LG Brings an Interesting Twist to Phone Design with Their LG WING 5G

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Remember when phones were more individual and fun? Some might slide or flip open to reveal a keyboard, while some were shaped like everything from a make-up compact to a 1960’s spy camera. These days we have slab phones and folding phones, and while the technology is light years ahead of where it was decades ago, the designs can be a bit too similar. LG is breaking from that mold, though; today they have introduced their new LG WING 5G, and it is something interesting and different.

All photos courtesy of LG.

At first, the LG WING 5G appears to be the standard slab phone that we are all used to seeing when it is in Basic Mode. In Basic Mode, the WING 5G has a large 6.8″ OLED FullVision edge-to-edge display (2,460 x 1,080 / 395ppi) with a 20.5:9 aspect ratio. But a simple sliding action rotates the entire front of the phone into Swivel Mode, which seamlessly reveals a 3.9″ OLED (1,240 x 1,080 / 419ppi) second screen that has advantageous software optimizations.

When you are in Swivel Mode, you can display two apps simultaneously with one on each display, and certain apps will expand to both screens. If you are in a Zoom meeting, for example, you could search through your email or an Excel spreadsheet for the figures your boss just sent that you need to share with your team; if you are on a phone call, you could pull up a map showing where to meet your friend, or if you are watching a video that has been optimized for this form factor in the main screen, you could access media controls to change video or sound settings. But wait, there’s more.

The LG WING 5G has a pop-up 32-megapixel front-facing camera, which you can see in the “selfie” photo below.

But perhaps the most interesting and exciting use for Swivel Mode comes into play when you are using the rear cameras. On the back, it has a 64-megapixel Ultra-High-Resolution camera, a 12-megapixel Ultra-Wide Big Pixel camera, and a 13-megapixel Ultra-Wide camera. LG says that these cameras feature “superb hardware and innovative software, giving users a great combination of mobile photo and video solutions in their pocket.”

 

And this is where things get interesting and innovative; the LG WING 5G has a built-in gimbal. When in Swivel Mode, the WING’s second screen becomes a grip, and there are options available that generally only found on real gimbals, like a “joystick function to control the camera’s angles, a lock mode to reduce shakes and blurring, a follow mode for smoother videos when moving, pan follow for horizontal movement with minimal up and down shake, and first-person view mode for capturing rhythmic and dynamic movements.” It is worth noting is that the 12-megapixel rear-facing camera will only work in gimbal mode.

You might think that stacking two displays on top of each other would result in a much thicker smartphone, but the LG WING 5G is still billed as being “relatively thin and light.” The phone measures 6.67″ long by 2.93″ wide by 0.43″ thick, and it weighs 9.17 ounces. For comparison sake, the iPhone 11 Pro max is 7.97 ounces and is 0.31″ thick, the Pixel 4 XL weighs 6.81 ounces and is 0.37″ thick, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra weighs 7.7 ounces and is 0.35″ thick — not counting the camera bulge, the folding-screen Samsung Z Flip weighs 6.46 ounces and is 0.68″ thick when closed, and the folding-screen Samsung Z Fold2 weighs 9.95 ounces and is 0.66″ thick when closed. So the LG WING is a bit heavier and thicker than most single-screen smartphones, but it is significantly thinner than both Samsung folding-screen smartphones, and it is a bit lighter than the Z Fold 2.

Continuing LG’s focus on durability and reliability, LG WING features a Hydraulic Damper, which reduces stress on the mechanism when the Main Screen is rotated. Thermoplastic polyoxymethylene is applied to the back of the Main Screen to facilitate smoother swiveling and to prevent scratches on the Second Screen. The hinge mechanism in LG WING has proven to be reliable even after 200,000 swivels – this averages out to about 100 motions every day for five years.

The LG WING will have an in-display fingerprint reader, and it will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G 5G Mobile Platform integrated with Snapdragon X52 5G Modem-RF System. It will come with 8GB RAM and 256GB internal memory, but it will include a microSD slot (for up to 2TB) if you need more storage. It will run Android 10.0 at release, but will hopefully soon update to Android 11 since that is starting to roll out on other Android phones. The WING will have a 4,000mAh battery, and it will include Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0+ technology and wireless charging capability.

You’ll be able to get the LG WING 5G in two colors — Aurora Gray and Illusion Sky — and it will initially be available in the United States from Verizon. T-Mobile and other U.S. carriers will follow. LG says that “specific pricing, availability, specs and color options will vary by network partners,” but word on the street is that it will sell in the neighborhood of $1,000.

You can learn more about the LG WING 5G here (click the tab at the top of the page to watch a virtual unboxing), and you can watch the full announcement video below.

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About the Author

Judie Lipsett Stanford
Judie is the co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Gear Diary, which she founded in September 2006. She got her start in 1999 writing software reviews at the now-defunct smaller.com; from mid-2000 through 2006, she wrote hardware reviews for and co-edited at The Gadgeteer. A recipient of the Sigma Kappa Colby Award for Technology, Judie has written for or been profiled by nationally known sites and magazines, and she has served on multiple industry hardware and software award panels. She is best known for her device-agnostic approach, enjoyment of exploring tech, gadgets, and gear, and her deep-diving, jargon-free reviews.