LG's strange Wing rotating dual-screen smartphone is tipped for a September 14 reveal, promising to bring a mid-range phone to the market with a design that makes the Microsoft Surface Duo look dull.
An official video from LG teases the new phone by using a fancy render and confirms that it will be revealed on September 14. The video didn’t actually reveal the phone's aesthetic in full, but it tracks with the rotating screen design we’ve seen in previous leaks.
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Essentially, the LG Wing will be like having two smartphones on top of each other with one rotated 90 degrees to provide a strange T-shaped dual-screen system. The main display measures in at 6.8 inches and the secondary display thought to be around 4 inches.
While foldable phones with a large internal display or dual-screen devices that fold like a paperback book seem practical, the LG Wing is a seriously left-field take on dual-screen devices.
But from other videos of the LG Wing, we see how its rotating displays can be used to create a form of sat-nav and music control system that you can mount above your car’s dashboard. The main vertical screen provides the navigation information, while the horizontal secondary screen - or 'wing' if you want - provides a suite of controls for music playback.
Given a lot of modern cars have navigation systems and comprehensive music controls built into their infotainment system and dashboard, this setup might seem a little redundant and fiddly. But it at least gives us an idea of what the LG Wing could be used for.
Also with the phone rotated in a cross-like orientation, the horizontal display could be used to view videos, while the secondary vertical screen is used to send messages and carry out other smartphone tasks. We’re getting the impression that the LG Wing will very much be a phone that we’d need to try out to see what we could do with its unusual take on dual-screen phones.
Things are a little more pedestrian when it comes to specs, as the LG Wing is expected to come with a mid-range Snapdragon 765G, which should give it acceptable every-day performance and 5G connectivity. And it’s expected to have a 64MP primary camera.
If the LG Wing is also released on September 14 it would arrive before the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, a revised take on the Galaxy Fold that looks to have fixed that foldable phone's flaws and really built upon the dual-screen foldable phone concept. While the LG Wing is interesting, its design doesn't look as practical as that of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which will go on sale September 18, though pre-orders are live right now. But the LG Wing could steal some of the attention away from Samsung's flagship foldable phone.
Android Central reported that the LG Wing is expected to cost $1,000 in the U.S., which is a lot for a phone with a mid-range spec; the OnePlus 8 Pro comes in at $899 and has a serious flagship specification. In some ways, this could mean the LG Wing is dead-on-arrival, but we’ve not got long to wait to see how LG will position this odd dual-screen phone.
