Expensive smartphone makers, please cease with the bezel-less shows

If you happen to decide up any smartphone today — whether or not it is an iPhone 16, a Galaxy S25, a Pixel 9, or one thing else — there is a robust likelihood its bezel will likely be tiny or non-existent. Saying the design trait is all the trend could be an understatement, as the one means yow will discover something totally different is by searching for funds fashions. As soon as the 2025 iPhone SE rolls round, you will not have a selection in any respect in order for you a brand new mannequin primarily based on Apple’s platform.

For a lot of of you, bezels are most likely a minor situation, and I get that. However personally talking, some latest incidents have known as consideration to the downsides of eradicating them, and I think I am not alone in pondering cellphone makers ought to dial again their ambitions. Transport a pure glass brick is not essentially an indication of progress, regardless of what glitzy PR occasions and movies would have you ever imagine.

Tight grips and shut misses

Actual-world usability issues

My largest criticism in regards to the iPhone 16 Professional is not the questionable usefulness of Apple Intelligence or the Digicam Management button, however merely how simple it’s to set off one thing just by holding the cellphone the incorrect means. At this level, I can not rely what number of occasions I’ve raised my cellphone solely to note the icons shaking, that means iOS thought I used to be tapping and holding the homescreen to rearrange icons. At different occasions, I’ve launched apps and even in-app choices with out realizing it. Generally there is a haptic buzz to inform me, however generally not.

It is a little bit ironic, as a result of early on, some iPhone 16 homeowners have been having the exact opposite problem — palm rejection was blocking contact inputs. Now, although, we’re on the level that I’ve caught iOS doing issues after I knew my fingers have been solely near the display, not on it. I made it some extent to concentrate after I first began encountering undesirable contact inputs, pondering I used to be simply being a klutz. Apparently I wasn’t.

The bezels on the iPhone 16 Professional are a minimum of partly guilty, if not totally. They’re even thinner than on the 15 Professional, leaving virtually nowhere in your fingers to relaxation in order for you a agency grip. I am utilizing a fairly thick UAG case, so I can solely think about the difficulty cropping up for individuals who have a minimalist case on their cellphone, or no safety in any respect. I might be launching issues each 5 seconds on a unadorned iPhone.

Talking of instances, eliminating bezels typically makes a case necessary, particularly for gadgets with curved edges. It is like they’re designed to crack on the sidewalk. That in itself would not be a giant deal — it is advisable to shield a $400-plus cell machine regardless — however cellphone makers additionally appear to disregard how instances and touchscreens work together. Nowadays, it is not unusual for the lip of a case to dam faucets and swipes, whereas just some years in the past that was a uncommon drawback, a minimum of in my expertise. Relying on the apps you utilize each day, you may end up more and more irritated.

A number of millimeters of bezel could make a world of distinction on the subject of the sturdiness and usefulness of a cellphone. So is there any likelihood of getting our bezels again?

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The unlucky march of progress

A one-way highway

I really feel like I am shouting within the wilderness, sadly. The development in direction of bezel-less telephones has been underway for nicely over a decade — what was as soon as a gimmick (totally on Samsung gadgets) is now the default. There’s most likely no means of speaking cellphone makers out of it, particularly since they may level to gross sales being unaffected by complaints. If something, they’d most likely argue that slim bezels appear to spice up gross sales figures. They’re additionally good for revenue margins, because it means much less cash spent on aluminum, metal, plastic, or titanium. The distinction is perhaps just a few cents per cellphone, however that provides up while you’re delivery thousands and thousands of models and want to determine a provide chain.

The recognition of going bezel-less makes some sense. Many early smartphones had thick bezels, a consequence of the show know-how on the time. As time went on, thinner bezels turned an emblem of progress, to the purpose that fashionable shoppers are subconsciously primed for it. Furthermore, shrinking edges turned functionally essential to allow the big shows we have now now — you would not need a 6.3-inch display in your pocket if it had bezels as thick as the unique iPhone. Fashionable folding designs could be out of the query.

Essentially the most we will do, I might wager, is make occasional complaints, hoping that cellphone makers decide up on them. Maybe there are design workarounds that’ll fulfill everybody — I do know I might be joyful if I may get an iPhone 17 or 18 with an angled lip, which might shield my cellphone whereas nonetheless letting me swipe easily between apps. A person can dream, I suppose. There’s simply not a lot likelihood of preventing the tide at this stage.

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