LG G Flex 2 Review: Tomorrow's Tech, Yesterday's Problems | Pocketnow

The LG G Flex 2 brings much more than a slight curve to the modern smartphone landscape. With a Snapdragon 810 processor, a self-healing paint job, and improvements to its predecessor in every single metric, the G Flex 2 is the most impressive Android we've seen this year - on paper, anyway. Find out if the reality lives up to the potential in our LG G Flex 2 video review, then get the full story in our written review: /2015/02/18/lg-g-flex-2-review
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Pocketnow has been a key source of mobile technology news and reviews since its establishment in 2000. With offices on three continents, Pocketnow offers round-the-clock coverage of the mobile technology landscape, from smartphones to tablets to wearables. We aim to be your number-one source for mobile tech news, reviews, comparisons, and commentary. If you love mobile as much as we do, be sure to subscribe!
LG G Flex 2 Review: Tomorrow's Tech, Yesterday's Problems | Pocketnow
• LG G Flex 2 Review: To...
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[@oorumaito]

I love the transition from cover view to insides! What an awesome idea Michael!

[@leonard_4083]

Those transitions at 2:20 and 2:31 were great! As well as the review, great job Michael!

[@GGMan]

Really enjoyed your review of the LG phone. Your the first reviewer that's mentioned the lag due to thermal throttling. Thumbs up for a honest review.

[@entertainme1761]

There's just something about Michael Fisher's reviews that makes me like Pocketnow. He makes every review so fun and lively

[@McRocket]

I really enjoy your reviews and your reviewing style. You seem very knowledgeable, yet down-to-earth. And your speaking style sounds very polished but relaxed..like you have been doing it a LONG time. I find your style adds to a review - whatever the product (at least in the 3 or 4 vids I have seen of yours so far)...making a review better then it otherwise might be. It is like you are telling me as a person about the product rather then telling the world over KZbin. And you sound MUCH older then you look, which I think is good in KZbin videos that are filled with sub-25 year olds.

[@NathWard]

Another fantastic video from Fisher! Hands down my favourite KZbin tech reviewer! Keep up the great work!

[@joesudlow8175]

Same!

[@DanielSzilagyi]

The curved screen was one of the things i loved about the old Galaxy Nexus back in the day, honestly voice calls on it were a pleasure in that respect

[@EugeneKee]

very fair review. will wait for your follow up review when it's release publicly as LG said to fix the issues mentioned here.

[@Allisllover]

lol i wouldn't have expected that uplifting little message at the end of the video. thanks Michael : p

[@orlandoducati]

Pocket now better give this dude a raise...just beastin these reviews..one of the best reviews I have seen..

[@ChaossX77]

Nice to see a review on time or even ahead of the curve. I was so excited for this phone.. But seeing it has the same issues as my G3 I'll wait.

[@pedgepooface]

Such great reviews. I really don't think anyone does it better, cap'n

[@TheCardboardGuy]

This guy is like the best reviewer for phones on KZbin

[@ABlackPatriot]

As an owner of the original Flex I was blown away at the power and battery life. It's CRAZY that it's actually worse on their newer phone (so far). This is crazy. M9 is where it's at now (unless that gets screwed up too).

[@Saif0412]

Real dissapointment, Hope LG fix the Snapdragon 810 issues, This is supposed to be the fastest processor available on a phone, Should have zero lag

[@chivamex10]

Specs ain't shit mate. Just look at Apple as a prime example.

[@thejokeriscool55]

LG G4 will have it fixed I think they were just in a hurry with this one.

[@ImperiaGin]

matthew von the os has a lot to do. I bet you a Nexus 6 doesn't lag as much as this does.

[@iAdrianT]

You're not the only one disappointed.

[@deafyboy86]

The issue with the S810, is, even when your phone is cold, it's not cold, if that makes sense? My OnePlus One for example, the coldest the S801 gets is about 35c, even when the phone is freezing to the touch it still sits around 30c, the S810 is MUCH more powerful, so naturally it consumes a bit more power and that translates to more heat, LG didn't give the 810 enough area to disperse heat, so thus, it gets hot, and throttles, which slows things down a lot. That and LG's skin isn't exactly the lightest. But don't panic, Qualcomm are continuously revising the S810 to help keep it cool and power sipping.

[@DynamoTightstar]

Glad I watched this vid. This was on the short list for my next handset. Not any more.

[@Kalinforrinco]

For the life of me, no one makes better puns than Michael Fisher! "In your pocket... now" and "coming to America" with a certain movie playing on the screen were just hilarious. As for the Flex 2 goes, I didn't expect it to be so laggy. I tested it in CES and it seemed to perform well. Still, I'm confident LG can solve this problems with updates. I love the Flex 2. It's just an amazing design achievement with very cool technology onboard.

[@datDaniki]

The animations seen in this video are fantastic and something that need to be commented on. Well done, sir! Shame that the phone can't quite use all that power, but I look forward to hearing more about it's supposed enhanced LTE compatibility once it hits the states and with the AT&T network. That, and the useability with Lollipop's encryption as that forced my Nexus 4 to such a battery drag that it hasn't left the drawer since hence why my OPO has remained my daily driver at least until my 1020 snags the W10 preview software.

[@abhishekagarwal787]

"A phone that's as fun to use as it is to lookat which is hard to find in this market" - Michael, you do a great job with your reviews!

[@in0124]

Got. My hands on one in store today. Only let down for me is the brightness is so low. You have to have it on 100% all the time, which makes it get very hot quick and obliterates the battery

[@ChaitanyaTapase]

Oh, the word-play was... brilliant, Mr. Fisher.

[@hopetonirwin7633]

What I like about Micheal Fisher's reviews is that honesty is always at the forefront.....disappointing for a high end device though...reminds me of a mid range phone.

[@CuteBorgy]

Bravo Michael Fisher good review, keep it up. You and MKHD are one of my top two tech reviewer.. I hope HTC m9 doesnt lag my contract will end soon..

[@andyabajo]

The problem was on the processor itself. That over-heating issue is really indeed true after all. So basically, Samsung's intuition to opt for their in-house SoC prove their choice. I cant wait to see the review of the Samsung Galaxy S6/Edge to see what's Samsung has in store for us this year! Planning to upgrade my phone, and this LG G Flex 2 was among in my list! Great video Michael! More power Pocketnow Team!

[@trekhead1]

Now I understand why companies are shying away from the 810. I had no idea it was that big of a problem

[@EdwardBliffin]

Coming to America..Michael lives among the greats!

[@AlFatihaOnRS]

Looks like ole Sammy was right about that chip all along, looking forward to the exynos Galaxy S6.

[@tase25]

So glad I watched this before buying. Not getting this now. Thanks for the insight

[@gameshoes]

Hearing about the SD810 overheating issues makes me wary of future phones. I'm a Windows Phone user who is still on the L920 and I'm worried that the next flagship may suffer the same overheating issues. Windows Phone can't really suffer a hit with their flagship being crippled when they had a lack of a true flagship (that wasn't carrier exclusive or destroyed by the carrier itself) last year - or at least in the US. Hopefully this overheating issue is resolved by then.

[@AceofZeroz]

Which is why LG is also opting for making their own SoC for future phones to avoid all the QC SD issues.

[@ImperiaGin]

BankaiAce moto x doesn't lag neither does the nexus 6. Stock devices don't lag as much as their counter parts. I can't wait for the m9 to destroy the G4 and S6.

[@AceofZeroz]

Baby Jesus o.O k den~

[@ImperiaGin]

BankaiAce Nice profile pic!

[@thefinder8087]

Baby Jesus that doesn't really have anything to do with the video, as those stock devices don't have the 810 yet. That's some of the worst lag I've ever seen, and it seems to be obvious that it's very bad throttling and not the usual heavy UI that's causing it.

[@SidneyAfraneTwum]

The lag issues are easily rectified by enabling GPU rending in developer options and then restarting the phone. The camera app opens almost instantly now, and the lag is no more. The lag really was ridiculous before I stumbled upon this solution while trying everything to improve the performance.

[@dkinley334]

the heat issues have fixed via Ota correct? meaning that no throttling?

[@leyeng1790]

Love your reviews can stock android improve performance on lg gflex 2 ?

[@JoelGeorge]

With that performance review, it's game over for me. Z4, let's go.

[@Marcus-ll2bt]

love the coming to america reference, awesome movie

[@slappymchappy]

Nice reference to Coming to America, Mike.

[@BOSSYtexasCHICK]

awesome title, u nailed it! BTC

[@aashrithr.v8022]

Will there be a after the buzz video for this phone?

[@MrTimdtoolman1]

It is a shame that LG has not been able to make this beautiful phone perform as good as good as it looks. I hope they are able to fix it before the US release, it is an awesome looking device. Fantastic review as always.

[@weird1ize]

now with lollipop version 5.1.1 its running better than ever, so no more lag anymore

[@zeusaarc8572]

it lags i have the phone 😒

[@dargis49]

+chromosomes lord 2GB or 3GB version? And, in all honesty. All Android phones lag. One of the reasons I stuck with WP for so long. Unfortunately w10m sucks donkey balls so I'm going back to Android.

[@zeusaarc8572]

+Matt Dargis I have the 32GB actually

[@majormana1]

sounds like best bet to wait for g flex 3

[@PedroDias1992]

And what about now? in europe is 270€ .it's worth it? or do i buy the oneplus X ?

[@snorlax5519]

I had this phone for a year and it was great even in 2016 that i used it. I had to trade it for a g5 aftre lg in greece couldn't service. I don't get why it gets all the criticism despite the faults. It was and still is one of the more ambitious and experimental phones even to this day in 2018.

[@Libertoso]

Both Pocketnow and Android Authority released the G Flex 2 review at the same time what is this sorcery?

[@nolanbaker892]

Any real possibility this comes to Verizon later? Really want one, and my contact is up soon!

[@Randomsae]

what you did there at 4:30, I see it

[@cinedelamata]

I really hope they fix that lag issue with the Snapdragon 810 chip. I wouldn't mind if they shipped the phone with a 805 or even an 801 as long as there is little to no lag on the phone. Other than that, the LG G Flex 2 looks like a phone that I would definitely buy if my contract ends up. I'm really falling for that banana-style hardware. Excellent review, Mr. Fisher!

[@jasonong8649]

Aren't you going to have issues with the screen turning on (with knock-to-wake on) when putting it in your pocket like that?

[@portalplayer]

Did they remove the Qslide apps for the LG G Flex 2?

[@FelipeBorgesJF]

I have exactly the same lag in my phone (LG G2 Mini). I believe LG needs to recheck their UI and Launcher app

[@thepeddle]

That pretty much strengthens Samsung Reasoning for using their own Exynos chip for the GS6.

[@odeiraoloap]

Man, Qualcomm shot itself in the foot by buying into the "octa core" hype with the Snapdragon 810. The lag-pocalypse in the G Flex 2 CANNOT POSSIBLY be with the software. The LG G3 on Lollipop with a quad HD display on a bog standard quad core snapdragon performs noticeably better than the G Flex 2 that has a "mere" 1080p display. The lag is a result from partly the thermal throttling, but mainly because the entire operation has to hesitate which engine to use at any given time (it has to decide which set of quad cores to use WHILE deciding how much power should be used. This is so much work which allows everything down.) Samsung had the same problem with every Exynos octa phone they had (no wonder people spring for the Snapdragon counterparts more as a result). And so did Mediatek. Qualcomm should've known better. Disappointing that an oversight in the processor handicapped a perfectly capable phone.

[@fargeeks]

Paolo Ariedo so... The note 5 sucks?

[@ThatGuyThatGames24]

I'm not too mad I opted for the G3 not too long ago, this looks mostly the same with a slight curve added. In most aspects, the G3 looks better even,

[@YourTechGuide.]

another Lag from LG! the lag was the reason why I went to Note 4 Edge. If you don't mind the size, Note 4 is the more rounded device for the price!

[@TheMclaren1234]

How did you get it on T-Mobile?

[@mikebird5148]

Absolutely love my G Flex 2, doesn't overheat and doesn't lag, very smooth phone, better than my OnePlus One and G3

[@liquidblackuk]

Hi guys, I was thinking of getting this phone, so does it still lag?

[@DeviceEnforcer]

I'm glad LG kept their software mostly the same except for the addition of some features. Everyone else can call them "gimmicky" and complain about "bloatware" but there are definitely situations where you'll be glad for the extra functionality. For example, I use the QSlide apps and LG's dual window almost daily on my G3. I love when phones have so many features you'll probably never find them all. I'd never even buy a phone with stock Android when there are much better things out there like this LG software or Samsung's Touchwiz.

[@KatekyoKen]

Watching this on my LG G2!

[@ChiChaChiHa]

Watching this on my LG G3!

[@nikolasitorus2218]

Watching on my LG G4.

[@rocc9]

Watching this on my iPad Air 2

[@lsmocyclist]

One plus

[@salmanmehmood]

Watching this on my LG G

[@Tuxita99]

somebody help me. i got my g flex 2 h-955 2 a few months ago (in middle of the summer), yet , i think its lagging too much. the storage gets quickly full with only a few albuns of music and pictures, and i run every single app that i can on the sd card (16gb). in my device info, it shows that os android files occupy 9gb of the 16gb (i know android is a heavy software... but damn. is it THAT heavy?). it has the latest version of lollypop and yet, it lags too much for the small amount of time i've been using it: the keyboard takes a long time to appear, whenever i close an app, the shortcuts, the widgets etc. take too long to show up, some apps (that are ran in the sd card) are laggy. my brother has an lg aswell (lg g3) and my mom has an lg g4, and their phones are older and dont have the same problems as mine. was it just bad luck, that i got a "retarded phone" and should i take it to repair?

[@johnuklivecom]

Looks Very Nice.... Infact looks like my One Plus One :) Curved.... Shame the 810 SD has some heating issues.. no doubt they will be ironed out. just shows the lastest is not always the greatest...... nice looking piece of kit though. good review. cheers.

[@supercakefish]

My Nexus 5 suffers from those same slowdowns - I think it's partly Android related. Hope 5.1 fixes it.

[@DjoleMilosavljevic]

Definitely lollipop. IDK why Google didnt squash some more bugs before the final release. It is laggy as hell. I am considering downgrade to kitkat.

[@Uncledeewz]

Hopefully the HTC One M9 won't suffer from the same terrible throttling. What really makes we want the M9 is the blazing fast day to day performance coupled with amazing design and hardware. Really hoping HTC won't have this problem!

[@robeliam9746]

This? or the G3? Which is better?

[@Cisco_24]

Well this certainly wasn't what I expected to hear. I'll still opt to reserve judgement for now

[@Phyxius_Debello]

it started out good.. then failed utterly because of the cpu, and the camera, the speakers... why aren't they going front facing.

[@Cisco_24]

So sad. Smh

[@Phyxius_Debello]

My question is, will the 810 do the same to the rest of the devices? I mean why do you think they sell CPU air and water coolers for PC's so it doesn't over heat. Eventually the CPU will be too powerful to have in a smartphone because of the heat can't be dispersed unless new tech is found. Heat is the #1 problem with all tech.

[@Cisco_24]

Terry Boccarossa good point. With all that raw power coming to smartphones, advanced cooling may be required. I eagerly await *****'s response to this.

[@sameysmith6156]

Terry Boccarossa 810 will do the same to other devices thats y Samsung ditch snapdragon

[@BigNor23]

Is the g lex a fast phone I perffer the stock android phones

[@brunowskijr]

These were the days....

[@cheeseburgermacpac607]

As always great review. The heating and throttling issues with the Snapdragon 810 chipset is not very good at all. It is a worrying sign. I think it is an indication that the thinning phone and making phones more metallic trends may lead to more issues with overheating, lowered performance and decreased battery life. Yes the LG G Flex 2 is a plastic phone with self-healing properties. However, imagine the Qualcomm heating issues with HTC Flagships and the Samsung Galaxy S/Alpha hybrids. They are more likely to be more of a metal design. If metal heats up more during the course of daily use, a person may get burned in the hand or in the pocket with a Snapdragon 810 phone. The only positive takeaways from this review is that the phone runs Android Lollipop and that micro SD cards are getting bigger. If the rumors are true, then Samsung seems correct going with own Exynos chipset for its major phone line for 2015.

[@shahulhusman]

Hoping lag fixed for usdm and maybe 3g ram units will be better

[@jfb112697]

You said the S810 is "8-Core" this is somewhat false. The Snapdragon 810 uses an Octa-Core design. The difference is the big-little infrastructure in the chip, there are 4 high power/performance Cortex A57 cores, that work side-by-side with 4 Cortex A53 cores. In 8-Core CPU chips it's just 9 high performance cores, but that would basically throw your battery out the window on a phone, that is the difference between Octa-Core and 8-Core.

[@dambooge1]

You didn't talk about the WiFi antenna or speed. I mean its important now, if you want yo use your phone without paying monthly subscription, you need a good WiFi and idk if the g flex 2 bring that

[@Paschal_]

How do you customize glance view? At my G Flex is not like that. Please help!

[@bokiBubamara]

Should i get this phone or Nexus 5X ??

[@martynasg9652]

G Flex 2 for sure

[@bokiBubamara]

I got G Flex 2 and return it tomorrow and get LG Nexus 5x , flex 2 sucks ass

[@billyspaz9705]

manue sure it does...

[@WestCoastChicano]

Señor 2Phones, there's no doubt in my mind that a couple of software updates and this phone will be running like a champ. Bcuz if it doesn't Qualcomm will have a lot of 'splaining to do.

[@burnttater7186]

I see what you did there in the beginning

[@SlightlyMisunderstood]

I had the G3 for about a month then I got rid of it. Great design, great display but terrible slowdowns with the software LG has provided (was on 4.4 at the time). I even switched launchers to Nova and that improved the performance a bit. I don't think I will be buying an LG smartphone again in the near future. My first and my last.

[@anrierikanov2782]

I own a lg g flex 2 I had no lag at all !

[@albertfuentes1190]

is the video grainy when you watch a video

[@houseismorethanjustm]

I am a G2 owner for about half a year and it's a really good device ... I fall inlove into the red glossy Flex 2 but after seeing this video for the problems that suffers I think I'll skip it :

[@abujasun]

Great review *****

[@DeeL2003]

It's not just the chipset, lollipop is also the culprit. My Nexus 6 has some lag issues too even with 3gb of RAM and vanilla Android. KitKat was buttery smooth on my old N5. It seems Google needs to up its game a bit with lollipop.

[@thaibinh1909]

Excuse me, how can you move the G Flex's button to right corner?

[@wasilahfoods]

very good review... so neutral..thumbs up

[@pp3k3jamail]

Why I just looked at a couple of different reviews on the lg flex 2 on mobile geeks and super saf TV and they both have korean models and they say there was no lag on the Lg flex 2. So did michael fisher from pocket now and joshua From android authority get bad review units or what?

[@pp3k3jamail]

Jermaine Farmer how is it garbage it not even out yet. The ones you see are korean units. These review channels should've waited until the phone dropped in the United States and did the reviews. When they review Samsung phones or HTC phones those are the final US versions.These review channels are so pressed to get views and be the first one with the review. And it has more to do with the new 810 processor in the phone.

[@pp3k3jamail]

Jermaine Farmer​​​​ I need phones with the new processor i don't want a phone with and old processor, because they can't handle all the new updates and features. The flex 2 has 3 gigs of ram plus the quad HD display on the g3 drains a lot more battery. I prefer the 1080 screen of the flex 2 instead. Also the phone looks futuristic Im sick of candy bar shaped phones their boring. 

[@pp3k3jamail]

Jermaine Farmer processor dose matter.I have a LG G 2 and you can see that the phone is nowhere as smooth or as powerful and it's lagging because it can't handle the updates it has gotten and the newer apps. When I first got the lg g2 it was on android 4.2 then I got the 4.4.3 updated and it just doesn't work the same. Thats why companies like Qualcomm ,Snapdragon and other's have to make new processors each year to handle these more powerful smartphones that come out every year. Go get a android phone from 2012 2013 and try to play shadow gun or modern combat or anyother of these high class games and you'll see the difference in performance. The same with apps get a old phone from 2012 or 2013 and run Spotify and you'll see the difference.

[@teddycocalo9030]

Did he say 2 terabytes microSD?

[@carpymoreno]

Do you think the problem is Android's typical lag? How about a Windows Phone 8.1 G-flex.. will be perfect.

[@Pieteros21]

only on phones with modified android , stock android phones like nexuses and motorola moto x \ moto g don't lag

[@carpymoreno]

Piotr Kozaczka true :) but still, Modern UI with the clean interface will look really nice I think :) maybe a Windows 10 for phone G-Flex..

[@Pieteros21]

hector carpintero yes , with windows phone it will not lag , but for me windows phone is only for low end due to lack of functions , personalisation and apps

[@AhmetwithaT]

matthew von Android phones always, ALWAYS have lag. I'm using a Note 3. I remember when I bought that phone when it first came out, it was the most powerful Android phone of its time and brand new it still lagged when scrolling. And no that's not just TouchWiz lag. I also had another Android phone with CyanogenMod installed and it was the same.

[@Pieteros21]

Ahmet C. Ay if it lags on cyanogenmod there is two options : 1. low end device 2. early beta bulid 3. wrong kernel

[@MrAzizsasuke]

This phone is amazing I like the curve shape phone everything in this phone is good enough the only problem is its price tag And the heat issue but if you like curved phone this will not be a problem for you we will wait and see if they will solve these problems when they release it in they market

[@brodiejr4real]

Like the "Coming To America" scene...very clever.

[@Ben-my2wz]

thx

[@roguequill]

Aw man, this is incredibly disappointing. Lags and battery life issues described on the video doesn't belong on a flagship device early 2015... I guess I should give this one a pass. As usual thanks for the awesome and detailed review!

[@morells09]

So basically you're saying that we should have this phone in our Pocket Later?

[@Halb_Wert_Zeit]

would love that phone...but not if it stutters/lags. Why not using a lower processor if the big one doenst even work properly...

[@sammymorini9748]

Double tap, is it just me or did that first come out in Star Trek when communicating? *tap tap* "Beam me up Scotty!"

[@askellingsen7473]

where can i buy it?

[@askellingsen7473]

and when?

[@hueything228]

Tried it in Hong Kong. Gorgeous design, beautiful screen but my god does the UI lag. Compared to my old G3, it was a grandma.

[@portalplayer]

im upset they got rid of the G3's multitasking for the native lollipop card multitasking.

[@KawshikAhmed]

The amount of people complaining against Android for the performance of this phone is amazing. Most people saying Android lag in any hardware !!! Then use or see the Moto G it's not a flagship but it runs Android without lag. So, the lag in LG G Flex is not caused by Android.

[@jonathanorona3975]

Excellent Review as always Michael!! I feel that Qualcomm is trying to cover up the Snapdragon 810 overheating issues by throttling the CPU to the extent that it will not overheat at all. Granted every CPU throttles, but at least judging from early reviews, the 810 seems to throttle quite heavily and early on. Which is really disappointing considering the potential the chip has.

[@ImperiaGin]

Again LGs ui is very heavy. I bet you if the m9 or the next nexus has this chip it won't lag or have such bad heat issues.

[@jonathanorona3975]

I can see the chip not having overheating issues on the m9 considering it will most likely be made from all aluminum and that dissipates heat nicely.

[@ImperiaGin]

Jonathan Orona Also I hate plastic, we need to find a good alternative that is safe for the environment.

[@TheFastradaArchive]

Anybody know if LG G Flex 3 coming anytime soon

[@SoulForAnime-yp8ed]

my iphone 5c dropped from two feet in air in a otterbox symmetry case and the screen was a little seperated then i bit it back together, but it was weird cus it had no cracks

[@UnrealOG137]

I wish LG mobile was still around