First impressions: LG G-Flex 2 is compact and curvy

We saw LG and Samsung play with the idea of curved displays on their 4K OLED TVs last year. Then the company came out with G-Flex, a phone that had a curved screen. This was a smartphone that was supposed to bend and bring the curves back in fashion. But irrespective of what LG says now this didn't exactly pan out.

While Apple unintentionally hogged the limelight last year with its bendy iPhone 6 Plus, LG is hoping that this year it will be able to convince consumers -- and unlike Apple, for right reasons -- that phones with a curved and bendy screen provide better functionality. At recently concluded CES, it showed G-Flex 2, which improves on the last year's model in many ways. We tried the device briefly. Here is what we think about it.

The design of the G-Flex 2 is similar to that of its predecessor. The G-Flex 2 has slim bezels, curvy design and buttons on the back. The buttons placed under the camera module, something we first saw on the G2, make it an unmistakably LG phone.

The G-Flex 2 is smaller than its predecessor. It has a screen measuring 5.5 inches instead of the 6-inch display on the 2014 model. Needless to say, it is easier to fit in a pocket and handles better when you are using it. Just like the G-Flex, the newer phone too comes with a special coating on the back cover. LG calls it "self-healing" back cover because the material used in the coating can automatically repair very minor scratches. LG claims that the "self-healing" in the G-Flex 2 is faster compared to what was possible in the earlier model.

The display in the G-Flex had 720p resolution. The screen in the G-Flex is not only smaller but also has higher 1080p resolution, which makes it sharper. The display, which uses P-OLED panels, is nice. It is vivid and bright looking. LG claims that it has used a special layer of Gorilla Glass, which has been treated by the company to enhance its durability further, on the G-Flex 2.  This glass is 20 per cent tougher compared to vanilla Gorilla Glass, claims the company.

As we said, the display seems nice but it is little surprising that LG opted for 1080p resolution instead of the QHD, which has started becoming a regular feature on high end phones.

The G-Flex 2 comes with Android 5.0 aka Lollipop operating system. The software is customised by LG so no the G-Flex 2 is not a phone with stock Android.

The G-Flex 2 has inherited the camera from the LG G3. It sports the same 13-megapixel camera, with the same sensor. Though, the optical image stabilisation has been upgraded. Also, the Qualcomm snapdragon 810 processor that powers the phone comes with an upgraded image signal processor. These improvements should lead to better camera performance from the G-Flex 2. Several images that we shot with it were crisp. The camera was also fast in locking focus. The front camera can shoot 2.1-megapixel images.

The G-Flex 2 will come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, which has eight cores. Four of these are ARM Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz. This chipset has the Adreno 430 GPU. The phone will come in two variants - with 16GB internal storage and with 32GB internal storage. More storage can be added with a microSD card. Up to 128GB cards are supported. The phone has a non-removal battery with rated capacity of 3000mAh.

We didn't hate the LG G-Flex. With the G-Flex 2 we see that LG has added a few more bells and whistles to it. The new phone also has a more compact design.

Whether the smartphone will deliver will depend a lot on its price in India. The G-Flex was priced nearly Rs.70,000 and that was one of the reasons why it bombed in India. In the UK, LG is offering the G-Flex 2 at a price of $599, which translates to slightly less than Rs.40,000 in India. In this turns out to be the price in India, the G-Flex 2 can do fairly well here.