“Why is your phone curved?” is the question I get every single time I use the LG G Flex 2 in public. I’ve never used a phone that’s gotten more attention than this one and I think that that was LG’s intention all along.
To a degree, curved TV’s make sense. If you’re sitting directly in front of a curved TV, you get better picture quality than if you’re sitting off-center (something to do with how the curve of the TV reproduces picture according to the shape of the human eye). On a smartphone though, I still don’t quite get it.
I watched the same video n the LG G Flex 2 and on a flagship smartphone from another Android handset maker and noticed that the picture quality on the G Flex 2 was slightly better than on the other phone despite said other phone have a higher pixel density. Are we really watching that much content on our smartphones though that we need a curved smartphone?
That’s one of the questions that every tech journalist and blogger has asked since the release of the original G Flex in 2014.
The G Flex 2 is a much-needed improvement on its predecessor. When testing the original G Flex, I found it to be a novel but somewhat cumbersome device. It was just a little bit too big, the display (at 720p) was a letdown and the curve was somewhat too curved.
In keeping with LG’s ethos of “learning from you” the G Flex 2 remedies all of those things.
The screen has been slimmed down from 6 inches to 5.5 inches; the display has been bumped up to a full HD 1080p panel and the phone now has various curves ranging from a radius of 400mm to 700mm across the front, back, sides and top-to-bottom edges.
It also features a removable back as well as an SD card slot (something that’s missing from far too many high end handsets these days).
The G Flex 2’s camera was far snappier than the one found on the G3 and has added a few features not found on previous LG smartphones. During the day (or in well lit areas) the G Flex 2 performed admirably, however in low-light conditions, it unfortunately didn’t perform as well as the camera found on the Samsung Galaxy S6.
The G Flex 2 also features Android Lollipop as well as the latest Snapdragon 810 processor, and that’s where an issue comes into play. I noticed some overheating problems with the G Flex 2 that I’d never experienced in any previous LG smartphone, giving credence to the rumours that that might be the reason why the South Korean company opted to use the Snapdragon 808 processor in it’s new flagship, the G4.
Overall, the G Flex 2 is a solid device. It has great, subtle design, feels fantastic in the hand and fits wonderfully in my back pocket. It has great picture quality and good overall camera capabilities; improved self-healing back and reduced screen size as well as enough battery life to get you through a day of average use.
Is the G Flex 2 worth buying? This is a phone for the fashion conscious to looking to get as much done while looking as stylish as possible. So, if you’re looking for an Android phone not made of glass and metal, but still stands out from the crowd, then the G Flex 2 is definitely a phone worth considering.
The G Flex 2 is available exclusively on Vodacom.
Key Specifications (may vary depending on market):
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 810 processor with 2.0GHz 64-bit Octa-Core CPU
- Display: 5.5-inch Full HD Curved P-OLED (1080 x 1920 pixels / 403 ppi)
- Memory: 16/32MB eMMC ROM / 2GB DDR4 RAM / microSD slot (up to 2TB)
- Camera: Rear 13.0MP with OIS+ with Laser Auto Focus / Front 2.1MP
- Battery: 3,000mAh (embedded)
- Operating System: Android 5.0 Lollipop
- Size: 149.1 x 75.3 x 7.1-9.4mm
- Weight: 152g
- Network: 4G / LTE / HSPA+ 21/42 Mbps
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth Smart Ready (Apt-X) 4.1, NFC, SlimPort, A-GPS / Glonass, USB 2.0
- Color: Platinum Silver, Flamenco Red
- Other: Gesture Shot, Gesture View, Glance View etc.