Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “LG Wing Review: Phones Are Fun Again”.
A portion of this video is sponsored by Surfshark.. Earlier this year I started a series called “ When Phones Were Fun” to kind of celebrate the lost era of experimental design in mobile tech.. Well, unbeknownst to me, LG was also waxing nostalgic about some of it’s own phones of fun times past, including one that enjoyed a blink and you’ll miss it cameo in the opening scene of “ Ironman”. Since then years have gotten longer and phone names have gotten shorter.. I’M Michael Fisher, the year is 2020 and the phone is the LG Wing.
( electronic music ). I spent part of my week with the Wing on a hundred mile adventure from Greenpoint to Greenport New York., Mostly so I could test it’s gimbal camera in the swivel mode for which it was built., Starting a relaxing Sunday off right with the Zipcar, with no coolant. No fuel fuel card that doesn’t work kinda smells like weed. Good time, But before we hit the road, let’s hit the basics. Under the hood.
The Wing is essentially an LG Velvet same processor, same storage, similar battery capacity and same size display, but where the Velvet needed an accessory to reach it’s dual display potential. The Wing’s second screen is just a swipe away., The slider deploys with reassuring consistency and when you stow that screen it locks into place with a slick clack that never fails to remind me of the T-Mobile Sidekick. ( clack ), (, clack ).
It’S very well built, and while its IP54 rating doesn’t give it the water resistance as other phones, it is rated to survive splashes from any direction, which is at least a leg up over its weird phone cousins in the foldable category.. My only complaints about the hardware are the use of a mirror finish on the glass back, which is much too easy to smudge. Love how the IMEI sticker didn’t come off cleanly.
So now I got ta Windex the back of the phone and hope it doesn’t smudge forever. Am I scratching this. I hate mirror finishes And it’s cumbersome size.. I use my Twelve South PowerPic Wireless Charger as a measure for whether a phone is too tall or not and yeah. This scores, 11 out of 10 Commander Rikers. Audiophiles, will be disappointed to hear about the removal of the headphone, jack and Quad DAC. That LG typically includes in its flagships, but this isn’t really a flagship..
It’S an experiment. One which asks the same questions LG started asking a couple years ago. How can a second screen make a smartphone better And for some use cases the company’s earlier offerings make more sense.? For example, side by side displays are better for consulting one document, while annotating another., The Wing excels when you wan na consume content while dabbling in another app.. You know: stick CBS up top and Twitter down below, so you can doomscroll while you disco., Or keep an eye on your Uber while you Telegram.
Music, while you map. Message, while you meet., I don’t need to keep going. You get it. LG’s. Software definitely still has its trip-ups, which I’ll talk about in a moment, but the concept makes sense. When its in basic mode.
It’S your typical Android smartphone from feeds to phone calls, but when you deploy the wing, you get a custom launcher with a carousel of apps optimized for wide screen., Tap on a text field up top and the keyboard pops up down below or check this out. Toggle. The track pad and you get an honest to goodness mouse complete with pointer and two finger scrolling., It’s not really useful in apps, but on websites that haven’t been optimized for touch its just brilliant.. Of course, it’s in the crazy gimbaled camera mode that the Wing truly soars, but that same camera is also in some ways a gilded cage.
Join dual Davids and me for wine tasting with the Wing. After a quick word from my sponsor., It’s rare that I get to say this about a sponsor, so listen up.. I haven’t stopped using Surfshark since the first time we partnered. There are plenty of great VPN’s out there, but Surfshark is the only one with this combination.
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There’S a pan follow mode that limits vertical movement. So you can try a slow side to side move.! There’S a lock button to keep a subject centered in the frame, even if you’re moving the camera around. And there’s also a voice bokeh mode to eliminate background noise when you’re speaking directly to the camera..
While I am speaking directly to the camera, let me tell you something: I forgot to record in the voiceover. If you use the gimbal mode, a lot say more than several times a day for extending filming periods, you’re gon na need charge the phone before the day is out. In basic mode.
It’S an all day. Smartphone, like most of them, are these days, but that gimbal mode sucks a lot of power just be advised.. My go-to for most of our two day country excursion, was the FPV mode which just limits bounce in all axis.
So you get nice smooth coverage, that’s perfect! For casual vlogging. – Or it would be perfect if this hardware was up to the challenge. As you’ve probably noticed, video from the swivel mode is limited to full HD, which ain’t the sharpest around. Just contrast it with the 4k video you can shoot in basic mode.
Here. See this is the detailed, dare I say, crispy video we’ve come to expect from a modern phone.. Not this half focused mediocrity. I have to settle for in exchange for the gimbal.. The reason is simple. When the phone is in gimbal mode, its using the 12 megapixel ( camera frame, clicks, ), ultrawide camera instead of the 64 megapixel primary. LG is doing this, so it can offer the extensive stabilization required for the gimbal effect to work. But the result is, you know: fuzzy, footage., That’s compounded by poor nighttime performance and a hobbled selfie shooter as well..
It’S high resolution and it’s cool that it hides away in a little cubby hole when you don’t need it, and I also love that you can record simultaneously on front and back, but on a phone like this, you have to put an ultrawide lens on your front Facing camera, because those are the only selfie shooters worth anything to the kind of vloggers who the gimbal mode is expressly targeting.. These design decisions are confusing. This is an interesting device, but it is a confusing device.
Yeah, but you also get to see emo David. Yeah that is- ( laughs ). Now those compromises get a lot easier to understand.
When you remember that the Wing is an experiment. LG knows it not gon na move millions of these.. The whole purpose of the company’s Explorer program is to test the waters to see what flavor of weirdness sticks.
So for $ 999 ( cash register, chime ). This is whatcha get.. The question, to my mind is: would you pay more for the same phone with proper hardware that could support things like 4k and universal wide angle? For me, the answer is only if LG fixes problems that have been around for way too long. Its color processing on the camera is still too saturated.. Whoa.
[, Micheal, ], Haha potent. Low light performance, as I mentioned, is still mediocre. And beyond the camera. The software is sluggish., Touch response, isn’t the best.? The Verizon version has a shameful amount of bloatware and the keyboard is just awful, and yet, despite all that, this is my favorite LG phone.
Since I started this channel four years ago. For years, I’ve memorialized not just the bolder days of the industry in general, but specifically LG’s experimentation with alternative form factors and bleeding edge materials.. I liked the dual screen case, but it was a half measure.. The Wing is a product purpose built to push the boundaries, and it succeeds far more often than I’d have expected. For the money. Most folks will be better served buying something more conventional, but products like the Wing prove that phones are indeed fun.
Again. And I couldn’t be happier. Speaking of fun, the LG Wing makes a pretty great ping pong paddle, as well. Credit to David Cogen at theunlockr for the ridiculous idea..
His real world test. Video featuring this game and much more footage from our adventure in the countryside is linked in the description.. As always, LG provided no compensation for this coverage, nor was it offered copy approval or an early preview of this video. They’re, seeing it for the first time right.
Alongside you. Until next time, thanks for watching and remember when you’re near other people stay safe and mask up while you stay mobile, my friends. ( electronic music, ) .