Hello pinchers!
LG just announced the Wing, a smartphone powered by the mid-range Snapdragon 765G and equipped with 8 GB of memory. It also features a 4000 mAh battery, expandable storage, an assortment of three camera sensors at the rear and a pop-up selfie shooter upfront. So far, so 2020 upper mid ranger. But all is not as it seems with the Wing, as you can flick the curved OLED front-display by ninety degrees, revealing a second, square display. This is, for all intents and purposes, a bit weird to say the least. Last time we saw this type of sideways flip action on an Android smartphone was in 2010 with the entirely square Motorola Flip out, which isn’t exactly remembered as a success.
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| Source: slashgear.com |
During the announcement, LG showcased some intended use cases, as well as a few apps already optimized to leverage the second display. Continued Support by more developers could turn into an uphill battle though. Adding to that, a lot of tech enthusiasts have mentioned that, by only offering a small amount of added screen real estate, this approach has only a limited advantage and appeal. To a lot, it seems that LG just made something,solely to be weird, not considering how any customer could ever be convinced to buy it. But, I don’t think any of that will matter much for the potential commercial success of the Wing. I believe that LG may have been smarter than one might initially think. Taking a look at their financial results of 2019, LG Mobile Communications Company reported a full-year operating loss of almost $ 860.000.000!
That’s not nothing, though considering LG Electronics Incorporated, which LG Communications Company is a part of, made a full-year operating profit of over $ 2 Billion, thanks in large part to their Home Appliance business, it is fair to say that LG as a company will manage, especially when one considers that LG Electronics Incorporated is just another part of a larger conglomerate, the LG Corporation. Android has its issues adapting to irregular display sizes and configurations. Apps may not like being forced into a square aspect ratio and, just like we’ve seen on devices like the Velvet with its dual-screen case, even using the keyboard on a second display can cause issues.
Being someone whose multitasking on Android often includes watching videos, the idea of having a full-width display solely for said videos is appealing and having a square screen just dedicated to the on-screen keyboard could enhance typing, especially with larger spreadsheets. Additionally, holding a phone in one hand is easier with it vertical than horizontal, especially while walking, something LG intends to leverage for smoother, gimbal-like video recording.
So, I definitely see some applications for the LG Wing, yet, considering Androids idiosyncratic scaling and apps like Instagram being a mess any time a manufacturer ventures outside of conventional smartphone design, it will bean uphill battle on whether the Wing is going to be as useful as it has the potential to be. The goal with the Wing is obviously to give users more usable screen real estate in a familiar body. Existing dual screen solutions, like the cases LG offers for the Velvet and V60 have the inherent issue that, by virtue of not being an integrated solution, they add a lot of excess bulk, especially when using only one display. Of course, there is the option of removing the phone from the case, but constantly taking off and putting on a case isn’t fun either.
Smartphones based on foldable displays still have their limits, mostly related to a high price thanks to their still very new technology and on top of that, there are durability concerns. Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Fold have proven dependable so far, though concerns remain, especially when it comes to exposure to humidity. The Wing, in a sense, addresses all these issues. It is only two millimetres thicker than most regular smartphones, is IP54 rated for splash and some degree of dust resistance and rated for MIL-STD-810G compliance, all while easily giving users added screen real estate. As a straightforward piece of thinking, it makes all the sense in the world. But looking at software, the story changes a bit.
I think that it is safe to say that LG would like to turn their mobile business profitable however and, looking at the Wing, especially in light of their last two major smartphone releases, the V60 and Velvet, I’d like to take a guess on how they are trying to accomplish this. Looking at them, I feel that the V60 and Velvet both had slightly different consumers in mind, though with one connecting tissue between them, an additional accessory to stand out from the competition. The V60, a rather thick and utilitarian smartphone,appears to have focused on the segment of customers that value pure performance. It has the highest end SOC on the market,a massive battery and an optional dual-screen case. The Velvet on the other hand was rather thin,with a design clearly aimed at getting the attention of those, who value a bit of aesthetic,even at the cost of utility. As others have pointed out, the Velvet's target audience is likely the type of customer shopping for a smartphone in person, so how the device looks and feels was prioritized. Once again, we have an optional dual-screen case.
In both situations, these phones had competitors and, unless you valued the headphone jack they retained, there was little to draw customer attention to the LG devices specifically, outside of those optional dual-screen cases and certain value adds like buy-one-get-one deals or giving a free 4k TV to every Velvet customer in specific markets. With the LG Wing, I have a feeling that LG may try to bring this strategy of differentiation to its logical conclusion. With prior LG phones, there was always this lingering question of “Why should I get this over a similarly priced Samsung?”. For most sales assistants, something like the Quad Dac and its added sound quality are hard to, well, sell. For as much as I love what LG has done for sound quality in smartphones over the years, most consumers simply don’t test these features during their purchasing process.
Something like enhanced sound quality is hard to market to the type of person getting their smartphone as part of a carrier deal. They look at the phone, they touch the phone,maybe take a picture or two, that’s basically it for a large number of people. Not everyone is an enthusiast, not everyone watches reviews. Now consider the LG Wing. Suddenly, there is a smartphone that is similar in performance to other smartphones in your local carrier store. One that looks good and has a second display to differentiate itself from the rest, though unlike with the Velvet, a sales rep doesn’t need to go out of their way and put on a case to showcase this. With the LG Wing, they can just say: “This one does everything those over there do, except you can also flip the screen”. It’s easy to showcase, an eye catcher that grabs attention. Best of all, since the Wing can be a normal smartphone on demand, even customers who wouldn’t use the second display may be more interested, simply due to the novelty. Basically, the LG Wing makes a lot of sense from a sales experience standpoint to me. It seems designed from the ground up to target carrier floors, which makes it something we haven’t seen in recent times in the mobile market.
Regardless, I hope that LG manages the software side of this properly. While poor software doesn’t make the average carrier customer return their smartphone, bugs, issues and a bad experience would likely harm word-of-mouth and customer retention. Equally, pricing is key here. According to major US outlets, LG has yet to confirm MSRP and carrier pricing, which could decide whether this is seen as a cool alternative to mundane devices or an overpriced indulgence with limited appeal. Will the LG Wing be a sales success? Only time will tell, though to me at least,it looks like LG’s “Explorer Project” may have thought this one through. It appears to have a sound strategy behind it, one that considers the customer journey and has the potential to offer added utility,provided the user experience is flawless and pricing is reasonable.
LG does bundle a dongle with the Wing, making the removal slightly more palatable, though it remains to be seen whether it can truly replace the legendary Quad Dac that has ensured a niche following for LG smartphones among audio enthusiasts. As I like the added flexibility of a second,albeit, very small display along with the promise of stable, wide angle videos on a smartphone, the Wing does offer a lot I’d like to see in my next smartphone. On top of that, there is always some enjoyment to be had in being a contrarian. I just really need stylus support for my day-to-day life unfortunately, making it unlikely that the LG Wing would end up as my next smartphone. Perhaps LG pulls a V60 though, one can always hope. I’d love to hear what you think of the LG Wing. Does it have potential and would you be interested in one? Let me know.
