LG's first curved smartphone was, let's be honest, something of a disaster. It was too big, too curved, too expensive — and given that the jury's still way out on curved displays in general, it didn't make much a persuasive case. But Korea's second-biggest electronics company isn't giving up, and this morning it introduced the G Flex2, an indication that this is an actual direction for development and not a one-off novelty play.
The G Flex2 isn’t bad. It has all the features and specs you'd expect from a high-end phone: a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, camera with optical image stabilization and laser autofocus, and 5.5 inch 1080-pixel OLED screen. Add a beautiful rendition of Android 5 Lollipop, some gestural controls, and the “self-healing” finish, and it's worthy of a little attention.
But then there’s the shape. The G Flex2 actually has four curves, not one. There is the curvature of the display side, the slightly straighter back, and then the arcs of the top and bottom. Frank Lee, head of mobile communications for LG Electronics USA, emphasized that in a world before smartphones, handsets were always ergonomically curved to cradle the face and hand. Those were also the days when we actually used our phones as phones. The ergonomics for texting, emailing, and Instagramming have nothing to do with the relationship between ear and lips.
If you have a rather large posterior and enjoy the cradling sensation of a phone resting in your back pocket (just don’t put it in the wrong way), the G Flex2’s shape will make toting around your phone more comfortable. Otherwise, the curve adds a clumsy bulge below your jacket pocket or requires some deft maneuvers in a front pants pocket. LG’s promotional materials also touted the immersive experience of watching videos on the admittedly beautiful curved screen. While we could have a meaningful argument about whether an 80-inch television is better with a little curve, at 5.5 inches, the difference is unnoticeable if not slightly strange looking.
The obvious, if slightly cynical, conclusion is that LG is merely experimenting with — or just showing off — its flexible OLED technology. The display technology gives nice color fidelity, strong contrast, and increased durability, but that doesn’t mean a phone should be curved for the sake of it. While there are a handful of seemingly good reasons for the G Flex2’s form, each addresses only a single use case while making the phone less suited to all others.
