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With curved displays starting to pick up a little bit of steam, LG is at the forefront with its own version of the curve. Here’s our unboxing and first impressions of the LG G Flex!

The box itself is unique looking and eye-catching, and alludes to what we can expect inside, a stylish and good-looking device. Opening the box reveals a delightfully large smartphone, that is curved from top to bottom, unlike the side to side curve of the Samsung Galaxy Round. Its design language closely mimics the LG G2, which is, in a word, excellent.

Also included in the box is a SIM-tray tool in the shape of a G, making it quite stylish, a micro-USB cable and AC charging adapter, and a welcome inclusion of earphones, in this case, LG-branded Quad Beat 2 premium earphones. As you may have noticed, a battery isn’t included in the package, as the G Flex features an unibody curved design, making the battery non-removable.

Make no mistake — The LG G Flex is a very large device. Though, with its top to bottom curve, your index finger lands at the top of the device nicely. For those with smaller hands, this might present a bit more of a challenge, but I digress. Holding the G Flex is not uncomfortable in any way, and sits pretty snugly in your hand. Despite its size, the uni-body design of the smartphone makes it quite thin. The curved back houses the button layout at the top, and, because of the curve, is very naturally accessible. One of the stand out features of the LG G Flex is the back cover, which incorporates some very novel self-healing tech. This will, of course, be tested thoroughly in the detailed hands-on review that will be coming shortly.

The UI experience is similar to what you’d find on the LG G2, with the difference coming in because of the larger display size. With the top to bottom curved configuration, there is almost no rocking while typing, with visible back and forth rocking occurring only when you press down at the extreme ends of the device. Even with different curve configurations compared to the Galaxy Round, the purpose remains the same. In the case of the LG G Flex, slightly easier access and reach to the top of the screen is achievable.

Specifications aren’t what makes the LG G Flex stand out, and the only similar device it can be compared to is the Samsung Galaxy Round. Let’s take a look -

	Samsung Galaxy Round	LG G Flex
Display	5.7-inch, Super Flexible AMOLED, 1920 x 1080, 386 ppi	Curved P-OLED, 1280 x 720, 245 ppi
Processor	2.3 Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, Adreno 330	2.26 Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, Adreno 330
RAM	3 GB	2 GB
Storage	32 GB, expandable	32 GB, no expansion
Battery	2,800 mAh	3,500 mAh
Cameras	13 MP rear, 2 MP front	13 MP rear, 2.1 MP front
Networks	4G LTE-A/GSM	4G LTE-A/GSM
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, IR, USB 3.0	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, IR, USB 3.0
OS	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Dimensions	151.1 x 79.6 x 7.9 mm, 154 grams	160.5 x 81.6 x 8.7 mm, 177 grams