LG G Flex2

Expected Q1 2015
5th January 2015

As you might suspect, the curved LG G Flex2 is the follow-up to the original Flex announced just over a year ago. An unconventional handset to look at, the Flex2 also defies expectations by having a smaller screen that the original version, but that is only a part of the story.

The display is a 5.5" full HD 1080p panel, where the original was a 6.0" 720p screen. Although it is smaller, it is a lot sharper than the original which is probably a good trade-off. Inside is a 2.0Ghz octa-core Snapdragon 810 CPU with an Adreno 430 graphics processor, plus 2GB of RAM and 16 or 32GB of flash storage plus a microSD slot that can support up to 2TB (2000 gigabytes). Inside is a 3000 mAh battery, again smaller than the original but still quite large which includes a fast charge feature which charges the phone to 50% in less than 40 minutes.

The LG G Flex2 is about 15% smaller and lighter than the original Flex, which should give your pockets a bits of a rest and it bucks the current trend of phones getting bigger and bigger with every generation.

On the back is a 13 megapixel camera with a laser autofocus plus a 2.1 megapixel one on the front. The laser autofocus is designed to make it quicker to focus on an object by measuring the distance with a laser beam, and the primary camera also has optical image stabilisation (OIS). You can take those all-important selfies with a hand gesture, and there are other gesture controls as well.

This is an LTE-capable device with NFC, it has a SlimPort for video output, Bluetooth 4.1 plus all the usual smartphone features that you would expect in a high-end device. Unusually, the Flex2 features a self-healing back so that scratches will simply disappear. The LG G Flex2 runs the latest Android 5.0 operating system.

Of course the curve is the thing that really sets the LG G Flex2 apart from rivals, and even that has been tweaked with a "dynamic curve" with a differing radius on different parts of the device. Part of this effect is achieved with LG's P-OLED display which allows the unique shape, but to be honest we have rather suspected that curved screens are a solution looking for a problem.

LG say that the G Flex2 should be available in Korea later this month with additional markets to follow in Platinum Silver and Flamenco Red colour schemes. No guidance was given on price, but we would expect this to retail at over €500 for a SIM-Free version when it hits the shops.