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LG G Flex2 review: This is what the original should have been
"They're a gimmick. They're a terrible idea. They're not going anywhere." Naysayers have been doing their thing since the notion of a curved smartphone made the leap from a nutty concept to bona fide market fad, and they're not going to stop any time soon. Neither are LG and Samsung, for that matter, who squared off in late 2013 with -- what else? -- a pair of curved phones. Neither the G Flex nor the Galaxy Round were critical or commercial hits, but they made great stepping stones as both companies tried to convince the world that curved phones were the next big thing. Now LG's back for another shot at flexible-phone glory. The new G Flex2 is smaller, sleeker and a damn sight prettier than its predecessor, but still, we've got questions. Are curved screens any less of a gimmick now? Did LG have to compromise functionality for the sake of design? And more importantly, is this actually worth buying?
LG G Flex launches in Korea next week for $940, headed to Europe in December
Processor, storage space, RAM and a curved screen -- the G Flex's announcement came with just about everything except a price. Now, LG has given us the last piece of the puzzle. Starting on November 12th, the South Korean company will sell its curved smartphone for 999,900 Korean Won, or about $940. That buys a six-inch curved OLED display (that's actually flexible), 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel shooter and some sort of self-healing backside. The company's announcement also says that phone will be launching on Orange France in about a month, although local pricing hasn't been announced. As for the rest of the world? We'll just have to use the time to decide if we want LG's kit or that other curved smartphone.
Samsung's Galaxy Round ad compares its curved smartphone to avocados, Russian dolls (video)
Thanks to Samsung Korea's new (soon to be viral) Galaxy Round commercial, we've learned that its new smartphone is curved. Like many other objects. In the world. We get that now. It's also got differently-curved competition coming very soon. The whole 30-second showcase is after the break.
LG G Flex announced with vertically curved 6-inch 720p screen, 'self-repairing' back cover
LG's unveiled all the details for its often-leaked, curved screen smartphone. Weighing in at 177g with a 6-inch (but 720p) curved OLED display, it's powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM, with a 13-megapixel camera housed above the two rear control buttons, which is now LG's thing. In comparison to Samsung's Galaxy Round, the screen on the G Flex arcs from top to bottom, not side-to-side, which at least makes a little more sense to us, hopefully fitting in better to the curvature of the users' face. We're yet to handle either curved phone IRL just yet, however, when we'll be able to offer up a better perspective on how both devices actually feel. Like LG's recent G2, there's high-fidelity audio playback, dual-window app functionality and tap-to-wake on that substantial touchscreen. There's also special animations, depending on where and how you unlock the phone. The Korean press release is also reporting that there's a self-healing coating that can repair hairline scratches on the rear of the phone. LG says they are repaired "within minutes." Korean smartphones with the power to control the elements are, however, still TBC. The G Flex will arrive on Korea's three major carriers next month -- but (again) there's no word on global roll-out, hinting that the smartphone could well be a test model for the company. We've added the confusingly Google-translated release after the break. Update: We've now included the full English press release, below, and corrected that the phone offers hi-fi audio playback, not recording.
