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

If you happen to decide up any smartphone lately — 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 might be tiny or non-existent. Saying the design trait is all the trend could be an understatement, as the one approach you’ll find something completely different is by purchasing for price range fashions. As soon as the 2025 iPhone SE rolls round, you will not have a selection in any respect if you would like a brand new mannequin based mostly on Apple’s platform.

For a lot of of you, bezels are in all probability a minor concern, and I get that. However personally talking, some latest incidents have referred to as consideration to the downsides of eradicating them, and I believe I am not alone in considering telephone 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 consider.

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Tight grips and shut misses

Actual-world usability issues

My largest grievance concerning the iPhone 16 Professional is not the questionable usefulness of Apple Intelligence or the Digicam Management button, however merely how straightforward it’s to set off one thing just by holding the telephone the flawed approach. At this level, I am unable to rely what number of occasions I’ve raised my telephone solely to note the icons shaking, which 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. Typically there is a haptic buzz to inform me, however typically not.

It is a bit ironic, as a result of early on, some iPhone 16 house owners 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 once I knew my fingers have been solely near the display, not on it. I made it some extent to concentrate once I first began encountering undesirable contact inputs, considering I used to be simply being a klutz. Apparently I wasn’t.

The bezels on the iPhone 16 Professional are at the very least partly guilty, if not solely. They’re even thinner than on the 15 Professional, leaving nearly nowhere to your fingers to relaxation if you would like 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 telephone, or no safety in any respect. I might be launching issues each 5 seconds on a unadorned iPhone.

Talking of instances, eliminating bezels usually makes a case necessary, particularly for units with curved edges. It is like they’re designed to crack on the sidewalk. That in itself would not be a giant deal — you should shield a $400-plus cellular system regardless — however telephone makers additionally appear to disregard how instances and touchscreens work together. Today, it isn’t unusual for the lip of a case to dam faucets and swipes, whereas just some years in the past that was a uncommon downside, at the very least in my expertise. Relying on the apps you utilize each day, you may end up more and more irritated.

A couple of millimeters of bezel could make a world of distinction with regards to the sturdiness and value of a telephone. So is there any likelihood of getting our bezels again?

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The unlucky march of progress

A one-way street

I really feel like I am shouting within the wilderness, sadly. The pattern in the direction of bezel-less telephones has been underway for properly over a decade — what was as soon as a gimmick (totally on Samsung units) is now the default. There’s in all probability no approach of speaking telephone makers out of it, particularly since they may level to gross sales being unaffected by complaints. If something, they’d in all probability 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 telephone, however that provides up while you’re transport 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 trendy customers are subconsciously primed for it. Furthermore, shrinking edges turned functionally essential to allow the big shows we now have now — you would not desire 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 are able to do, I might wager, is make occasional complaints, hoping that telephone makers decide up on them. Maybe there are design workarounds that’ll fulfill everybody — I do know I might be comfortable if I might get an iPhone 17 or 18 with an angled lip, which might shield my telephone 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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