Categories: News

First Impressions: LG G Flex — A showcase of Innovation and Not Much Else

What is the next big thing in mobile devices? 3D displays, 3D cameras, high megapixel cameras, 4k video, ultra high definition displays, fingerprint scanners, heart rate sensors? No one knows and that’s exactly the reason why we have products like the LG G Flex. It is a showcase, an experiment, created simply because the technology to make it possible exists. So how does the LG G Flex stack up as a phone?

As a phone, the G Flex is pretty high end. You get a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of on board storage. The 13MP rear camera is top-notch and it’s probably up there with among the best in the market despite only capable of shooting 1080p videos instead. You will never complain about the G Flex’s performance in any aspect. Process intensive apps like HD videos can run simultaneously with the phone dialer and browser with ease. The device is fast, responsive and snappy.

You may however have an issue with the G Flex’s design. In short, it’s boring and ordinary. The colour is a bland shade of grey and the plastic — although self healing — is too glossy and attract smudges. The G Flex feels slippery in the hand as if it was treated with a layer of silicone and is probably an attribute of the self healing coating. Speaking of which, the self-healing feature is an innovation but it is not a deterrent. The G Flex can recover from minor scuffs and small scratches but it is not impervious to dings and deep scratches if dropped.

Aside from that, the G Flex is a perfectly good phone and but does the curved screen make it great? In all honesty, no. The curved design combined with 6-inches of screen real estate make the G Flex a rather large phone to hold, one that is impossible to operate with one hand. This is compounded by a power button and volume rockers that are located on the back panel rather than the sides.

The display while only pushing 720p and pixel density of 245ppi, is bright and clear but when compared to the LG G Pro 2, is not as sharp. LG says the curve makes the phone feel more comfortable against your face, provides a more immerse video-watching experience, and makes the screen less prone to glare because of the way light reflects off it. In practical use however these claims are a bit of a stretch.

At the end of the day, the G Flex is a showcase, a statement of what LG is capable of. The device highlights many innovations and industry firsts (a curved, flexible display, a large 3,500mAh curved battery, self-healing properties) but in this application, it is innovation for innovation’s sake. It’s doing something different because you can and while there’s a good phone underneath, a curved smartphone that’s too large to hold and use is too flawed.