Editor’s Desk
Android Central’s Editor’s Desk is a weekly column discussing the newest information, tendencies, and happenings within the Android and cellular tech area.
This yr, will probably be 5 years since LG launched what’s thought of its final flagship smartphone. The LG Wing was a really distinctive machine that includes a swivel design that you just received’t actually discover wherever else, and possibly for good cause. The novel design was one which turned heads, however surprisingly (or perhaps not), the LG Wing in the end did not garner sufficient consideration to maintain LG within the recreation. The next yr, LG introduced it was leaving the smartphone enterprise.
I’ve been holding onto the LG Wing for the previous 5 years, and it was lately introduced (through Android Authority) that LG will quickly shut down its replace service, that means that anybody nonetheless utilizing an LG telephone will quickly now not be capable of replace it.
Fortuitously, I’ve managed to maintain my Wing up to date (as a lot as potential) through the years. It is principally been amassing mud in a drawer on a regular basis, in order a self-proclaimed former LG fanboy, I lately determined to revisit this distinctive machine and take it for a spin now that it has been a while since LG bowed out.
The Wing had some fascinating concepts
The LG Wing got here at a time when foldable telephones had been nonetheless getting off the bottom. They weren’t as in style as they’re right this moment, and corporations had been nonetheless figuring out the {hardware} and software program intricacies that got here with constructing foldables. That is the place the Wing got here in, providing an alternate for anybody who fearful concerning the longevity of a folding show.
On the time, I assumed LG was good to forgo the potential prices related to creating a foldable telephone. As a substitute, the corporate leaned on the newest (and ultimately ultimate) evolution of the Second Display idea it had been pushing on shoppers for years.
The concept was pretty easy in idea: you need to use the telephone as you usually would on its main show, however then you possibly can reveal a secondary display everytime you wanted it. It stayed out of sight till it was wanted, which I actually appreciated.
LG additionally had some concepts of how this second display might be used. Apps might make the most of each shows in distinctive methods, which really made a good quantity of sense. As an illustration, when the primary show was swiveled up, I might watch a YouTube video in full view on the horizontal display whereas the varied video controls remained on the second display beneath. This made it straightforward to regulate quantity, brightness, skip ahead, and extra.
The opposite use for the second display was multitasking. My favourite use case was all the time utilizing Google Maps on the first show to navigate, whereas the second display could be used to manage music.
In fact, there’s way more you are able to do with it, as long as you are okay with some apps being squished all the way down to the almost-square facet ratio. However to me, this made me consider multitasking in methods I by no means thought of earlier than. Since I am not a fan of utilizing cut up display on customary candybar telephones, this gave me another choice that I a lot most well-liked.
LG additionally had a enjoyable mouse perform that allow you to use the second display to manage the primary show.
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Then there’s the digicam. LG did one thing fairly distinctive by including a secondary ultrawide “Gimbal Movement Digital camera” that is rotated 90-degrees and would work when the telephone is in Swivel Mode. Mainly, this allowed the customers to maneuver the viewfinder round with no need to bodily transfer the sensor and helped stabilize movies in the same technique to an precise gimbal digicam system.
It is a distinctive technique to benefit from the telephone’s distinctive type issue, as you possibly can merely maintain the telephone by the second display for extra steady dealing with of the telephone when recording. It additionally probably saves you from having to buy a separate smartphone gimbal.
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I’ll say that I used to be completely shocked on the picture high quality from the primary extensive and ultrawide sensors. I used to be all the time a fan of LG’s video capabilities, however picture high quality all the time left rather a lot to be desired on earlier LG telephones I’ve used, so it was good to see LG enhance on this entrance with the Wing.
Within the LG Wing assessment, it was famous how the first digicam “goes toe-to-toe with among the greatest Android cameras on the market, with spectacular dynamic vary and shade readability, plus minimal noise even in darker situations.” I would not say that LG might compete with the very best Android cameras of 2025, but it surely actually wasn’t unhealthy for 2020.
Sadly, digicam enhancements and a novel smartphone type issue weren’t sufficient to save lots of the Wing or LG.
Too many compromises
In the end, the LG Wing was a flop. I can not say whether or not it was a results of the COVID-19 pandemic that noticed shoppers making fewer non-essential spending decisions or simply the general reception of the LG Wing and its admittedly cool however unusual design. Both manner, the telephone didn’t resonate with shoppers.
For one, the telephone was costly at launch for what you bought. It value $999 however featured a squarely mid-range Snapdragon chipset normally reserved for cheaper smartphones. By comparability, the extra typical LG V60 value much less, featured a extra highly effective flagship Snapdragon chipset, and had a bigger battery, making it really feel like a greater deal.
However greater than that, it felt like LG was attempting to do absolutely the most with absolutely the least, and the payoff simply wasn’t there.
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LG wasn’t recognized for having the very best software program, and whereas I by no means notably minded it, many thought of the UI to be behind Samsung’s One UI and others. That stated, it appears like LG is stretching itself skinny attempting to get the Wing to work correctly.
Switching from common to Swivel mode and again feels janky, including apps to the Second Display is extra cumbersome than it must be, and Gboard cannot be used correctly in Swivel mode; solely LG keyboard will work on the Second Display, which kinda misses the purpose if I’ve to make use of Gboard on the first show whereas in swivel mode.
Samsung has the same limitation on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 cowl display, the place I can solely use Samsung Keyboard, and it is a key annoyance for me.
Software program and help had been among the largest points with the Wing.
That highlights a key drawback with Swivel Mode on the LG Wing: as cool because it was, it additionally felt woefully underutilized. LG simply did not garner the type of app help that was wanted to completely benefit from it. At launch, it leaned closely on YouTube, the Whale browser, and an optimized model of Asphalt 9 to indicate off how apps might make the most of the second display, however the choice remained missing all through its lifecycle.
This left multitasking as the primary perform for the second display, which wasn’t sufficient of a draw for this telephone.
LG was additionally recognized for not having the very best replace cadence or coverage, which additionally did not assist the Wing’s case. Funnily sufficient, I really feel prefer it improved after LG introduced its departure from the smartphone market, because the Wing has since acquired three OS upgrades as much as Android 13.
Then there’s the gimbal digicam, which was cool in idea, however was all the time the telephone’s weakest level for me. I wished to essentially prefer it, however the video high quality was by no means notably good, to the purpose the place I might simply follow the primary extensive and ultrawide sensors. It did not assist that video was capped at FHD in Gimbal Mode, and the outcome was a surprisingly noisy and simply not good.
The Wing had a possibility to take my video, my favourite factor about LG telephones, and actually do one thing cool, however ultimately, it simply fell flat.
Holding the telephone years later, I additionally can not help however discover how the Wing additionally simply feels surprisingly un-LG in a bizarre manner. The distinctive type issue was a really LG factor to do, however the compromises felt a bit uncharacteristic, akin to the shortage of stereo audio system and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Even the design decisions, with a curved show, fingerprint magnet on the again panel, and noisy pop-up selfie digicam, make the telephone really feel prefer it was constructed by a unique firm.
The telephone can be heavy (at 260g, it is heavier than even the Galaxy Z Fold 6), solely options an IP54 water and mud resistance ranking, and the fingerprint sensor could be very sluggish.
LG was nice at standing out with its experimental telephones, and the Wing was clearly by no means meant to be an enormous hit, however LG made some odd decisions that I really feel ensured it would not do effectively.
That stated, I can not assist however really feel like a few of what we received with the LG Wing helped put together me for foldables, notably flip telephones.
Prepping me for foldables
Foldables weren’t my factor again in 2020, however with the resurgence of the Motorola Razr, I’ve gone all-in on flip telephones. It is a acquainted design that spans generations, and now with fashionable smartphone know-how, it may possibly stay on in a much-smarter and user-friendly manner. The place LG tried to distinguish itself with the Wing, fashionable flip telephones relied closely on the previous to achieve reputation.
Nonetheless, I feel the Wing was onto one thing with its smaller second display. This wasn’t meant to be a main manner of interacting with the telephone, however an non-obligatory manner for customers to get somewhat further out of their units.
Trendy flagship flip telephones take the same strategy, but they make the smaller cowl display a primary possibility as a technique to rapidly get by notifications, messages, and extra. Then, if and when vital, you possibly can open the machine to disclose a regular-sized smartphone.
With this in thoughts, I can not assist however suppose LG would have performed higher to go for a flip telephone type issue than to attempt to reinvent the wheel with a Swivel telephone. It could have taken a technology or two to essentially take off, however given the rising reputation of the Razr and Galaxy Z Flip lineups, perhaps we might nonetheless have LG round to maintain us on our toes with different distinctive units just like the unreleased Rollable telephone.
