LG has been experimenting with curved screens for sometime. Even as it pushed its curved innovation in a slightly subtle manner to the flagship LG G4, we look at the LG G Flex 2, its second phone with an arc shape. Though the first G Flex came almost a year back, no one else has been able recreate a curved phone. This means LG has some technology which is not that easy to replicate.
Coming to LG G Flex 2, I still don’t know what is the use of a curved phone. Of course, it is a head turner, but there is no practical reason for using a phone that is curved. LG says it is more natural when you are looking at the screen, like with its curved screen televisions. But I cannot see a very big difference when you compare it with a flat Full HD screen, except for the fact that it does not reflect much light.
What is good?
The G Flex 2 is a very powerful phone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor. Combined with the smooth as butter Android Lollipop operating system. Using the phone is like driving on an Expressway—I am not bringing a Ferrari into the picture because I have not driven one. There is no lag, no crashes and stutters. But there is a flipside, I will tell you that later.
The overall design is good. Even though the curve does not bring a lot to the table, combine it with LG’s unique back buttons and you have a phone that is easier and more natural during daily use. Yes, you do become a slave of habit and tend to probe the sides for the buttons, but once you get used to it is a good place to be in.
The camera clicks some really sharp pictures and is very fast. But at this price point, I would have wanted some manual features thrown in. This is like a compact camera with just an Auto mode. You can use third-party apps to get more out of the optics. The display is among the better ones in this Full HD range. But maybe at this price point LG could, and should, have offered more.
Some of the software tweaks are good. I could move everything from my old Android phone by just tapping the two phones together and then just entering my Google password. The easiest on-boarding I have had with any phone ever.
SPECIFICATIONS
* Display: 5.5-inch Curved P-OLED capacitive touchscreen
* Processor: Qualcomm Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2 GHz Cortex-A57
* Operating system: Android Lollipop
* RAM: 2 GB RAM
* Internal memory: 16 GB, expandable up to 128 GB
* Camera: 13MP (rear); 2.1 MP front camera
* Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA
* Estimated street price: Rs 54,990
What is not that good?
The phone sadly has a battery that does not last more that 10 hours. Even on weekends, you will need to charge it more than once a day. Maybe, curved phones are not that conducive to long battery life. One thing that could be affecting battery life is the phone’s tendency to heat up. It heats up even when you are not really pushing the phone and at times it is as cool as a cucumber performing the same tasks. I think the Qualcomm processor has a bit of a role to play in this, like all the other ‘hot’ phones in the market.
I found the keyboard a bit weird too. I usually write long stuff on Android phones and am quite happy with most keyboards. This one, however, seems to have accuracy issues. But you can just download a third-party app to get over this issue.
Should you buy it?
That is a real curve ball question. If the phone had no curve, it should have been priced under R35,000. So are you willing to pay Rs 20,000 for a curve? That’s your call.
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