The LG OLED Flex….. The latest and greatest technology on the market! A flexible 4K OLED Gaming TV. That's right, a “gaming TV” and one that flexes on demand depending on your mood or activities. It's literally the best of all worlds right? OLED, check. 4K, check. Flexible display, check. Bucket loads of technology, check! On paper, it's phenomenal; but does it live up to expectation? Let's take a closer look and find out.
First of all, let's discuss the price. This TV comes in at a whopping $4999.01 making it one of the most expensive “monitors” money can buy. This will absolutely be a put off for a lot of people, and if I'm honest, for me too. Having said that, If I did in fact have $5000 to splash on a Gaming TV/Monitor, the LG OLED Flex would probably be my pick of the bunch.
Out of the box, you'll notice first and foremost, just how damn big this thing is! I was expecting a 42” TV, I'd be able to chuck it in the back of my car or Ute. I was wrong! I went to pick this up from the depot in a work truck (thankfully) as its box is huge. So huge in fact that it had to come strapped to its very own pallet. In the scheme of things it's not outrageously big, but from only a 42” display I guess I wasn't expecting it to be quite so big. This is in large part down to the fact that it comes assembled. Whereas with most TV’s the unboxing is kind of like a game of Tetris in reverse, where each piece kind of fits perfectly around another and is a whole operation to unpack. This is all assembled ready to go out of the box. Once the box is open though, you'll immediately be wowed by how good this thing looks and by the sheer magnitude of what this is. It's a flexible OLED screen, showcased immediately by the size of the very stocky stand as it houses all the motors etc. for the bendable mechanism.
Let's talk about the I/O features of this monitor. Firstly, it houses 4x HDMI 2.1 inputs meaning you can have a PS5 an Xbox Series X, a PC all connected at once and still have a HDMI 2.1 input spare. It has 4x USB inputs total, optical audio and unlike most, if not all monitors, it features an RF input for connecting to free to air TV. The lack of Display port is a bit of a bummer and to be honest lends itself more towards this being a TV than a monitor. LG markets this thing as a “gaming TV” which is exactly what it is, but that puts it in this weird middle ground of not really being able to be categorised.
Tell me you haven't been waiting for me to talk about the flex features of this thing, I dare ya! Well, here you are. Quite simply put, they are a literal game changer and something I don't know how I’m going to live without. I have reviewed curved monitors in the past and have said that while it's awesome for gaming, it's kinda pointless for everything else right? Well the LG OLED Flex is the solution. When I'm doing things like writing reviews I have the monitor at 40% flex. Due to the size of it you kinda need a little bit of flex to be natural looking for your eyes. And when I'm gaming, with the push of a button on the remote I can switch it to 100% flex and truly immerse myself in whatever game I'm playing. I've honestly never been more impressed by a feature in my life. You'd be forgiven for thinking, “pfft, a flexible screen, that's a gimmick”. Because I did too. Before I got this I actually resented the idea that I'd said yes to reviewing it because I simply didn't have the time to be wasting on a gimmick like this. But I can wholeheartedly say that it's not! It's life changing. Personally, the thing that makes this feature as outstanding as it is, is the ability to change this flex on the go, with the push of a single button on the LG magic remote.
In terms of technology (gaming specific) this monitor comes with ALLM, Freesync, G-Sync, LG’s Game optimiser, HGIG mode, as well as 120Hz refresh and of course LG’s OLED panel. Combined, it means just about the best gaming experience money can buy. Features like these are hard to explain to someone that's never experienced them. I used to believe that “nobody needs 120Hz” and that 60Hz was just fine. That was until I experienced 120hz for myself, and boy was I wrong. ALLM makes everything so much more responsive and immediate, while VRR, freesync and G-sync just make everything look so much smoother than a standard panel.
I have owned an LG C1 for years now and can not recommend it highly enough. The same goes for the OLED Flex. It's absolutely the best monitor, gaming TV, TV on the market for me. The ability to flex to your preference with the push of a button absolutely sets this apart from any of its competitors on the market. This monitor isn't going to be for everyone (including myself) due to the price tag, but it paves the way for the future of gaming monitors. If you're looking for arguably the best monitor/TV on the market then you'll want to check this out.
