August 22nd, 2011 
Dan 
With two fully fledged 3D smartphones now on virtual shelves, the time has come for a 3D shoot out.
Both LG and HTC have entered the 3D arena and are vying for your attention (not to mention hard earned cash) so which should you plum for? Let the Mobiles Blog help with that difficult decision in our 3D face off…
Design, Size and Weight
One thing is clear with both of these smartphone powerhouses; adding that 3rd dimension certainly bulks up the size and weight. Both these 3D Android’s tip the scale at over 160g, 168g for the Optimus 3D vs. 170g for the Evo 3D (for reference, Apple’s iPhone for is a relative super model at 137g), and it’s a close call in the dimensions stakes as well with the Optimus 3D marginally thinner (11.9mm vs. 12.1mm for the Evo) but the Evo slightly shorter making this a very tough round to call. The physical design of both devices is very similar also with both opting for touch sensitive capacitive buttons and a solid, sturdy construction. The Evo 3D edges this round thanks to its stylish textured battery case, metallic camera shutter and 3D/2D slider, the touch of colour surrounding the dual lenses and a slightly shorter profile making it ever so slightly more pocket able. Winner: Evo 3D (just)
Software
No contest. The Evo 3D runs the latest version of Android, v2.3 (or Gingerbread), whilst the Optimus 3D is still on v2.2 (Froyo, if you’re interested). Whilst certainly not a deal breaker, Gingerbread does offer several tweaks that improve the user experience including support for NFC, Video calling (both these phones have a front-facing camera) and improved copy and past functionality. The Optimus 3D will eventually get the Gingerbread update (LG say it should land very soon) but right now the experience on the Evo just edges the Optimus. Winner: Evo 3D
Performance
Both these phones include a dual-core processor although the Evo 3D clocks in a 1.2GHz (vs. The Optimus’ 1GHz) and offers more RAM (1GB vs. 512MB). To be perfectly honest, in day to day use you won’t notice the difference from the extra 0.2GHz of processing power – we certainly didn’t – so it’s very hard to call this one. What we did find however is that the one element we could separate these two on was battery life. From our real world testing (answering a few calls, browsing the we web, using the 3D cameras and playing a few rounds of Angry Birds), we did find that the Optimus 3D kept on trucking some time after the Evo had given up and gone off in search of a charger. Whether it’s HTC’s Sense UI overlay draining the battery, some clever software LG has installed or just some sort of witch craft, we found we had much more confidence in the Optimus 3D lasting a full day. Either way, both of these will need daily charging so again there’s not much between the two. Winner: Optimus 3D
Camera
Both of these multimedia-monsters will capture 2D and 3D photos from the dual-5Megapixel lenses and HD video, again in 2D and 3D, though the Evo tops out at 720p resolution where as the Optimus 3D captures at full 1080p (though only in 2D). The Optimus 3D also has an HDMI port meaning you can play your videos back on the big screen and, for those lucky enough to have one, in glorious 3D. The Evo will also perform TV-out but without a dedicated HDMI port you’ll notice a dip in quality and also won’t be able to charge whilst enjoying video playback. The Evo 3D does out perform the Optimus in low light photography thanks to a dual LED flash (the Optimus makes do with a single LED) but 3D images, what should be both of these phones party pieces, do max out at 2 Megapixels for the Evo giving the Optimus a clear win here. Winner: Optimus 3D
Screen
A tough one to call. Both pack a glasses-free 3D LCD display, both measure 4.3” and both are capacitive units with equal responsiveness and performance. The Evo 3D has an edge over the Optimus 3D when it comes to pixel count, boasting 540×960 vs’s the Optimus 3D’s 480×800 pixels, resulting in crisper images and sharper text. What turns the tide in this contest is the 3D functionality; viewing angles on the Optimus 3D feel much wider meaning that you don’t have to keep the phone fixed in exactly the same position to enjoy the 3D experience. Perhaps this is a personal preference but on the Evo 3D it felt more difficult to “get” the 3D and keep it in your sights. Neither create the dreaded (and exaggerated in our opinion) eye strain that mainstream media likes to get itself worked up about though it’s always recommended to take breaks when viewing any sort of media content on a screen this size. Winner: Optimus 3D
Overall If you want a 3D smartphone with the latest Android software, powerful future proof hardware and HTC’s excellent Sense UI, go for the Evo 3D, it won’t disappoint you. However, if you don’t mind waiting for the Gingerbread update (it’s coming pretty soon and plus, Froyo is still a great smartphone experience), the Optimus 3D’s superior camera and video capture (both 3D and 2D), battery life and 3D display just swings this contest in LG’s favour. Throw in the fact that the Optimus 3D can be picked up for as little as £25 per month on contract vs. The Evo 3D which starts at £35 per month, the LG is also financially the smarter choice with a saving of £240 over the course of your contract. Whichever you choose, we’re sure you’ll be happy enjoying that extra dimension, be it in photos, videos, online content or the slew of apps that are winging their way to the Android market. LG may have just piped HTC to the post in this battle, but the real winner here is the 3D tech itself.
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I have a few problems here;
A – MHL link does enable the phone to charge while outputting video – I don’t know if a HDMI-MHL cable does charge the phone though.
B – Does the MHL link enable outputting 3D video to be viewed in 3D on a 3DTV? If not, its pretty pointless and probably a deal breaker – If yes then you’d probably not notice the drop to 720p and you don’t have another port cluttering up your phone.
C – Your software section is pants, The difference between froyo and gingerbread is very slight – As you said you didn’t notice any difference in performance.
The more important things would be stuff like how HTC Sense compares to LG’s software and how the 3D interfaces compare (which you didn’t even mention).
D – the optimus 3D’s 3D images max out at 3Mp and the reason for the 2MP EVO image is, the highest resolution you’re likely to be able to view a 3D image is on a 1080p screen (around 2mp) – you can’t exactly zoom and pan a 3D image so there’s no point upping the resolution.