It’s no secret that we’re very keen to see what LG’s Wing handset, the first of the company’s Explorer Project devices, looks and feels like. We’ve got an official look coming next week but the leaks just keep on coming.
A Wing and a prayer
The latest look at LG’s innovative idea is a (very) brief video that shows how the LG Wing will function in the real world. Mostly we’ve seen the T-shaped smartphone in flat images, the video (below) presents a more three-dimensional view of the handset. It’s a slighter thicker slab than you’re used to seeing from LG. Because there are two screens on top of each other, obviously.
And it’s obvious that LG is trying to create a dual(ish)-screened phone that doesn’t add too much extra thickness to the actual handset. The phone’s swivelling section doesn’t look particularly fragile but it is a very thin sliver of (likely) metal and glass. And being open in that orientation means it’s susceptible to damage, from the front and the back. But then, that’s not unusual — the new crop of folding smartphones tend to come with specific care instructions as well.
No big deal
Fragile phone hardware isn’t anything new, especially when it comes to new design ideas. Users run about the same about of risk as they would using a smartphone normally — drop it or whack it against a doorframe and you’re in for the same bad time whether your phone is shaped like an I or a T. But the T-shaped smartphone may wind up breaking in new and different ways and that’s something that’ll stick in users’ minds.
But the biggest obstacle LG faces here is user uptake. Wing certainly looks interesting from an engineering perspective but we’re not completely convinced the design choice is an essential one and not just a ‘because it was different’ one. Hopefully, LG will prove us wrong next week at its official reveal and there’s an awesome use case beyond watching Netflix fullscreen while using the base of the phone as a handle.
