It looks like a banana. Honestly, that was the first thing everyone said when the LG G Flex 2 hit the scene at CES 2015. While other manufacturers were obsessing over making their slabs as flat and thin as humanly possible, LG went the other way. They gave us a phone with a literal arc.
You’ve probably heard the horror stories about this device. The overheating. The stuttering. The "Snapdragon 810" disaster. But there’s a lot more to this weird piece of tech history than just a spicy processor. It was a bold, high-stakes gamble that arguably paved the way for the foldable revolution we're living through right now.
The "Self-Healing" Myth vs. Reality
One of the wildest things about the LG G Flex 2 was the back cover. LG claimed it could "heal" itself from scratches in about 10 seconds. In the original G Flex, this process took minutes, but for the sequel, they refined the molecular structure of the poly-resin coating.
Basically, the back wasn't just plastic; it was a lattice of hydrogen bonds. When you scratched it with your keys, you weren't actually "tearing" the material. You were just denting it. Because the material was so elastic, it would essentially "flow" back into the gaps and smooth itself out at room temperature.
Does it actually work?
Kinda. If you’re talking about light swirls from sliding it across a wooden table or the friction from your jeans, it was magic. Within seconds, the surface looked brand new.
But here’s the catch: it couldn't fix everything. If you took a knife to it or dropped it on concrete and actually removed a chunk of the coating, it was done. No amount of "healing" can regrow missing atoms. Many users ended up with "scars" on their phones because they mistook the marketing for invincibility. It was scratch-resistant, not indestructible.
Why the Curve Actually Mattered
People mocked the shape, but if you actually held an LG G Flex 2, you’d realize it was surprisingly ergonomic. The curvature radius varied from 400mm to 700mm depending on which part of the phone you were looking at.
- Better Audio: Because the phone curved toward your face, the microphone was physically closer to your mouth. This actually improved voice clarity in noisy environments because it didn't have to work as hard to pick up your voice over background chatter.
- The Pocket Fit: This sounds counterintuitive, but humans aren't flat. If you put a flat 5.5-inch phone in your back pocket and sit down, you risk the "BendGate" disaster. The G Flex 2 was built to flatten out under pressure and then spring back into its curved shape. It followed the contour of your leg.
- The "Glance View" Feature: You could swipe down on the curved screen while it was off to see the time and notifications without fully waking the device. It felt futuristic for 2015.
The Snapdragon 810 Elephant in the Room
We have to talk about the heat. The LG G Flex 2 was the first major phone to ship with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. On paper, it was a beast—an octa-core 64-bit monster. In reality? It was a furnace.
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The phone frequently suffered from thermal throttling. This is where the software intentionally slows down the CPU to keep the hardware from melting itself. Users reported that the screen brightness would automatically drop to 70% or 60% and stay there because the phone was too hot. You couldn't even turn it back up if you wanted to.
LG tried to defend it. They claimed they had optimized the thermal dissipation. Critics like Ars Technica and GSMArena at the time weren't so sure. In many benchmarks, the older Snapdragon 801 (from the LG G3) actually outperformed the 810 during sustained tasks because it didn't have to slow down to cool off. It was a classic case of "too much power, not enough cooling."
The Display: P-OLED Growing Pains
The screen was a 5.5-inch 1080p Plastic OLED (P-OLED) panel. Moving from the 720p of the original G Flex to Full HD was a massive win for LG. The colors were incredibly vibrant, and the blacks were "true" black, just like you'd expect from an OLED.
However, P-OLED was still in its infancy. Many units suffered from a "grainy" or "paper-like" texture, especially at low brightness. If you were looking at a solid gray background at night, it looked like you were looking through a dirty window. It wasn't a dealbreaker for most, but for a "premium" niche device, it was a noticeable quirk.
What Really Happened to the G Flex Line?
Why didn't we get a G Flex 3? Basically, LG realized that people liked the features of the Flex more than the flex itself.
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The G Flex 2 was a bridge. It proved that plastic OLEDs were viable for mass production. LG eventually took that knowledge and moved it into their main flagship lines. If you look at the slight "contour" of the LG G4 or the secondary screen experiments on the LG V10, you can see the Flex's DNA everywhere.
The market eventually moved toward curved edges (like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge) rather than a curved body. LG tried to innovate by being different, but the industry decided that "flat but with fancy edges" was the winning aesthetic.
Actionable Insights for Tech Enthusiasts
If you happen to find one of these in a drawer or on eBay, here is how to handle the LG G Flex 2 today:
- Don't Expect Modern Battery Life: The 3,000mAh battery was decent for 2015, but with the Snapdragon 810’s heat issues, it drains fast. It’s a desk piece or a secondary media player at best.
- Keep it Cool: If you're using it for retro gaming, avoid heavy cases. The thermal throttling is real, and the phone needs all the airflow it can get to stay at its peak 2.0GHz clock speed.
- Appreciate the Durability: This is one of the few phones you can actually "step on" (lightly) and watch it flatten and return to shape. It’s a great piece of engineering to show off to friends who think modern phones are fragile.
- Check for Screen Burn-in: Like all early OLEDs, these panels are prone to ghosting. If you're buying one used, check the navigation bar area for permanent marks.
The LG G Flex 2 wasn't a perfect phone. It was a flawed, overheated, beautiful mess. But in a world where every phone looks like a glass sandwich, we should probably miss the days when companies were brave enough to make a phone that looked like a banana.