LG Wing: A closer look at LG's quirky swiveling phone

Unveiled at a virtual presser earlier on Sept. 14, the LG Wing 5G is a phone that has two screens, one of which swivels on top of the other to form a T-shape design. In the US it will be available first on Verizon, then AT&T in the fall and T-Mobile.

The phone is the first of LG's Explorer Project, a company endeavor that aims to bring more experimental designs to LG phones. More phones are sure to come, however, as LG also teased an extendable phone with a pull-out display on the same day it launched the Wing.

The LG Wing sets a 6.8-inch OLED screen on top of a 3.9-inch OLED display.

LG estimates that the phone is durable enough to survive 200,000 rotations over the course of five years.

The phone is 0.43 inch (10.92mm) thick, which is slimmer (relatively) to the Galaxy Z Fold 2 when it's folded (0.54 inch). Though that's not completely gargantuan, it's definitely thicker and heavier than the average phone. 

The LG Wing does not have an IP rating for water protection. If you want durability, LG is working on cases for the phone, but they'll undoubtedly add more bulk. 

The LG Wing also doesn't have a headphone jack. This is unusual because LG has generally kept it on its phones, including its flagship handsets from this year.

A look at the side of the phone.

The Wing is about a third thicker than most smartphones, not twice like you'd assume, because the top panel is actually thinner than the bottom.

One advantage of the two screens is multitasking, and you can choose two apps to show up on the screens. If you're in a car, for example, the top screen can have Maps for navigation and the bottom screen has music controls. 

The phone has three rear cameras, one of which includes a gimbal inside. This is similar to the Vivo X50 Pro and it's used to stabilize and balance video even when you're moving around a lot. LG also added software improvements so you can pan and tilt the camera around on different axes and the footage will keep steady.

On the front is a 32-megapixel camera that's embedded inside the phone and pops up from out of the top edge when in use, which is a lot like the OnePlus 7 Pro, Vivo Nex and Oppo Reno 2.

LG is no stranger to trying out new things. In 2016, it released the modular LG G5, which let you swap out key hardware components, like the battery, for other accessories. Before that, in 2014 there was the G Flex, a 6-inch phone with a contoured display. 

LG and its carrier partners haven't released pricing yet, but a phone like this could easily fetch a $1,000 price tag. Though it's not impossible to sell an expensive phone amid a pandemic when everyone is more budget-conscious, as Samsung has shown with its Galaxy Z Fold 2, it's certainly risky to do so.