LG Optimus 3D review

Maps

Being based around Google's Android OS means you get the full suite of excellent Google apps on the LG Optimus 3D, with Gmail and YouTube accompanied by Google Maps – which comes broken down into standalone Maps, Places, Navigation and Latitude tools.

Maps are the standout feature on all Android phones, offering a superb and completely free sat nav service. Once you've downloaded the voice pack from the Android Market it offers spoken directions as well, making it excellent for use as a replacement GPS – as long as you have an in-car charger, because the LG Optimus 3D's battery won't see you through anything longer than a trip to the shops.

The phone supports Google's most up-to-date features, with multi-touch support for zooming, panning the view angle and zooming around street-level 3D images.

The Optimus 3D is quick to get a satellite lock, hooking into the GPS network in a few seconds. Google's software then calculates your route, and away you go. It's an amazing app and one of Android's biggest selling points.

Apps

LG has provided its own take on app discovery in the form of LG World, an odd and unpredictable collection of apps with a few exclusive LG options to jazz up your phone.

It's a strange thing to put on here, as apps downloaded through LG World don't show up on the official Android Market app list, so you end up with two separate app management and updating systems on the go on your Optimus 3D at once if you download apps through LG World.

You also get LG's App Advisor tool, which rather awkwardly duplicates the content from both LG World and the Android Market. It's a curated selection of apps, complete with links to the Android market to download them. Big waste of time, this one.