LG says its next flagship will have 5.7-inch QHD+ 564 PPI display with 18:9 aspect ratio, lower power consumption, and 0.2mm bezels
Abner Li / 9to5Google :
Context & Ripple Effects
LG is pre-announcing its next flagship's display a month before launch — a 5.7-inch QHD+ panel at 564 PPI with an 18:9 aspect ratio, 0.2mm bezels, and lower power consumption — breaking from the 16:9 norm set by the LG G5 and its always-on QHD screen. The specs were confirmed weeks later when the phone emerged as the G6 with a 2880x1440 'FullVision' display and split-screen UX 6.0 software built around the taller canvas.
The move lands in a display arms race where Sharp had already pushed density far past what phones shipped with, announcing a 5.5-inch 806 PPI IGZO panel for mass production. LG's bet is different: instead of chasing raw PPI, it is spending its spec budget on aspect ratio and bezel elimination.
First-order effects
- LG gives the G6 a visible hardware differentiator over the G5 — more screen in the same body class — after the modular experiment failed to define the brand.
- Buyers of the G6 get multitasking software (UX 6.0 split screen) designed specifically for the 18:9 shape, tying the panel choice to usable features rather than a spec-sheet number alone.
Second-order effects
- Google's 2017 Pixel XL, manufactured by LG, adopts the same 2:1 tall-aspect formula with smaller bezels — meaning LG's panel design language propagates into a flagship sold under a competitor's brand, deepening LG's role as display supplier even where its own phone business struggles.
- Rival flagships are forced to answer the tall-screen look or appear dated at retail, shifting the competitive axis from pixel density (where Sharp's 806 PPI push overshot demand) toward screen-to-body ratio and power efficiency.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, 16:9 stops being the default phone display entirely — LG's own later flagships (V50 ThinQ with its Dual Screen OLED accessory, the G7 ThinQ with a notch) show the company iterating on 'more screen area' as the core design question, with aspect ratio and bezel width becoming table stakes across the industry.
The trend: Smartphone displays are standardizing on taller-than-16:9 aspect ratios with minimal bezels, as suppliers like LG turn panel geometry — not pixel density — into the flagship differentiator.