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I wanted to love the LG G Flex, I really did. When it was first announced I was stupidly excited - a flexible smartphone! A self healing back! It was the stuff of dreams - sadly, like most of my dreams, it failed to come true.
This could be the phone we look back on in five years time and herald as a game changer, but for now the LG G Flex is more of an extravagance than anything else.
We liked
The battery life on the LG G Flex is incredible. Seriously, I haven't been this impressed with the battery life on a smartphone for years.
It will just keep on going and going and for that I must applaud LG - for too long have I been suffering at the hands of 18 hour batteries.
The camera on the G Flex is also pretty decent and you can take some nice shots with it, plus the inclusion of 4K video recording is a nice touch - even if a 4K TV is still way, way out of my price range.
We disliked
The price. It's the biggest stumbling block for the LG G Flex and it's ultimately the reason why I'm finding it hard to recommend.
For £600 you can have the pick of pretty much any other smartphone on the market, but you'll need to shell out more than that for a SIM-free G Flex, with its distinctly average screen. If I'm spending that much I want the screen to dazzle me.
There's a place in my heart for the flexible design of the G Flex, but realistically speaking it doesn't offer any genuinely useful additional functionality and that's a real disappointment.
Verdict
This biggest issue I have with the LG G Flex is the fact that it's impossible to recommend.
A sky high price tag means the LG G Flex is immediately out of many people's price range and while the "flexible" nature of the phone is certainly interesting, in it's current form it's little more than a gimmick.
Want a top of the line LG smartphone? Then buy the G2. Want a large screened handset? Then take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or Nokia Lumia 1520.
All are cheaper than the LG G Flex, but none are inferior in terms of power, features or experience.
The only real USP is the slightly flexible, curved design which is innovative, but it's just not worth the considerable outlay the G Flex's price tag commands.
First reviewed: February 2014
