LG
G Flex

The LG G Flex was a distinctive smartphone that featured a curved display. Initially, it was released in the South Korean market but later it was offered on a global basis. The company worked with different LG divisions to create the product. LG Display provided what was the world’s largest curved display for a mobile phone and it also used LG Chem’s first large-capacity curved battery. LG believed the ergonomic design provided unique differentiation and was well-suited to watching videos. At the launch, the company stated that “users watching a video [on the LG G Flex] would feel the realism of watching a curved screen in an IMAX theatre.” At the time TV screens with curved displays were also being marketed heavily by LG (and Samsung). The phone was also positioned as being well-suited to mobile gaming. The design was also claimed to be optimised to fit perfectly around a person’s face given its proximity to a user's ear and mouth delivering better audio performance. LG also claimed that the phone could “enrich sound when watching videos and listening to music” because when the G Flex was placed on a flat surface the speaker was raised and would deliver clearer sound. A notable innovation was a new 'self-healing' technology that LG applied to the back cover of the phone. The company claimed this would remove light scratches made on the phone when it was exposed to the air. One other design element was a rear key (see below), that was first introduced on the LG G2. This made it possible to hold the phone in one hand and scroll through menus and interact with other functions without the need for any buttons on the front of the phone.