LG G Flex review

The G Flex. Here's our hands-on review of the LG G Flex.

The G Flex is LG's first curved screen smartphone and goes up against local rival, the Samsung Galaxy Round. It's got a bendy or flexible screen which is fixed in a set curve. The smartphone is launching globally this year but we don't have details on when it will arrive in the UK. It will cost around £700 SIM-free. 

LG has opted for a 6in POLED screen for the G Flex putting it in the phablet category with devices like the HTC One Max, Nokia Lumia 1520 and Sony Xperia Z Ultra. It makes the fairly large LG G2 look quite small!

The display only has a 720p resolution which is a bit surprising – it doesn't look as crisp as the Full Hd resolution on offer elsewhere. On the plus side, it does mean you can run two apps on the screen at once.

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 this is all about ergonomics.

The G Flex's shape is designed to fit your face better when making a call and sit more comfortably in your hand. It's also supposed to be more immersive when watching a film or playing a game in landscape mode, just like the curved TVs which are around now.

The smartphone does feel quite nice in the hand and does curve nicely round the face when held up to the ear. However, at 6in in screen size, the G Flex is pretty unwieldy so there are pros and cons. It also suits landscape use such as watching video content but all of these things are luxuries which feel more on the gimmicky side of things rather than a practical benefit. It seems that Samsung and LG are fighting over the innovations because they can, not because consumers need or want a smartphone with a curved screen.

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.#

On the rear of the G Flex is a self-healing cover which is supposed to remove light scratches from things like coins in your pocket, not the aggressive kind of scrapes from a key which you see in the photo above (that was already there when I picked it up, honest). Weather this works is something which we can only really test by living with the device for a while.

Like the G2, the G Flex has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and a 13Mp camera – what we'd expect from a top-end smartphone. It's also got an infrared transmitter for controlling devices like your TV and wireless tech such as NFC and 11ac Wi-Fi.