LG self-healing phone: super powers not required
LG releases its newest creation: the G Flex, dubbed the world's first 'real' curved phone with a special back cover coating that eliminates daily wear and tear.
LG released its latest venture, the G Flex which offers a curved screen and scratch-proof coating.
LG
It used to be self-healing skin was confined to superheroes and terrifying villains.
Now it’s coming to your phone.
LG announced its new G Flex phone today, which it deems the first “real” curved smart phone. Aside from the latest trends and technology built into the hardware of the device, LG is also introducing a new material that could prevent your phone from daily wear and tear.
The G Flex has a slight bend that curves to the shape of your face, making phone calls more comfortable and the screen more compatible with video. It offers a 6-inch, 720p screen (landing it squarely in "phablet" territory), runs on Android Jellybean and a Snapdragon 800 quad core (translation: it’s fast), and features a 13-megapixel camera.
But the real draw is the new self-healing component. The self-healing material is on the back cover and is designed to prevent the phone from daily scratches and nicks, which makes it a more durable and long-lasting phone. It would take about a minute for the elastic coating to recover its original surface after getting scratched, and it hasn’t been demoed yet, but it will certainly be something to keep an eye on in months to come.
The G-Flex also offers a nifty “swing” lock screen that changes the screen saver when the phone is held at a certain angle and the curved screen delivers an “IMAX-like” experience in landscape mode. The screen is OLED, plus uses Real RGB, which combines pixel colors for brighter color tone. If you like to watch videos on your phone, this could be a key feature.
LG is not the only company to offer a curved smart phone. Though LG announced plans to mass-produce the phone in October, Samsung released the curved Galaxy Round in early October that bends down the vertical axis of the phone for a comfortable handgrip.
So are flexible screens the future or just a passing fad? Analysts project that if technology continues to advance (read: screens get more bendy) production on flexible screens could increase to 800 million units by 2020.
The G Flex will be available in Korea starting in November with more markets added as time goes on.