Last year, LG (or as I still call it, Lucky Goldstar) revealed its curved G Flex smartphone, which got some press but didn’t help the company overtake Apple or Samsung in the market and didn’t lead to a slew of imitators. But LG isn’t giving in, launching the G Flex 2, which it claims is both curvier and tougher than its predecessor.

According to LG, the reason for the curves is more than aesthetic. It brings phones back to the ergonomic devices that landline headsets were becoming before they got steamrolled by the cellphone revolution. The microphone is intended to be closer to the user’s mouth, improving sound quality and reducing background interference.

Interestingly, LG isn’t going the phablet route with this device, keeping the screen to 5.5″. Of course, that screen is now 1080p and uses an OLED display. The company believes that the curved form makes it easier to grip the device for viewing video.

And while it might seem like a curved phone would be more fragile than its straight-line competition, LG maintains that it actually improves the device’s durability, making the screen less prone to cracking and generally improving the phone’s strength. According to the company, the G Flex 2 is 30% more durable than the G Flex.

The Flex 2 also improves on the previous version’s self-healing back. LG says that it now only takes seconds for scratches to disappear, as opposed to minutes or hours.

Again, we haven’t gotten our hands on this phone to judge any of these statements. But we will as soon as the show floor opens tomorrow morning.

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