Ask yourself: do you need that additional screen estate?
When a smartphone manufacturer starts a trend, other brands will surely follow. When Apple released the original iPhone in 2007, everyone was skeptical of phones that is mostly screen—at a time where Blackberry’s qwerty phones were all the rage. A few years later, most smartphone manufacturers followed the iPhone’s design, even leading to a court case between Apple and Samsung because of similarities of the iPhone 3G with the Galaxy S in 2011.
The same effect was seen when Samsung launched the first Galaxy Note in 2011. As the first phone that had a screen bigger than five inches, people were scratching their heads, thinking that a phone that big was a bit exaggerated. Fast forward to now, the average screen size of phones is more than five inches, and most people are content with large phones nowadays.
Read: Samsung Galaxy Note Review
For 2017’s smartphone trend, manufacturers are pushing engineering to the limits by practically eliminating bezels on a phone—increasing screen size while maintaining a smaller overall phone size in the process. Xiaomi started this trend with its Mi Mix in late 2016, and other brands followed suit. For 2017’s smartphone battle, Samsung has its Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8, LG has the V30, and Apple is slated to release the iPhone 8 with a bezel-less front as well. Even brands like Xiaomi, Doogee, and Cherry Mobile are also into the trend as well.
Read: Doogee Mix Unboxing, Quick Review: Cheapest 6GB, “Bezel-less” Phone In The Market
Read: Cherry Mobile Flare Infinity Initial Review: Insane Near Bezel-less Phone
“This is the type of device we see people in movies use when the film is set in a futuristic, high-tech world,” Forbes contributor Ben Sin said in describing Xiaomi’s Mi Mix.
While the futuristic design of bezel-less phones is definitely appealing (admit it: it’s so cool to look at an all-screen phone), one of my concerns with it is whether we are willing to sacrifice a few things for such a trend. Aside from sacrificing a few buttons, most manufacturers go for unconventionally-shaped displays to pull off the bezel-less look. That includes notches for the earpiece and camera, which some find it awful and ugly.
Don’t you find the notch annoying, like the one found in Sharp’s Aquos S2?
Read: The “Father of Android” Teases His Bezel-less Smartphone
Another point of concern with bezel-less smartphones is the overall durability. Even if reviews claim that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are durable, any accidental drop can easily shatter the display (even the latest Gorilla Glass is not guaranteed to absorb bad falls–they can only guarantee 80% of falls). Also note that glass displays are also prone to scratches as well, no matter how well made the material is. “A beautiful phone on day one makes a nice sales pitch, but keeping it beautiful a year later is what makes customers happy in the long run,” Vlad Savov said in his opinion about all-glass, bezel-free phones.
Another concern, as Android Authority’s Edgar Cervantes points out, is accidental touching. With a humongous screen estate, it’s hard to avoid accidentally touching parts of the screen, and at the same time, it will be more challenging to hold the phone. “It becomes a dreadful annoyance that you can’t seem to brush off unless you hold your device in all sorts of uncomfortable ways. These are designed to be held with a grip, as their sizes and weight require so,” Cervantes points out.
Do you think the bezel-less screen is a good smartphone trend? Or is it just a mere gimmick? Share your sentiments in the comments section!
