The LG Wing: An exciting smartphone with a daring design
Smartphones are fun again!
Source: LG
Smartphone designs can be divided into two eras. Pre-iPhone (2007) and post-iPhone. Almost every smartphone released after 2007 has followed a very similar design pattern.
Before 2007, consumers could choose between having a QWERTY keyboard, a flip-up, foldable, slider and yes even a swiveling smartphone!
Then the design innovations became limited, only improving devices by including larger displays, better cameras, better batteries, better connectivity options, but the form factor itself didn’t really change that much.
Very few brands tried to deviate from this very successful, single screen,16:9 bar form factor.
Enter 2020. Already a unique year for different reasons, what we have seen so far in smartphone releases has been truly unique and exciting. Smartphone designs are suddenly fun again. We are seeing the rebirth of phones that flip-up (Motorola RAZR), fold down (Samsung Z Fold 2) and have two screens (Microsoft Surface Duo)…
And now, the swiveling design is back with the LG Wing! Unveiled at the Korean’s company HQ on the 14th of Sept, as part of their Explorer Project it is set to be one of the most daring releases of the year.
A daring design which delivers a more immersive viewing and gaming experience. (Source: LG)
Apart from its obvious swiveling form factor, these are the key features that sets this smartphone apart from the rest:
Multitasking. You can use supported apps on both screens OR run two different apps simultaneously on a different screen.
Immersive experience. Main display focuses on uninterrupted content, whilst screen overlays and controls move to secondary display.
First smartphone ever with a dedicated Gimbal mode
Multitasking
This is not a new thing to be available on smartphones, but to be able to achieve this until now, the best iOS and Android devices could do was to harshly split the display or minimize certain apps. With the LG Wing, that changes considerably.
Similar to what the Microsoft Surface Duo device offers, the LG Wing will also allow for true multitasking. For example, following a sport event whilst checking social media, or watching a live stream whilst interacting with the comments section in the second display. Or, simply sending / receiving messages on the second display without any distraction to the main display.
This is one use case that I am sure caught many people out in the last few years:
Using a navigation app and taking phone calls.
It's a combination of two very simple tasks that never went well together on a smartphone. Until now. We’ve all been there. Driving somewhere when someone calls. The result, in my experience: A very annoyed caller and me, getting terribly lost.
Source: LG
The device will allow the consumers to also customize typical pairs of apps and which screen to use them on so that the two apps open together, in the preferred screen format for the user.
A de-cluttered experience
Watching videos and playing games will feel much less cluttered with a dedicated main display for viewing, allowing users a more immersive experience. This design ensures that there are no compromises when it comes to the viewing experience.
The main display, a beautiful, extremely thin 6.8-inch with 20.5:9 aspect ratio is used for videos and games. Whilst the secondary 3.9-inch display, becomes the media or game controller - taking those distracting, sometimes fiddly screen overlays out of the way.
To improve even further that uninterrupted, immersive experience, the front-facing, 32MP camera was tucked away inside the body, which pops-up when in use. No notches or camera holes!
No distracting interruptions when viewing or gaming. (Source: LG)
The cameras
64MP Ultra High Resolution OIS Wide
12MP Ultra Wide Big Pixel and 13MP Wide.
32MP Front facing pop-up camera
One of the most interesting camera features is the fact that the pop-up camera and the rear cameras can be used simultaneously. This will allow for greater creativity and even more unique content for vloggers and social media apps.
LG promises a unique camera experience when in Swivel mode, boasting the first ever Gimbal feature on a smartphone, which has controls enabled on the second display helped by their ‘Grip Lock’ feature preventing accidental screen touches.
Many of these Gimbal features are software enabled, so it remains to be seen whether the stabilization capabilities are comparable or better than that of the iPhone and Samsung flagship devices.
A word of caution
The ‘elephant in the room’ is the fact that a case or protector for this smartphone is not likely to be developed - as that would likely block the swiveling action which is the main selling point of this smartphone. At the very least a case would make the device bulkier which again, takes away from another great feature which is the light weight of 260g.
A ‘sleeve’ could be more appropriate protection when putting the phone away. I can’t wait to see what innovative accessories this device will generate.
As with any glossy objects that have moving parts though, there’s a risk of dust particles, or even larger debris getting inside those tricky gaps and I just hope they’ve covered this in test and solved it in the final design.
LG say that they have used a special coating on the main screen to prevent scratches and to provide a smoother swiveling action. They called it the Anti-Dust feature.
Pre-iPhone era designs seem to be making a comeback. (Source TechCrunch)
Key information about the LG Wing
When can you buy one?
If you are in South Korea, you can buy one from October 2020. North America and Europe launches would follow but nothing confirmed as yet.
How much will it cost?
Although LG has not released a price yet, it is thought by many in the tech industry to be released at the $1000 mark.
Cool fact: If you drop the LG Wing with the pop-up camera in use, its accelerometer will detect the fall and retract the camera, lowering the risk of damage!
Conclusion
Like Samsung in their August releases, LG isn’t playing safe with the design in this first Project Explorer device. And this is another exciting innovation for consumers because we are finally given more options to choose from outside the typical camera, screen and battery upgrades.
What LG accomplished with this design, shows a great attention to detail in how multitasking should work on a smartphone.
It also shows a great care for how consumers would like the viewing and gaming experience to be: Uninterrupted.
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