MWC 2012: LG 3.0 by Prada Hands-on

The third phone manufactured by LG and Prada has been recently launched on the market in the UK. Given the fact that the smartphone was officially announced last month we had to check out the device showcased at LG's booth during Mobile World Congress 2012.

Alas, this was one phone hard to find. However, this is not the only smartphone that made headlines in the past 3-4 weeks and has yet to be showcased at MWC. Fortunately, we learned that if you cannot find a certain Android device at the manufacturer's booth you have more chances of finding it in the Google area.

This is exactly what happened this year when we were approached by someone from Google's booth who wanted to show us the new LG Optimus 4X HD. After the short demo he pulled the LG 3.0 by Prada out of his pocket as a bonus.

At first glance the phone strongly resemblance the big LG Optimus Vu, save for the size of course. The back cover of the Prada phone features a textured pattern that is more complex than Vu's or the entire L Style series.

Now about size, LG 3.0 by Prada is well balanced. It's pretty lightweight and feels exceptional in hand, mostly because of the premium material on the back. The only minor flaws in design that I could find are the lock/unlock screen and camera buttons.

Both have been placed on top side of the phone and are a bit too small and a bit hard to push. Other than that the design is pretty minimalist with as little external buttons as possible. 

The interface of the phone is designed in black&white to look more serious and stylish, but it can be changed as the phone comes with several pre-defined themes. The UI is snappy and cleanly designed. There's also a nice feature that will also be included in Optimus Black and other older Optimus models after they get the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade.

This feature allows users to expand the multiple menus inside the main one with  single gesture, as well as place shortcuts on the home screen by drag&drop anything within these menus.

Overall, the LG 3.0 by Prada is one of the few devices showcased at this year's MWC  that looks both serious and stylish at the same time.

Posted in: Mobile Phone, Preview