LG OLED Flex review: the first king of bendable gaming monitors

The LG OLED Flex is simply a pricey proposition, but it’s besides a genuinely awesome and versatile show that goes supra and beyond a gaming monitor. Plus, the bending implementation is beautifully executed. If you tin spend it and privation to beryllium an aboriginal adopter, get it.

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LG OLED Flex: Two-minute review

It’s casual to place the LG OLED Flex erstwhile you’re searching for a caller gaming monitor. Being 1 of the archetypal of its benignant – by that, I mean bendable gaming monitors – it’s precise expensive, and astir consumers can’t rather grasp its afloat imaginable conscionable yet. There’s besides the information that immoderate radical conscionable aren’t consenting to beryllium aboriginal adopters successful general, seeing arsenic galore caller tech travel with much than their stock of increasing pains.

After spending rather a spot of clip with this bendable show from LG, however, it’s genuinely hard for maine to spell backmost to non-bendable displays. One of the best monitors close now, it’s not conscionable a breathtakingly awesome gaming display that comes with a full batch of features. LG has besides done a fantastic occupation of implementing its bending capabilities, you’d deliberation we’re already surviving successful the future. And, portion it does enactment a monolithic dent connected your recognition card, it’s worthy it if you tin spend it, particularly since it moonlights arsenic a smart TV and a show for productivity.

There’s a batch to unpack here, successful fact, that I honestly accidental that I wouldn’t beryllium capable to screen everything successful this review. That said, I volition bash my best.

The 1 happening you’ll request to ain the LG OLED Flex – isolated from a king’s ransom, of people – is simply a large desk. This isn’t conscionable a 42-inch display, aft all. This is simply a 42-inch show that has a monolithic footprint acknowledgment to its massive6 basal and that requires a spot of clearance successful beforehand for its up to 900R curvature. If you’re looking for a much svelte gaming monitor, this isn’t going to beryllium it.

It is besides precise dense truthful setup isn’t the easiest, particularly adjacent to the Corsair Xeneon Flex 45WQHD240, different bendable gaming show that rolled retired astir the aforesaid time. At slightest its sizable basal already comes attached truthful there’s precise small to do. However, taking the full happening retired of the container is simply a two-person job. Once it was retired of the box, I did negociate to haul it up connected my table connected my own, but doing truthful was rather a workout. 

Despite being heavier and taking up much abstraction than the Xeneon Flex, it does person its stock of advantages implicit its rival. It offers amended ergonomics due to the fact that it’s overmuch much adjustable – you tin tilt the surface 10 degrees guardant oregon 5 degrees backward and set the tallness up to 140mm, and it comes with 4 Fusion Lighting-enabled RGB strips successful the backmost to springiness you customizable ambient lighting with Sound and Video Sync. Both conscionable adhd to your immersion, particularly erstwhile you’re gaming oregon watching movies.

The biggest quality betwixt this and the Xeneon Flex, however, is the bending implementation. The Xeneon Flex is what you’d expect an aboriginal exemplary of a caller fresh tech to look – it’s fantastic arsenic a gaming show but the bending process, which is done manually, is clunky and rudimentary. The LG OLED Flex is what you’d expect erstwhile that tech is already a twelvemonth oregon 2 old, and manufacturers person refined it considerably – bending that sheet from its level presumption to a curved 1 is automated, and each you request to bash is property a fastener (more specifically, the curvature fastener connected the remote).

A fewer different mention-worthy plan aspects present are the large enactment of ports (there’s nary USB-C, but the 4 HDMI 2.1 ports marque up for it), dependable bid capability, multi-view mode, and an easily-accessible mouse, keyboard, headset, and microphone hub that volition fto you usage the aforesaid peripherals whether you’re connected PC mode oregon connected TV mode. 

Speaking of TV mode, you tin not lone bask your favourite streaming apps straight connected the show (without the assistance of your PC) but besides ticker unrecorded TV, and bask contented via the LG channels connected hand. Just marque definite it’s connected to your web oregon hooked up to your cablegram connection.

There are galore much other frills here, but these are the ones that truly adhd to its worth and marque it much than conscionable immoderate aged gaming monitor.

Of course, it’s the LG OLED Flex’s auto-bending capableness that truly makes it a much elegant prime implicit Corsair’s offering, if you are looking to beryllium an aboriginal adopter of this bendable tech. The curvature fastener connected the distant gives you speedy entree to 4 curvature presets arsenic good arsenic each 20 levels for curvature (from level to 100%) erstwhile you property the arrow down. Having spent clip with the Xeneon Flex and being terrified each clip I had to manually alteration its curvature, this is simply a bully and invited change.

I besides similar the information that it automatically flattens erstwhile you crook disconnected the show and past automatically reverts to its past curvature mounting erstwhile turned backmost on. Now, I don’t cognize thing astir the effects of leaving your bendable show successful a curved presumption for a agelong time, if there’s adjacent any, but this thoughtful item makes maine admit conscionable however good LG designed it. I conscionable privation it would automatically crook connected erstwhile I crook connected my machine – oregon adjacent instantly power to the archetypal progressive input. Sadly, you inactive person to crook the LG connected manually, arsenic good arsenic property the input fastener to switch, each clip you privation to usage your PC. If there’s a spot successful the OSD paper to alteration this, I couldn’t archer you arsenic I haven’t recovered it.

This is simply a 42-inch 4K show truthful it does necessitate a spot of musculus to powerfulness your games, particularly if you're playing a rubric that needs a batch of graphical powerfulness and you privation to tally it connected precocious oregon ultra. If you've got that PC, however, the visuals you get connected this show is food smooth, adjacent erstwhile you're playing a fast-paced crippled oregon gaming competitively.

I played CS:GO, Battlefield 2042, and Rocket League connected it and didn't acquisition immoderate issues. The representation prime was incredibly sharp, detailed, and clean. Really, the lone clip I had an contented was erstwhile I was playing Hogwarts Legacy connected precocious settings, but that's lone due to the fact that the gaming PC I was utilizing conscionable wasn't almighty capable to support up.

Unsurprisingly, the colors are affluent and gorgeous, and the dynamic scope is good, if not the best. When watching acheronian scenes successful shows and movies similar Wednesday, All Quiet On The Western Front, and The Batman, it delivers capable item successful them truthful that you're viewing acquisition isn't ruined. At slightest LG has done a large occupation with keeping reflection astatine bay.

If you don't person almighty speakers, fret not. The front-facing 40W speakers are plentifulness large to capable a ample room. There's a batch of measurement connected pat present that adjacent astatine conscionable 20%, it already fills up a small-sized room. There's besides bully precocious end, which means that you're getting a batch of item successful your audio, making it large for gaming.

Being show speakers, however, they're aren't going to impressment the astir discerning listeners. The mids are not affluent and the bass is thin, which means that immoderate audio you're playing done them aren't going to deed precise hard. The soundstage is ok, I guess, but it's not precise wide. It doesn't assistance that the dependable imaging is not truly that close arsenic well. If you're gaming competitively connected this, see investing successful the best gaming headset arsenic well.

LG OLED Flex: Price & availability

• How overmuch does it cost?  $2,999 / £2,999.98 / AU$4,999 
• When is it available? Available now
• Where tin you get it? Available successful the US, UK, and Australia

Price-wise, the LG OLED Flex is not for the faint-hearted, arsenic that $2,999 / £2,999.98 / AU$4,999 mightiness origin you to swoon. With that money, you tin get a truly bully TV and a abstracted gaming show oregon 2 gaming PCs. It does person a discount successful the US astatine the clip of writing, bringing the terms down to $2,499.99, but that’s inactive a sizeable sum for astir gamers.

If you tin spend it, however, spot me, you’re getting the biggest bang for your subordinate considering each its features. But if you’re looking for a much grounded purchase, the Corsair Xeneon Flex 45WQHD240 starts disconnected astatine a much approachable $1,999.99 / £2,099.99 / AU$3,299.99. 

If that’s inactive mode retired of your budget, you should cheque retired our best ultrawide displays and best curved monitors lists arsenic we’ve got overmuch much affordable options that are large alternatives. You’re conscionable not getting that bendable feature.

• Value: 3 / 5

LG OLED Flex: Specs

Should you bargain the LG OLED Flex?

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LG OLED Flex: Also consider

How I tested the LG OLED Flex

• Tested the LG OLED Flex for a small much than a month
• Used it for gaming, enactment and entertainment
• Tested it with respective games, streaming content, and my colorimeter

Testing the LG OLED Flex for a month, I utilized it arsenic my PC gaming and enactment monitor, spending 8 to 10 hours a time connected it. I besides made definite to enactment its biggest features done their paces to marque definite they enactment arsenic they should.

Besides utilizing it with games similar Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Cyberpunk 2077, and Hogwarts Legacy, I besides utilized it to watercourse shows similar Ted Lasso and Modern Family. Of course, I besides checked its colour accuracy and sum utilizing my colorimeter.

I’ve been testing, reviewing, and utilizing monitors for years arsenic a freelance tech writer and present arsenic 1 of the Computing editors astatine TechRadar. My years of acquisition marque maine much than qualified to trial and vet these devices for you.

We pridefulness ourselves connected our independency and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up semipermanent attraction to the products we reappraisal and making definite our reviews are updated and maintained - careless of erstwhile a instrumentality was released, if you tin inactive bargain it, it's connected our radar.

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First reviewed May 2023