\n\nIf you thought LG\u2019s gesture-based ThinQ phones, water droplet-inspired Velvet, and DualScreen cases were brilliant moves by a smartphone maker way ahead of its time, wait until you get a load of the Wing, a gotta-see-it concept phone that\u2019s straight out of an episode of Westworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wing naming is quite literal: it’s the world’s first 5G swivel smartphone, as LG claims. When the second screen is rotated, it kind of looks like the phone has wings, with one horizontal screen on top of a smaller squarish one. It\u2019s definitely unique, but looking at the photos LG has provided, it\u2019s hard to see how using it will be comfortable or natural. The primary use seems to be watching movies or displaying pictures on the landscape and getting work done on the smaller one, as LG explains in its developer notes:
\u00b7 Users can smoothly multitask between any two independent apps by utilizing both the Main and Second Screens.
\u00b7 Developers are encouraged to take advantage of the Dual Screen\u2019s \u201cOne App Extension Mode,\u201d which allows additional app functionalities to be displayed on both screens.
\u00b7 As both screens rotate following the phone\u2019s orientation, comfortable use is ensured regardless of the direction of rotation.
\u00b7 Users can pre-select certain pairs of apps to be displayed simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best use of the Wing seems to be upside down, with the landscape screen acting as a full-sized keyboard and the screen showing an email or text, but oddly none of LG\u2019s marketing images show that combination. Rather, LG wants people to use the two screens independently, touting the device for \u201cusers who value portability and love multitasking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s not for people who want the latest and greatest in speed and power. Like the Velvet, the Wing isn\u2019t a flagship device when it comes to what\u2019s inside it:
\u00b7 Dimensions: 169.5 x 74.5 x 10.9 mm
\u00b7 Processor: Snapdragon 765G 5G
\u00b7 Display (main): 6.8-inch Full HD OLED (2,460 x 1,080)
Display (secondary): 3.9-inch Full HD OLED (1,240 x 1,080)
\u00b7 RAM: 8GB
\u00b7 Storage: 128\/256GB
\u00b7 Camera (triple): 64MP Wide, f\/1,8 + 13MP wide, f\/1.9 + 12MP ultra-wide (120 deg), f\/2.2
\u00b7 Camera (front): 32MP, f\/1.9 pop-up lens
\u00b7 Battery: 4,000mAh<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can still use the Wing as a regular phone, but at nearly 11mm, it\u2019s a little thick (though not nearly as thick as the 16.8 mm Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2), and you\u2019re not getting Quad HD resolution or a 120Hz refresh rate like Samsung’s newest phones. And with Android 10 onboard rather than the newly released Android 11, it\u2019s already a bit behind the times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the Wing\u2019s form factor does have its benefits. Swiveling the screen turns the phone into a camera gimbal of sorts, providing \u201cthe stability needed to capture clearer shots and smooth video footage in horizontal mode with one hand.\u201d Additionally, the Wing brings features provided by an actual gimbal, including a virtual joystick for controlling the camera angle, a lock to reduce shakes and blurring, a \u201cfollow\u201d mode for smoother videos, and \u201cfirst-person view mode for capturing rhythmic and dynamic movements.\u201d There\u2019s also a pop-up selfie cam that\u2019s smart enough to retract when dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All said, LG\u2019s is asking customers to put a lot of faith in the Wing. While it says it\u2019s been rated to be \u201cto be perfectly reliable even after 200,000 swivels,\u201d extra moving parts on a smartphone generally aren\u2019t ideal. Pop-up selfie cams have gone out of style as quickly as they arrived and never made it to flagships from Samsung and Apple likely due to the inherent breakability factor. And now there\u2019s a whole other mechanism behind the screen to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also don\u2019t know how much it costs. While the 5G Velvet is competitively priced at $700 and less, the Wing might be much higher due to its design. We\u2019ll find out when it officially launches \u201cat a later date,\u201d but even if it\u2019s priced right, it\u2019s still going to be a tough sell in the face of new iPhones, folding Galaxies, and the upcoming $499 Pixel 4a 5G.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wing seems like little more than a desperate attempt by LG to gain back some of the attention it’s lost over the years and maybe it’ll work. But it’s hard to imagine that it’s going to transfer into relevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n