The Android A103 is the US adaptation of the LG Optimus 3D, a phone that was able-bodied acclimatized in Europe. It has top end specs that awning a bifold amount 1GHz CPU, a 4.3" 3D display, HD 2D and 3D video recording, a beginning camera for video babble and 4G HSPA+ 14.4Mbps. That's a lot of phone for $99 with contract. And we beggarly that in the accurate faculty too: the Android A103 is a almost ample smartphone that's as big as the 4.5" Samsung Infuse 4G, and is a bit beyond than the 4.3" HTC HD7S Windows Phone.
The Android A103 runs Android OS 2.2 Froyo, and it's upgradable to 2.3 Gingerbread, admitting we don't accept an advancement timetable. In fact, we're not absolutely abiding if AT&T will absolution the somewhat delayed Android A103, but we're bold it will be accessible in aboriginal September. LG uses their accepted Android UI overlay, and it makes for a mostly adorable experience. The phone has 8 gigs of centralized accumulator and it comes with an 8 gig microSD agenda installed in the aperture beneath the aback cover. It has 512 megs of RAM and a 1500 mAh battery.
Beyond its almost top end specs, the phone's affirmation to acclaim is its glass-less autostereoscopic 3D affectation and bifold 5 megapixel rear cameras that can shoot 720p 3D video as able-bodied as 1080p 2D video, and it can shoot 3D and 2D photos. I haven't been a fan of customer 3D, be it in phones like the HTC EVO 3D, tablets like the LG G-Slate or 3D TVs. The Android A103 bucks that trend, and our agents and I in fact begin 3D video and photos so agreeable it fabricated the 2D being assume boring. As with added glass-less 3D adaptable displays, you accept to acquisition the candied atom and get acclimatized to the 3D experience, but already we did we didn't feel queasy, addled or contrarily uncomfortable, admitting on-screen warnings that announce 3D agreeable that acquaint you to yield break and not appearance 3D agreeable for too continued lest you feel uncomfy.
LG and AT&T pre-install a accumulating of 3D applications, and we like that; there's no apprehensive what to do with the phone's 3D capabilities. These awning the 3D camera/camcorder, 3D Guide, 3D Space, Get 3D Amateur (a hotlink to acquirement added 3D amateur from Gameloft), 3D Amateur & Apps (a launcher for your 3D titles, that's bombastic aback they're already listed in the 3D breadth of the capital app launcher), and several 3D amateur including Asphalt 6, NOVA 3D and Let's Golf 2. There's a Movies app that's powered by mSpot as well, but so far we see alone 2D titles listed there. The alone app that doesn't affect us in agreement of 3D viewability is 3D Space, a 3D carousel of 3D apps and agreeable including YouTube's 3D channel. The launcher is useful, but the 3D aftereffect is poor, and that's a abashment aback it will be a lot of users' aboriginal admission into the phone's 3D acquaintance aback it's on the home awning figure launcher WG1103 bar.
Design and Ergonomics
As you'd apprehend from a smartphone with a 4.3" display, the Android A103 is ample and the examination acquaintance is excellent. This is a parallax barrier display, a 3D affectation technology, and it provides an boilerplate 2D examination experience. It lacks the aerial colors of Samsung's Super AMOLED displays and adverse is average. Outdoor afterimage is passable, and examination angles aren't decidedly good. The resolution is 800 x 480, a accepted resolution for mid to top end Android phones, and we wouldn't apperception the even college qHD. But 3D requires affluence of cartoon ability and at $99 we won't complain.
As with added autostereoscopic (the adorned babble for 3D displays that don't crave glasses) 3D handsets on the market, there's a bound candied atom for examination 3D content. Move the handset about and angle it until you see a bright 3D effect, and all is good. The Android A103 has an on-screen slider in all 3D apps that allows you to acclimatize the 3D aftereffect level, and we admired it best at max, admitting your eyes may be different. We acquainted beneath eye fatigue with the Android A103 than the HTC EVO 3D, but that said, I enjoyed it for up to 30 account at a time. Beyond that, and my eyes and academician did feel tired. That agency affection breadth movies are best beheld with blow breaks, but watching that 5 minute 3D video you just attempt with the camera isn't a problem. Keep in apperception that the phone's UI and non-3D apps are presented in acceptable old ancient 2D, so your eyes won't suffer, but you aswell won't see that "wow" aftereffect everywhere.
The phone looks like a beyond adaptation of the T-Mobile LG G2x, and that's not a bad thing. The beginning is bedeviled by the bottle affectation with brushed metal top and basal bezels. The bendable blow aback accomplishment feels abundant in the duke and it doesn't allure as abounding fingerprints as bright artificial backs. The 5.9 ounce phone feels solid and weighty, and the metal emphasis band on the aback gives it a added absorbing and superior look. The band aswell highlights the bifold camera lenses that are set able-bodied afar (by phone standards) for bigger 3D capture.
The Android A103 has micro USB and micro HDMI ports beneath elastic covers, a 3.5mm stereo jack and a 3D accouterments button on the ancillary that launches the 3D app launcher and switches amid 2D and 3D modes if application the camera. The baby ability button is up top, and the microSD agenda aperture is beneath the aback cover. There's no allegation to abolish the array to admission the card.
Performance and Horsepower
The phone runs on a 1GHz bifold amount OMAP processor like N9i Phone, and it both feels fast and benchmarks well. It denticulate 2676 on the Quadrant benchmark, putting it a part of the fastest bifold amount Android phones. It array an accomplished 70 MFLOPS on the multi-thread analysis in Linpack. App launching, UI aeronautics and Adobe Beam 10.3 playback and 2D/3D gaming are all excellent. The phone performed able-bodied outputting HD video agreeable via HDMI to our HD TV, and like abounding LG phones, it supports the DivX architecture in accession to MPEG4. Even if you're not absorbed in 3D, the Android A103 is account because for its performance, ample affectation and 4G abstracts speeds. Admitting the fast CPU, the phone managed acceptable runtimes, and with boilerplate use we had no botheration authoritative it through the day and night on a charge. 3D drains the array added quickly, abnormally 3D recording.
Calling and Data
LG phones don't consistently accept the best GSM reception, but the Android A103 airy the trend with acceptable 3G/4G HSPA+ on AT&T's arrangement in the Dallas area. AT&T's HSPA+ arrangement was apathetic in coming, but we've now got common advantage in the metroplex, and saw speeds alignment from 3.6-5 megs down and 1 Mbps up according to Ookla's Speedtest.net app. That's not absolutely as fast as T-Mobile's HSPA+ 4G network, but it's decidedly bigger than AT&T's earlier 3G phones (especially upload speeds aback those aren't capped on the Android A103).
Call superior is good, with bright articulation and analytic abounding audio. Callers said we articulate actual good, with little accomplishments babble and we heard no accomplishments white noise.
Camera
The Android A103 has a beginning adverse 2D VGA camera for video chat, and a bifold lens 5 megapixel rear capital camera that can shoot in 2D and 3D. The camera uses both lenses if cutting in 3D, and they're able-bodied spaced, for a added 3D effect. It can shoot up to 1080p video in 2D and 720p in 3D. Both photo and video superior are actual acceptable in 2D mode: we acclaimed able colors and aciculate shots as continued as we kept the phone still if shooting. The LED beam helps with capacity at abutting range, and didn't white out beginning altar terribly.
3D angel and video abduction are absolutely convincing; photos attending abundant added air-conditioned than their 2D counterparts, admitting they abridgement the accurateness of 2D images (a limitation of accepted technology). LG suggests that 3D is a lot of able with capacity aural a 10 bottom range, but we begin continued shots taken in malls and aback yards to appearance a acceptable bit of 3D depth. 3D images are adored in .JPS format: re-name them to .JPG and you'll be able to appearance them in accepted angel editors, and you'll see 2 frames side-by-side. 3D videos are adored in .MP4 format, and you'll see two side-by-side video frames if you use a non-3D viewer.
Conclusion
We absolutely like the Android A103, abnormally at the decidedly low $99 arrangement price. It's a fast bifold amount Android phone, and admitting we're a little aghast that it runs Android OS 2.2 Froyo, AT&T says it will get the Gingerbread 2.3 upgrade. The Android A103 has a ample affectation and solid build, admitting the affectation doesn't wow us in 2D mode. We're not yet awash on 3D phones, but the Android A103 is the aboriginal phone that makes us wish one, and we'll absolve its just OK 2D awning for the actual acceptable 3D quality. Call superior is solid, 4G speeds by AT&T HSPA+ standards are acceptable and the smartphone is added than able to handle HD video playback over HDMI, Adobe Beam and aggregate abroad we threw at it.