Battle of the curved phones: LG G Flex vs Samsung Galaxy Round

LG and Samsung have forayed into a new mobile category with smartphones featuring curved displays. Samsung’s Galaxy Round and LG’s G Flex have made their debuts in Korea and now the LG handset is about to hit Indian stores in February next year. The Galaxy Round has been announced for $1027 (in Korea) while LG says the G Flex will be priced between Rs 60,000 and Rs 65,000. We’ve put both smartphones in the ring for a face off, to see who emerges as the winner (on paper).

LG G Flex

The LG Flex comes with a 6-inch 720p curved OLED display. The design is vertical oriented as the phone is curved on the horizontal axis. According to LG, the design reduces the distance between user’s mouth and microphone when the Flex is held against the ear. The smartphone also takes design cues from the recently launched G2, and comes with rear buttons for power and volume. The LG G Flex is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. On the camera front, the G Flex comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. It packs in a 3,500 mAh battery and runs on Android 4.2.2.

Premature announcement?

LG has also added a host of features that take advantage of the curved screen. A feature called QTheater lets users quickly access photos, videos and YouTube directly from the lockscreen just by dragging outwards along the curved surface with both fingers. It creates a theater curtain effect before introducing the video. QSlide creates a floating browser effect for opening multiple apps. One of the highlights of the device is the “self healing” protective film for the back panel. LG claims that the phone can heal itself against minor scratches and bumps. The special protective film on the back cover will ensure that the hairline scratches disappear within minutes. The phone also comes with a “dual window” mode that allows users to multitask better and also a “swing-lock screen” that keeps changing the device’s wallpaper depending on how the phone is held in users’ hands. The company also uses the rear key LED to indicate several functions of the phone. For instance, the LED on the Rear Key turns green to confirm the status of face detection feature.

Samsung Galaxy Round

We’ve been hearing about Samsung’s flexible phone ever since the company displayed Youm at the CES this year. Curved at the vertical axis, the Round sports a 5.7-inch 1080p display, which is slightly smaller than the G Flex. Just like the G Flex, it comes with a quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC but has given a boost to the RAM with 3GB of memory and has a higher clock speed of 2.3GHz. Another similarity is the 13-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It includes a 2800mAh battery and runs on Android 4.3.

Galaxy Round, the first of the two curved phones

Pertaining to the curved display, Samsung has introduced a feature called Roll Effect. The feature enables users to view missed calls, battery life, date and time even when the smartphone is tilted on a flat surface with the screen off. The Bounce UX lets you control music without turning on the display. Users can tap on the left side to go back a track and touch the right side to move forward. With the Side Mirror feature, users can view additional information about videos or images when they tilt the phone from side to side. It also comes with the Multi Window feature, allowing users to open more than one application on the screen.

Take a look at the comparison sheet below:

The bottom line

Considering the specs, the Galaxy Round has an upper hand with its 1080p display, higher pixel density, slimmer form factor and 3GB of RAM. On the other hand, the LG G Flex comes with an innovative design borrowed from the G2 and a better battery. Unfortunately for fans of these phones, they won't come cheap. Users will get features that complement the curved display from both phones. Samsung's curved display, it must be said, is also more unusual for a smartphone user than LG's. But without Samsung not announcing the India availability just yet, LG could have an upper hand at the moment.