LG G Flex in the flesh!

Announced just last month, the LG G Flex curved smartphone is already released in Korea with partner telcos. One unit found its way to the Philippines.

We spotted one last night during the LG Curved OLED TV launch. What’s surprising and ironic was that the G Flex wasn’t brought by the LG executive from Korea but by our good friend @artsamaniego of Manila Bulletin (who got it from a source in HK for $USD1,000PHP 58,686INR 84,750EUR 952CNY 7,278).

We borrowed the handset for a while, took some shots and played with it alongside the LG G2.

With a screen size of 6.0 inches, the G Flex just screams like a phablet. It is huge, much bigger on the hands than the Galaxy Note 3, and is certainly on the borderline of being comfortable using with one hand.

The curved shape of the body flows smoothly on the palm of the hands but it’s got the same slippery feel to it, like the G2.

The display curves inwards (in a concave) but not by much although you will certainly notice it once you place it flat on its back on a surface or table. We did try to flex the handset just to see if the glass is really that flexible and it turned out to be pretty much what we expected it to be. The brushed metal finish of the back panel is reminiscent of the Galaxy S3.

The screen, even with just the 720p resolution, still looks stunning and almost indistinguishable to the G2 unless of course you subject it to closer scrutiny.

The G2 is already a solid performer and we’re also hoping the battery life could be better on the G Flex, considering the higher capacity and the OLED technology used (despite the bigger screen size).

LG G Flex specs:
6.0-inch P-OLED display @ 720 x 1280 pixels, 245ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.26GHz quad-core processor
Adreno 330 graphics
2GB RAM
32GB internal storage
HSPA+/LTE-A 150Mbps
WiFi 802.11b/g/n, ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, DLNA
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS, GLONASS
FM Radio tuner with RDS
13MP rear camera with LED flash
1080p @ 60fps video recording
2.1MP front-facing camera, 1080p @ 30fps
Android 4.2.2 Jellybean
Li-Ion 3,500mAh battery
177 grams
160.5 x 81.6 x 8.7 mm

The only drawback we can point out right away is the absence of a microSD card slot for expandable storage.

According to our sources, the LG G Flex will not make it to the Philippines this year as it will make way for the Google Nexus 5 that’s coming this December.

{photo credit by @themarklim, device by @artsamaniego}