What you need to know
- Chinese developer Laozhang turned the LG Wing into a handheld gaming console.
- The developer used only the phones main components and its smaller 3.9-inch display for the device.
- Laozhang did this as a commission, only producing 50 units with no plans to create more.
The LG Wing, despite being quite an out-of-place smartphone, is seeing new life as a handheld gaming device.
The LG Wing was a dual-screen phone that featured a primary 6.8-inch screen that would turn horizontally, forming a T-shape, revealing its second, smaller 3.9-inch display beneath it. While the device wasn't too popular, one developer has turned that concept into a handheld gaming device - by ripping it apart. As spotted by Liliputing, Chinese developer Laozhang has taken apart the LG Wing, leaving only the smaller 3.9-inch display as this handheld gaming device's screen.
Laozhang has created a metal shell to nestle all of the components of this handheld console inside. The developer used the LG Wing's main components, a 3.9-inch 1240 x 1080 pixel gOLED display, and added some buttons and analog sticks on its sides. The phone did come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, 8GB RAM, and could go from 128GB to 256GB of storage space.
In addition to using the phone's smaller screen for gaming, Chinese developer Laozhang also included the triple-lens camera array for the handheld device on the back. There is also a hands-on video of the device to see it in action.
Laozhang took to the Retro Gaming Handhelds discord server to discuss this handheld console. The 50 units that have been made took them around two months to complete. Those units are going to be the only ones the developer produces.
Laozhang set the price of this handheld device at 2,100 Yuan, which comes to $309.69. The Chinese developer explains the price is so high because of the resources, time, and difficulty of creating this DIY project on their own. Laozhang explained that purchasing the phones, disassembling them, and finding that some parts were defective would cause them to spend more money and restart the process. It would result in a loss of money, as they explain, and they finish by saying, "DIY is difficult to do."
The LG Wing was an imperfect dual-screen smartphone and LG's last major release before the company exited the smartphone business. One of the reasons why the phone may have struggled was due to its experimental design. The idea LG came with that was different (very) and unique to other devices. It didn't flip nor fold and was mostly a flop. Given that the experimental design of the LG Wing wasn't too popular, a project like this goes to show that an oddball idea can still birth something cool.
