A month with the LG G Flex

LG last year in November 2013 had launched the LG G Flex, the curved smartphone which actually bends. If you do not agree with this, you can check out a stress test by MKBHD here.

First things first, this is a result of a lot of R&D done by LG back in their labs which obviously have more to deliver. This is to be honest a experimental device to evaluate the response from the public including their usage and excitement about owning a curved smartphone. We tried a review unit for almost a month now, testing everything from a user’s perspective. Read below to know more.

Design and Build

As we know, the design and build of this smartphone has set apart the conventions when it being a curved smartphone. We do think curved smartphone design is a good idea as it allows to fit in the hands and face better, adjusting to contours. Additionally while using it for calls, the mic and the mouth distance is reduced which can be ergonomic.

It has a plasticky body with rear buttons like G2. It comes with a flexible screen which bends. The front is clean and is only the screen which LG logo on the bottom.

Left and the right edges are clear, though the left side has a slide out for microSIM card. With back being populated with G2 style buttons and camera along with LED flash. There is also a mono loudspeaker at the bottom.

Bottom houses microUSB port and primary microphone while the top has the audio out 3.5mm jack.

Display

The LG G Flex has a 6-inch display which is a first of its kind, flexible. The display is actually completely flexible and it is the frame which sets a limitation to this extent. The display is a P-OLED display with 720p resolution. That’s a Plastic Organic Light Emitting Diode Display. 720p on a 6-inch smartphone definitely is low but its a limitation of this technology, probably we will see something better in future.

The display feels bright can above 50% brightness looks good. As soon as the brightness drops it literally becomes awful with grains begin to show up on the screen. In bright light, the outdoor visibility surprisingly was good. The text was readable which made it easy to use the phone.

Hardware:

The LG G Flex packs a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal memory. It cannot accommodate further expansion because of the lacking microSD card slot. It packs a 3500 mAh battery and features all top notch connectivity features even LTE.

Software:

LG have been improving its user interface with time and now have reached a level where its much more usable. They have built in lots of features without compromising the looks and utility. With lots of customizations that can be done and the overall look and feel of the operating system. It runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with the long due update still stated as coming soon to India.

Camera:

The smartphone packs a 13MP rear camera that can capture images up to a resolution of 4160×3120 pixels. The LG’s camera UI offers a lot of options while shooting and G Flex also includes the manual mode which makes it even better. Most of the times, we could actually feel that the photograph clicked did not look good on the phone but when seen on a PC screen, it turned out to be great. Blame the display, but the camera turns out be good if used properly. It can shoot videos up to 4K and we have a sample video attached below to show you how a Jelly Bean Android can shoot a 4K video.

Performance

LG G Flex undoubtedly performs very well with our test cases. The Android experience is absolutely amazing. The operating system runs blazing fast and the performance as expected is brilliant with the hardware it packs in. The camera is good, but the display has its pros and cons.

But does the curved display really helps? Well, thats still not clear. It does kind of feels ergonomic etc. etc. but this isn’t really helping. It was supposed to make the experience better which it somehow does and does not. There are probably coming up with a better use case for this kind of display making it more productive, but we don’t know.

There is also a self healing back panel too has a works very limited. It only heals soft scratches that too not sure because the limit is unknown.

Verdict:

LG G Flex is priced for Rs. 69,900 which is not at all worth spending your money. This price tag may fetch you best smartphone of the hour still saving somewhat 15k in your pocket. It needs to improve to make it publicly accessible, with a better display, less price and a better use case for its kind.

We were excited using it and hope LG G Flex 2 will come up with solutions to the above mentioned problems.

Pros:

• Hardware
• Camera

Cons:

• Price
• Display

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