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My smartphone, unlike my cat, always seems to drop right smack on its face. I have broken the glass that protects the precious screen before. My phones certainly don't have nine lives, but, thanks its curve, maybe the G Flex 2 has a better chance at survival.
There's a lot to like about the LG G Flex 2, and thankfully most of the perks have to do with the specs and similarities to the LG G3. It doesn't just rely on the curve this time around.
We liked
The G Flex 2 has some muscle to it. Under the right conditions, it has the fastest processor of any smartphone and ports over LG G3's camera with an excellent snap-and-review selfie feature. Android 5.0 Lollipop is here in limited form, but that includes the decidedly clutch lock screen notifications.
This phone has the brains, so it's okay to pay attention to its slick-looking curvy features. Matching LG's curved 4K TV shape and coming in at a much more reasonable 5.5-inches, the flexible 1080p display is as comfortable as it is durable. This second Flex has a much better shot of breaking out of the series's current cult hit status.
We disliked
LG's G Flex 2 is once again solving a problem that not everyone is clamoring to fix, as much as people spend money on cracked-phone replacements and cases to prevent future accidents.
While the outside is trendy, the question remains: why not just go with the cheaper LG G3 or wait for the LG G4? The Flex 2's chipset benchmarks are inconsistent at the moment, and the battery here isn't swappable. The self-healing back doesn't pass the scratch test either.
Final verdict
In a year-and-a-half since the LG G Flex first launched, things have changed. Apple's BendGate controversy became worldwide news, and now everyone's mom and dad on their family plan has begun to worry about their phones breaking in their back pocket. That's still not reason enough to spring for a curved, flexible phone.
Instead, the more important development has been the significant specs bump found within the new LG G Flex 2. LG's debut of the Snapdragon 810 chip, while inconsistent and running hot right now, shows promise. The 1080p resolution more than doubles the amount of pixels on a 5.5-inch screen that's smaller and more manageable.
Ultimately, the LG G Flex 2 is a trendier-looking LG G3 variant with the same great camera and better battery life than the first. If you don't want to wait for the LG G4 and don't mind paying a little extra, it's time to take a chance on something new, and for interesting phones like the Flex 2 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge to graduate from cult hits into the mainstream.
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