The G Flex is LG's first curved-screen
smartphone, going up against the Samsung
Galaxy Round. It's got a bendy or flexible
screen, which is fixed in a set curve.
While Samsung has gone for a side to side curve
on the Galaxy round, the G Flex does things in the
opposite direction. It is curved from top to bottom in a banana like shape. LG says, from a design point of
view, this is all about ergonomics.
It's supposed to fit your face better when making
a call and sit more comfortably in your hand. In all
honesty it doesn't feel much di fferent than a regular
flat smartphone in either of these scenarios. What we
can say is that it fits much better in a back pocket.
Underachieving ergonomics aside, a bigger
problem is the sheer size of the G Flex. Yes, it
matches the contour of my face better than a 'normal'
smartphone, but it knocks my glasses out of the way
in order to have a conversation.
I could use it as a
shade from the midday sun it's so big. I have very few
items of clothing with pockets big enough for the G
Flex, so I suspect female users will have to keep this
device in a bag.
LG has opted for a 6in screen, putting it in the
phablet category with devices such as the HTC One
Max, Nokia Lumia 1520 and Sony Xperia Z Ultra. It
makes the LG G2 look small.
A big screen is great if you want to watch a lot of
video, but in everyday use the G Flex is cumbersome
and unwieldy. With my relatively large hands, I can
reach a third of the display when held in one hand.
Be prepared to adopt a two-handed approach.
The back of the G Flex looks at lot like the G2
with LG's Rear Key – power and volume keys below
the camera lens rather than on the side or top of the
device.
I like this feature, but it's not for everyone.
As with the G2, you can switch on and o the screen
with a double tap.
On the rear of the G Flex is a self-healing cover,
which is supposed to remove light scratches caused
by loose coins and keys in your pocket, not the
aggressive kind of scrapes caused by dropping the
phone on hard ground.
It's di fficult to test this over
a relatively short period of time – we'd like to take a photo of the back after months of usage – but after
a few days there are a few hairline scratches on the
plastic surface. In the G Flex's defence, these are only
really noticeable if you are actively looking for them.
Our first sample of the G Flex had some serious
screen issues, including a horrible blue tint on about
half of the display and some distracting image
retention, or 'ghosting'. So much so that we swapped
it for another handset and fortunately, things got a lot
better.
There was no blue tint and, although there is
some image retention, it lasts only a split second.
Something which didn't go away is a grainy quality
to the image. It gives a softness that some users
might like, but compared to other smartphones it
simply looks inferior.
It's strange that LG has opted for a 720p resolution
instead of full-HD 1080p. On a 6in screen this makes
for an unattractive pixel density of just 245ppi. It's not
something we want to see on a premium smartphone,
no matter how curved the screen is.
The curved nature of the G Flex is undoubtedly
cool. But the fascination over this quickly wears off
and, over time, we've realised the benefits to the
curved screen are minimal.
It's supposed to be more immersive when watching
a film or playing a game in landscape mode, but we haven't noticed a
di fference to a regular
flat screen.
What it
does do is give a
more dimensional feel
when scrolling lists
or pages with the G
Flex in portrait mode.
This could potentially
make some users feel
nauseous, in the same
way do 3D screens.
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Hardware & performance
Software and Battery life
