things even better.