[ad_1]
I will not have called the last LG phone I reviewed ” too bland“if I knew months later I would be using an LG phone with a swivel screen.
The Wing is LG’s first phone Explorer Project, an initiative to create weird phones (my words) that attempt to change the way we use these rectangular slabs. At first it looks like a normal phone, although it is tall (even bigger than the iPhone 12 Pro Max). But with your thumb and a little squeeze, you can easily rotate the screen left and up in a landscape orientation, uncovering a smaller secondary screen.
In this new T-shape (cross? Wing?), The LG Wing surprisingly succeeds in achieving its goal – it has changed the way I use my phone in a small but significant way. There are a few flaws, but it’s okay. This is a first-gen phone (which also costs $ 1,000) that most of us shouldn’t buy. LG knows it won’t sell millions – that wait is for its “universal line”, which includes traditional smartphones like this “bland” one. LG Velvet.
But just like how a second monitor adds a little edge to your desktop setup, the LG Wing offers us a new experience which makes the use of a telephone, in certain situations, more efficient. It’s an interesting, and above all fun, take on the smartphone.
The Fulcrum
I usually rotate the wing about a third of the time – almost exclusively when watching a movie or TV show or playing a game. It is handy to have the 3.9 inch mini screen at the bottom for monitor or use another application simultaneously. You can also lock the bottom screen and use it as an improved grip to prevent accidental tapping, or turn it into a trackpad for use on websites not designed to touch it.
I like to use it to watch Office for the zillionth time on the swivel screen while browsing Twitter, Instagram or Reddit at the bottom. I also like to play games on the top screen and leave the messaging apps open below to make it easy to get in and out of conversations. I once even went into swivel mode on a customer support call and used the bottom screen to find an order number in Gmail. No application switching necessary!
Its real usefulness appeared when I realized that I could fit the swivel phone into my bike mount. I put Google Maps on the extra large top screen and YouTube Music on the bottom. It was the chef’s kiss-unbelievable. I was there, cycling through the streets of Brooklyn (with a face mask), looking at the top screen to see when I needed to turn, while easily controlling my music. Stopped at a traffic light, I also used the bottom screen to call my parents, all without worrying about closing the Maps app at the top.
[ad_2]
