Saying Goodbye: 8 Memorable LG Phones We’ll Never Forget

Today, LG is famous for its monitors, TVs, and appliances – but there was a time when LG phones were also at the top of the market. They were innovative and stylish offerings that pushed smartphones to become everything they are today. That time is no more.

Colossal competition and a lack of focus led to LG’s mobile phone division stacking up losses in recent years. Now LG has made it official with an announcement that all of its mobile phone activities will be permanently shut down by the end of July 2021 (except for support services, which will continue for a bit longer region by region).

As LG turns its attention towards future mobile technologies like 6G and decides what sort of presence it should have in the mobile world, let’s celebrate the manufacturer’s impact on the market by taking a looking at some of their best phone models over the years. Continue reading to browse eight LG phones we'll never forget.

LG Chocolate

Let’s hop in the time machine and go way back to the famous Chocolate slider phone. Before true smartphones and software were all the rage, LG was pushing boundaries with the colorful Chocolate sliding music phone, a compact model with a number pad that just…slid out. That may not sound like much now, but it was a hot item back in the day, and a popular lifestyle accessory for those who wanted to show off.

LG enV

Ahhh, the physical QWERTY. There was a sweet spot in the later 2000s where texting and using more complex online software was all the rage, but older candy bar phones couldn’t hope to keep up. Companies like LG popularized this half-candy bar, half-foldable with a keyboard that opened right up for quick typing (along with a large landscape display, which was also relatively novel at that time). It may not sound like much in our days of predictive text and speedy touchscreens, but it was a very cool and versatile solution back then.

LG Crystal GD900

LG may not get enough credit for just how inventive it was when it came to these daring phones. In the days when manufacturers were throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck, LG was responsible for releases like the Crystal, a slider phone with a transparent numeric keypad. Did it look cool? Absolutely. Was it a success? Absolutely not – the Crystal, unfortunately, came in the late 2000s just as full touchscreen smartphones had begun to take over the market.

LG G3

This broad, beautiful 2014 smartphone was perhaps the best of LG’s flagship models, a high point for the manufacturer when it was better competing against players like Samsung and Google. It had a powerful camera, accurate sensors, and a streamlined interface that attempted to learn what you use most, plus a 1440p display that was amazing for its time. Was it all downhill from here? Perhaps, but it’s easy to see why LG held such influence in the smartphone world.

LG Prada KE850

This mid-2000s phone was a hot fashion accessory and in healthy demand in some markets. This was an era that saw a lot of top-tier designers working with phone companies to create specialized models that could sell for big bucks and attract new people to the brand. It’s also important to point out that this was an early example of a phone ditching almost all its buttons in favor of a touchscreen, a trend that LG had a key role in normalizing just before the iPhone surged onto the scene.

LG G2

Once the touchscreen era hit, LG was quick to adapt, and one of its most impressive models was the 2013 G2. While it may not look that impressive today, that 5.2-inch screen was enormous for the time (many reviewers worried that it was too large, which seems a little silly now), and really helped open users’ eyes to just how large smartphone screens could be for watching videos, playing games, and more. Today, the iPhone 12 mini's display measures in at 5.4 inches.

LG G Flex

The 2013 Flex was an ambitious move to once again do something unique to draw in users and compete with popular manufacturers. LG announced it as “flexible” and “self-healing,” terms you may recognize still being used today for smartphone experiments. Of course, it wasn’t truly flexible (the frame was simply durable enough to withstand a little bending) nor truly self-healing – it was basically a curved smartphone with a protective coating. The biggest problem with Flex is the only advantage to a permanently curved smartphone is that the mic is a little closer to your mouth. Otherwise, it just took up too much space in your pocket. But props to LG for once again trying a new design!

LG Wing

The Wing was a hopeful 2020, 5G-supporting contender to bring LG much-needed smartphone market share with, yet again, an incredibly unique concept. Guys, it was weird. The phone has two different displays that, uhh, swiveled around to create a T-shape of intersecting screens. There was – let’s be clear – no good reason for this whatsoever, and even LG’s attempts to describe how the bulky second screen could be used kind of fell flat. But at this point, we're just happy that it exists, even though it doesn't make much sense.