Pricey smartphone makers, please cease with the be...

In the event you decide up any smartphone nowadays — whether or not it is an iPhone 16, a Galaxy S25, a Pixel 9, or one thing else — there is a sturdy probability its bezel can be tiny or non-existent. Saying the design trait is all the trend could be an understatement, as the one approach yow will discover something completely different is by looking for finances fashions. As soon as the 2025 iPhone SE rolls round, you will not have a alternative in any respect in order for you a brand new mannequin based mostly on Apple’s platform.

For a lot of of you, bezels are in all probability 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 believe 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 greatest criticism in regards to 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 cellphone the flawed approach. At this level, I am unable to rely 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 just a little ironic, as a result of early on, some iPhone 16 house owners had 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 had been solely near the display, not on it. I made it a degree 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 in charge, if not solely. They’re even thinner than on the 15 Professional, leaving virtually 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 instances, eliminating bezels typically makes a case obligatory, 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 have to defend a $400-plus cellular machine regardless — however cellphone makers additionally appear to disregard how instances and touchscreens work together. Today, it is not unusual for the lip of a case to dam faucets and swipes, whereas only a few years in the past that was a uncommon downside, at the very least in my expertise. Relying on the apps you employ every day, you would possibly end up more and more irritated.

A number of millimeters of bezel could make a world of distinction in relation to 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 street

I really feel like I am shouting within the wilderness, sadly. The pattern 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 in all probability no approach of speaking cellphone 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 likely to be a couple of cents per cellphone, however that provides up if you’re delivery hundreds of thousands of items 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 expertise on the time. As time went on, thinner bezels turned a logo 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’ve got now — you would not desire a 6.3-inch display in your pocket if it had bezels as thick as the unique iPhone. Trendy 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 pleased if I might get an iPhone 17 or 18 with an angled lip, which might defend 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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