Stuff - UK (2020-12)

VERSUS ARTICULATED ANDROIDS

LG wants you to swivel with its wacky Wing, while Samsung claims to

have perfected the foldable – but which new-era 5G mobile delivers?

Shapeshifting

wizards

What’s the story?

Since Samsung launched the original

Galaxy Fold, the running theme of foldable

reviews has been: very cool, too expensive,

not there yet, better luck next time. Well,

Samsung hopes to change everyone’s

minds with the Galaxy Z Fold2.

This time it’s ditched much of what

made the first Fold ‘meh’, including the

dinky front display and side-notches, and

it’s smartened up the design. Great, but

this is still a £1799 phone, so saying it has

to be good is an understatement. To win

over anyone without a huge amount of

disposable income, it has to be perfect.

Is it any good?

Well, it’s not perfect, but it is a glimmer of

hope that foldable phones can be excellent.

It isn’t the best camera phone around, nor

does it charge the fastest, but everything

the Z Fold2 does, it does well. Its overall

design is lovely, and a masterful hinge

mechanism really makes the two-in-one

functionality a reality.

Of course, at £1799 for the 256GB

version, all that’s going to be irrelevant

to most people. But this is the first foldable

that delivers on its promises, and fully

deserves its Stuff Most Wanted Award.

Price £1799 / stuff.tv/ZFold2

O6.23in 2260x816 + 7.6in 2208x1768

AMOLED O Snapdragon 865+, 12GB RAM O

256GB storage O 12+12+12MP O 4500mAh

O 159x128x6.9mm / 159x68x17mm, 282g

Stuff says +++++

Still prohibitively expensive, but at least it

doesn’t feel like an awkward prototype

What’s the story?

Alright, the LG Wing is weird, but that

doesn’t stop you admiring LG’s cojones

in trying to make a T-shaped phone with

two screens actually work. The Wing is the

first handset in LG’s new Explorer Project,

and it looks likely to be the first of several

out-there models. We spent some time

getting to grips with its so-called swivel

mode, activated with a flick of a thumb

to reveal an almost-square display behind

the main one.

It looks like a gimmick, LG knows that,

and it’s owning it. Unfortunately, as with

many recent LG phones, finding one in the

UK might be tricky.

Is it any good?

There are several ways to take advantage

of that extra display – you can watch

a video while using another app below,

or even play Asphalt 9 with the second

screen up top displaying a map – but none

of this stuff turns out to be all that useful

in the real world.

On the plus side, it’s a zippy enough 5G

phone, looks lovely and takes better than

expected photos. But it’s impossible for

that swivel feature to hide, even when

using the phone normally, thanks to its

added weight and thickness.

Price $999 / stuff.tv/LGWing

O6.8in 2460x1080 + 3.9in 1240x1080

OLED OSnapdragon 765G, 8GB RAM O

128GB storage O64+13+12MP rear, 32MP

front O4000mAh O170x75x11mm, 260g

Stuff says ++++,

Go ahead if you like the unique design, but

you’ll sacrifice portability to get it

LG Wing Samsung Galaxy

Z Fold2 5G

O The Wing can

act like a regular

phone, but it’s all

about that party

trick. Hold it in your

right hand, push the

bottom right half

to the left and

the display slides

up to land with a

satisfying thunk

in that distinctive

T-shape. Actually

using the phone

in this format is

a buggy, restricted,

steep learning

curve, but fun

nonetheless.

O Clasp the top half

of the Z Fold2 with

one hand and the

bottom half with

another, ease the

phone open, and

when you engage

the smooth hinge

mechanism the

magic happens:

a big, bright, bold,

notch-free tablet

comes to life. Yes,

there’s a crease:

a visible line down

the middle when

viewed off-angle.

You soon get used

to it, though.

DOUBLE,

NOT MUCH

TROUBLE