For almost a decade, smartphones were becoming pretty boring but thanks to sleek designs from companies like Vivo, Huawei all keeping the design aesthetics of smartphones interesting enough but there were also the introduction of dual screen smartphones such as the LG V60 ThinQ but the Galaxy Fold, Royole FlexPai, Motorola Razr Fold or Huawei Mate X all changed the game.

What you get is a larger estate to consume media in a much decent way. Smartphones never went beyond the 7.2-inch region which was the Huawei Mate 20X but that was back in 2018 and in 2020, folding smartphones are becoming the norms because the massive screens which could reach about 8.5-inch can be squeezed into a small smartphone frame which is good.

But then we have the new LG Wing 5G which took things to the other direction which isn’t a folding smartphone but instead a sort of swivel design whereby you get two screens to do more.

Even though I called the new Surface Duo smartphone a great tool for multitasking, where it lacks is the fact that it doesn’t have any display on the outside which means to use it, you always need to open it up all the time.

LG Wing 5G is a great option for multi-tasking which appears more like a normal traditional smartphone at first and it can stay like that if you want but then you can use the device in a swivel form which turns the device to this “T” shape whereby there is a large screen in a landscape mode while there is a smaller half of the screen underneath.

You can watch YouTube videos in a landscape mode while doing other things like viewing your Twitter feed or using the bottom screen as a game controller while you don’t have to interact with the main screen. Or even use the device like a gimbal which is really another cool feature you get from the device.

Compare that to the Galaxy Z Fold 2, you either have to flip open the larger screen in order to be able to watch videos in a landscape mode or just turn the device around like you would on a traditional smartphone which will take away your access to other things such as commenting on the video being watched (for example, YouTube) or multitasking (you can split the screen but you won’t get that full-view experience.

Speaking of the users’ experience on the LG Wing smartphone, you get a large 6.8-inch P-OLED display which swivels in a clockwise manner to landscape mode or Swivel mode and then it reveals the smaller 3.9-inch screen beneath the main larger screen.

With the smaller screen, you can just do many things with it if you don’t mind the smaller user interface. The larger screen has a 2,460 x 1,080 pixels of resolution while the smaller one has just 1,080 x 1,240 and its dynamic range is suitable for consuming medias of any kind.

Even though these specifications might seem a little weird, when the device is closed up, it looked just like a normal flagship smartphone particularly the Galaxy Note especially from the back based on the design of the camera module which is pretty decent and fascinating to look at.

Taking the device for a walk on a normal sunny day, there is obviously no attention pulled when the device is being held especially in its original state not until I swiveled the screen and then it called attention to itself much like the weird wrap-around screen on the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha.

Hardware and design of the LG Wing 5G

Majority of the interesting things about the new LG Wing 5G is the design and its hardware specification. The device sports an edge-to-edge display with a rectangular form factor like a regular flagship smartphone and it also has an under-display fingerprint sensor thanks to its P-OLED display.

At the bottom is a USB-C port which is a 2020 technology and shouldn’t be surprising an then the thickness which is more like a Galaxy Note 20 in a bulky casing. That’s what it looks like. So in short, its thicker than the LG Velvet when placed side-by-side to the latter.

With the aforementioned design specs, there is nothing too exciting about the look and feel of the device maybe the fact that the entire 6.8-inch screen doesn’t have any hinderance whatsoever such as hole-punch or notch because the camera is hidden inside a motorized pop-up module.

Switch the device to the Swivel mode and then you have two screens with the top being in landscape allowing you to do more with the extra screen which can be your point of interaction with the top screen. Both screens are OLED and that is interesting.

Even though its a mini screen, the 3.9-inch OLED screen beneath the main screen functions just like the main screen and can be used to do anything from typing to control the devices camera or gaming.

And while 3.9 inches for the mini-screen seems tiny by today’s standards, it’s only a little smaller in area than the 4-inch display in the iPhone 5 / original iPhone SE. It’s perfectly suitable for texting and light browsing, but more on that below.

But moving away from the screen, there is also the device’s volume rocker by the right side and the lock button right below it. When the device gets closed up, its pretty hard to tell it apart from other devices but when in swivel mode, pressing the buttons might be a little bit awkward.

If you’re scared about the device’s hinge damaging because you’ve swiveled it too much, well LG has a message for you and that is it can be swiveled for about 200,000 times which means 3 swivels a day will last it for 18 years and you probably would have gotten a newer smartphone way before that.

The thickness is about 2.8mm more than the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra or even the iPhone 11 Pro Max but it’s design is pretty decent with this slightly curved screen while the underneath screen is flat when in swivel mode. The weight is more noticeable at 260 grams but it’s a bit lighter than the dual screen LG Velvet.

Interestingly, this device also supports external MicroSD whose slot is right by the side along with the SIM card slot and there is just a single speaker by the right side of the USB-C port and there is a microphone as well as the aforementioned pop-up camera just as seen in the Vivo Nex 3 5G or the OnePlus 7 Pro.

I wouldn’t expect such a smartphone to support water and dust resistance because there re just too many moving parts. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack though much like the 2020 gold standard for expensive smartphones.

LG Wings 5G screens and their usage

The juicy part of owning an LG Wing 5G is the dual screen. While this is a great device the fact that you can do even more with it especially multi-tasking is one major reason why this will be one of the top device in 2020/2021.

When in swivel mode, the top part of the device do get the weight shifted upon itself basically due to the extra screen and hardware components it had to handle on its own. But you can definitely hold the device swiveled out like an axe or some T-shaped gadget which might get people to wonder what kind of smartphone you’re holding in the first place.

When you open it up, the orientation automatically adapts to this new orientation in a more refined manner with the applications coming on just like a Carousel-like user interface which is pretty cool.

From there, you can select your application and go on with whatever it is you want to do. While that might seem exciting, there is definitely some down side to the screen usage in the swivel orientation as well. This can be due to the fact that your hand is basically restricted to just the bottom part of the device which can cause you some numb (not really) especially you’ve got some really big hands.

But well the software is well built to better serve the dual screens simultaneously which is a pretty decent job LG had taken upon itself to perfect the device both inside and outside.

Speaking of the carousel-like user interface you get in the swivel model for the mobile applications, the current options are sadly limited probably for now though but these are the application specifically designed to suit this orientation from LG which natively integrates within the smartphone’s user experience.

Also, there isn’t a possible way to add up new applications to the carousel list just yet but the possible way is to use different apps on the main screen in order to set up dual-app combo shortcuts which you can set up by heading to the device’s Settings > Display > Swivel Home > Multi-screen shortcut.

On the LG V60 with Dual Screen, you could use a multi-finger gesture to semi-reliably swap apps between screens, but there’s no such function on the LG Wing 5G (yet); that kind of fluid exchange is what’s really missing from the Wing which would have made the experience even much more perfect but that could come in a software update in the near future.

Meanwhile transitioning between the normal and swivel mode is very fluid and being able to use application combos such as YouTube and Twitter/Facebook comes handy with the app pair-up settings. But if LG can make this better with more support in the near future updates, that will be cool.

Cameras

There are 4 cameras in total on the LG Wing and the camera setup can also be used with the swivel system to enhance the performance in some more enjoyable ways as possible. But first let’s talk about the LG Wing 5G camera specifications.

It comes with a primary 64MP senor with f/1.8 aperture and can capture about 78 degree field of view (FoV) while there is another 13MP ultra-wide sensor with an f/1.9 aperture which can capture a wider 117 degree FoV and can both be used for standard still photography or video. Then the last 12MP 120-degree FoV sensor with f/2.2 aperture with an ultra-wide sensor specificatlly for the video mode when the device is in swivel mode.

Did I mention that when in swivel mode, the LG Wing 5G can be used in Gimbal mode as well which basically simulate a real gimbal device which stabilizes your video footage.

There is an “hexa motion sensor” which stabilizes shots and allow digital approximation of following a subject and panning the screen. This is a cool feature that will further enhance the photography capability of the LG Wing 5G and not to forget that LG devices had always been masters at camera hardware and software development which is a big plus.

Then there is a 32MP front facing selfie camera which pops out through a motorized module at the front of the device and is able to do things such as Dual recording which flip back and forth between selfie and rear cameras while recording or be used both at once.

With this new feature and 4K video, as well as ‘voice bokeh’ and ‘ASMR recording’ (both carried over from the LG V60), LG seems to be aiming this phone at journeymen streamers.

Performance and battery life

I might list out some features which might sound disappointing but no they are definitely high value. For example, the device sports the Snapdragon 765G chipset which gives it the 5G support it demands and also comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage that can be expanded through an external SD card to 2TB.

You might say “But why not Snapdragon 865+” like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, believe it, the device handled all tasks abundantly during the short period of time being spent with it. Switching between the swivel and normal mode was fine and there was no noticeable lag whatsoever during this transition and that is the interesting thing about the device.

Even playing games as well as its primary functionality which is multitasking all done well without any issue whatsoever. LG is able to also perfect the software to work perfectly with the device’s hardware which is basically what everyone would want from such a device in the first place.

The LG Wing 5G packs a 4,000mAh battery which to me is a bit disappointing considering the fact that the device comes with two OLED panels conjoined using a hinge that swivel with a motorized pop-up camera, all these hardware components demands power to make them perform to their fullest but the software is quite good in managing the device’s ppwer which seems fine.

But I’d rather see like 4,500mAh battery on this kind of device because it’s bulky already and people who buy this device will want to use it for heavy duty rather than just being a fancy piece of hardware which nobody is totally cool with.

Key Specifications of LG Wing 5G

Other noteworthy facts about the LGH Wing 5G includes the fact that you can use the device in the T-shaped orientation whereby the screen is in portrait mode while the smaller screen flies out by the side to being the extra screen to do more maybe to watch videos or something while you use the main screen for other important thing and the screen itself can split into two (classic Android feature).

There is also the advantage whereby you can extend some applications to use both screens of the Wing such as the Gallery app for example which can show an image or clip on the large display while also featuring the camera gallery on the other screen. You can even use the second screen for editing video clips if you use the Gallery app which means you don’t have any intrusion on your main UI to do your work. I’d be really glad if more software can support this functionality such as the Kinemater video editing app for Android.

LG also worked with some third-party developers to get more apps to run on both screens on the Wing. YouTube offers video control buttons on the second screen. Then there’s Naver’s Whale web browser which automatically “beams” any video embed on your current webpage to the main screen, while you continue to browse on the second screen. Gameloft also tweaked its racing game Asphalt 9: Legends for the Wing, in order to use the second screen to show the map — a feature already made available on the TwinView Docks for ASUS’ ROG Phones.