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

For those who choose up any smartphone as of late — whether or not it is an iPhone 16, a Galaxy S25, a Pixel 9, or one thing else — there is a robust probability its bezel will likely be tiny or non-existent. Saying the design trait is all the craze can be an understatement, as the one approach you will discover something totally different is by searching for finances 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. Delivery 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 grievance 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 fallacious approach. At this level, I can not depend what number of occasions I’ve raised my cellphone 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. Generally there is a haptic buzz to inform me, however typically not.

It is somewhat 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, pondering 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 fully. They’re even thinner than on the 15 Professional, leaving nearly nowhere on 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 circumstances, 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 an enormous deal — you’ll want to shield a $400-plus cell machine regardless — however cellphone makers additionally appear to disregard how circumstances and touchscreens work together. Nowadays, 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 drawback, at the very least in my expertise. Relying on the apps you employ each day, you may end up more and more irritated.

A number of millimeters of bezel could make a world of distinction in terms of the sturdiness and usefulness of a cellphone. So is there any probability 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 properly over a decade — what was as soon as a gimmick (totally on Samsung gadgets) is now the default. There’s most likely no approach of speaking cellphone makers out of it, particularly since they might 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 likely to be a number of cents per cellphone, however that provides up once you’re delivery tens of millions of items and wish to ascertain 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 grew to become an emblem of progress, to the purpose that fashionable customers are subconsciously primed for it. Furthermore, shrinking edges grew to become functionally essential to allow the massive shows we’ve got now — you would not need a 6.3-inch display in your pocket if it had bezels as thick as the unique iPhone. Trendy folding designs can be out of the query.

Essentially the most we are able to do, I might wager, is make occasional complaints, hoping that cellphone makers choose up on them. Maybe there are design workarounds that’ll fulfill everybody — I do know I might be completely happy if I might 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 probability of preventing the tide at this stage.

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