OnePlus 6 image src
Ok, if you're even moderately interested in smartphones, I'm guessing you are... then you know whats going on in the world of new smartphones. The dreaded notch that first appeared in "iPhone X" dubbed as the futurist look of smartphones by Apple is being heavily copied by other phone manufactures, mainly android phones!
Some people love the notch or have embraced the notch, I for one, have never liked it and not sure if I will get used to it. Some of you wouldn't know this but Apple was actually not the first brand to sport a notch.
There's a new phone brand (Essential) that has come out with a phone called the "Essential Phone" (Wouldn't be surprised if you haven't heard of it). They were actually the first brand to have a notch on top of the display and their notch was much much smaller than Apples and looked much cleaner, with just a little cutout for the camera. They even managed to squeeze the earpiece at the top edge so that it wouldn't take any room of the display.
Essential Phone image src
So, what is a notch?
Notch is a little cutout on top of a phone's display that houses mainly the camera and the earpiece. It is done in OLED displays as they morph and bend easily but can be done with LCDs as well, as seen on the Essential Phone.
Why do we need a notch?
The trend for the last few years has been narrowing the bottom and the top bezel, which can be seen on phones like Samsung Galaxy S8/S9, OnePlus 5/5t, LG G6/V30 etc. So, finally last year brands like essential and Apple have tried to even make the top bezel smaller by only having a little cutout for the earpiece, camera and other sensors. This makes room on either side of the notch for notifications and other informations, which makes the display look bigger.
iPhone X image src
Does the notch actually work?
Yes and no. It does what it says meaning, it manages to take up little space at the top and leaves room on either side for other information to be displayed. But visually it does not look that great because there is always that gap in the middle which is quite noticeable. This can be seen mainly while watching videos/movies in full screen. The whole point of the notch is to get more real state of display in the phone but it cuts out a certain portion while watching the videos so you end up watching it in a normal orientation which has huge bezels on the side anyway.
Some new phones like the Huawei P20 line up, have a software function where they allow you to put a black bar next to the notch to make it looks seamless. But what is the point of having the notch if you're going to use that function anyway?
Major brands like LG, OnePlus, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Asus etc. all have adopted the notch and I'm sure many will follow. Unlike iPhone X, they all have a bottom chin.
Asus Zenfone 5 image src
Having a notch and bottom chin does not look that great in my opinion. The reason they haven't been able to get rid of the bottom chin, is because it takes a long process of bending the display inwards which apparently costs a lot and only Apple has managed to do that with the iPhone X (No wonder it costs $1000).
iPhone X image src
So, is the notch really the future of smartphones?
I don't think so. Although a lot of brands are going for the notch look on their phone and honestly a lot of them are just copying Apple.. it seems like a temporary thing. Until they figure out how to put the camera and other sensors under the display, the notch is here to stay. This is the last step of innovation before we start seeing truly bezeless phones as seen on Black Mirror.
What are the alternatives to the notch phones in 2018?
Even though it feels like a trend in 2018 to have a notch on the display, not everyone is following this trend. Phones like Samsungs Galaxy S9/S9 Plus have a minimal top and bottom bezel which to me looks much better than any of the notch phones. Even phones like the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2/2s, where they have managed with almost no top bezel and the small bottom bezel houses the camera. Xiaomi was actually the first phone to start the bezeless trend back in 2016 with the Mix line of phones. It was truly revolutionary at that time but was quickly overtaken by the so called notch phones.
Samsung Galaxy S9 image src
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 image src
Samsungs upcoming Galaxy Note 9 will probably be also designed similarly to the S9, avoiding the notch.
So, to sum up.. the notch trend is very strong at this time. Even big brands like LG, Huawei, OnePlus etc. are embracing the notch and not many are trying to find a different solution. Hopefully, the future of the smartphones will have a different solution to this situation and finally we will have truly bezeless phones without the notch!
Do you like the notch? Do you hate it? Or you don't mind it? Would love to hear what you think?