Google Pixel 3 designs given away by screen protector maker

[HEXUS]

If these tempered glass screen protectors are any indication, the 3XL will have a notch.

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[3dcandy]

Notch will annoy a large percentage!
Appears the speaker will be smaller too - don't think that's a trade-off I'd be happy with considering the front facing speakers will now be different sizes

[Spud1]

Urgh well that's the Pixel 3 XL ruled out as my next smartphone then! Such a silly move by Google - whats next - will their smartwatch include a flat tire?

Is it really just Samsung left now who makes full screen flagship smartphones without a hole in the middle? It's one way to slow down the market I guess; make all your top end phones unappealing so you don't have to make as many

[peterb]

I'm slightly puzzled why the notch attracts such ire - the notched Pixel 3XL has a much larger screen size anyway, the OS has support for that shape, and while aesthetically it might look a little odd, it doesn't look that bad. And if you are googing for a minimum bezel size, how else are you going to place the front facing camera?

Or is it just because it was first introduced by Apple, and therefore in the eyes of some people, its automatically a "bad thing"?

[Spud1]

I think its just a huge backwards step and isn't needed. Phones have been getting bigger screens in the same casing for a while now, and the pinnacle has been the Galaxy S8+ (and S9+) which have a huge edge to edge screen, great for watching videos/looking at photos...with no notch.

The new trend follows the approach of larger screens in the same casing, but also cuts a chunk out of the screen at the same time...all for the sake of 2 mm reduction in the top bezel. (comparing my S8+ to my colleagues iPhone X)

I recognise its a personal opinion, but to me it's not worth making the phone look very odd on the front (downright ugly imo, but again personal preference!) just to have a very slightly smaller bezel. With android phones you can of course darken the edges of the notch to effectively hide it, but in doing so you actually end up with a smaller screen than you would have had without a notch in the first place. It is a huge compromise that you could expect on a budget phone, but not something you would expect to see on a high end device imo.

It's nothing to do with Apple (from my POV at least), it just seems an illogical backwards step..was clearly inspired by the iPhone X, but that's not why I think its a daft idea

[DanceswithUnix]

how else are you going to place the front facing camera?

The phone that started all this "all the front is a screen" put the camera on the bottom of the screen, which brings its own problems. Link to the update which does the same.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017...-the-mi-mix-2/

[3dcandy]

Indeed...indeed.
Also makes for very boring samey phones...
Might as well get rid of everything except Apple and Samsung

[AGTDenton]

I'm not that bothered by the 'Notch' - OnePlus are making an update that turns it into the notification area making good use of space but also giving you the option to just make it black and move everything down a bit. I personally don't find any smartphone 'good looking' I've never gone for aesthetics. There's nothing truely radical out there at the moment, if you put all the popular models side by side they have very minor differences. The outer shape of modern phones has matured now if not going into old age.

[Rob_B]

I really don't get the hate for the notch, you get more screen, I have a bar at the top anyway..

Any way, this phone will be huuuge, who can hold these things? Will they have one handed mode?

[Wh00pS]

Or is it just because it was first introduced by Apple, and therefore in the eyes of some people, its automatically a "bad thing"?

Actually the notch was introduced on the Essential PH-1, next was the Sharp Aquos S2 and then the iPhone X.
Apple fans love to credit things to Apple when most of the time they were far from first.

[Wh00pS]

I really don't get the hate for the notch, you get more screen,

How do you get more screen?
Lets take the iPhone X for example, you have a 5.8" screen with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, then you cut out a huge chunk of the top, next we have Apple rounding off the corners and then we have the virtual 4.5mm bezel all around the screen.
All this adds up to less screen real estate than a 5.5" 16:9 phone. You actually get around 4.96” inch of viewable area on traditional 16:9 video's
So much for a device thats marketed as a 5.8" all screen phone.

[Xlucine]

I think its just a huge backwards step and isn't needed. Phones have been getting bigger screens in the same casing for a while now, and the pinnacle has been the Galaxy S8+ (and S9+) which have a huge edge to edge screen, great for watching videos/looking at photos...with no notch.

The new trend follows the approach of larger screens in the same casing, but also cuts a chunk out of the screen at the same time...all for the sake of 2 mm reduction in the top bezel. (comparing my S8+ to my colleagues iPhone X)

I recognise its a personal opinion, but to me it's not worth making the phone look very odd on the front (downright ugly imo, but again personal preference!) just to have a very slightly smaller bezel. With android phones you can of course darken the edges of the notch to effectively hide it, but in doing so you actually end up with a smaller screen than you would have had without a notch in the first place. It is a huge compromise that you could expect on a budget phone, but not something you would expect to see on a high end device imo.

It's nothing to do with Apple (from my POV at least), it just seems an illogical backwards step..was clearly inspired by the iPhone X, but that's not why I think its a daft idea

The biggest screen you can fit in a flat fronted phone (i.e. without the weird apple/samsung rounded corners) is as wide as the phone, and as long as (phone length - sensor package length). This leads to wasted space either side of the notch. With a notch, and with time & notifications either side of the sensor package, then you have a notched screen that's the same size as the phone front. This leaves the same area under the notch as a phone without a notch has for the entire screen, so you can get exactly the same amount of content while still showing the notification bar - in an un-notched screen, the only way you can match the content area of a notched screen is by hiding the top bar.

Notched screens are just bigger, cerberus parebus, and an un-notched iphone X would lose a lot more than 2mm in the screen height (as the notch cuts deeper than 2mm, this is obvious). If it really offends you, you can turn it off and get the same screen size that could fit with an un-notched screen.

[3dcandy]

I don't like the notch because on the iphone the notifications are all over the shop because of the notch. Better now than they were granted. Not seen a notched Android phone really to comment but is it reall that bad to compromise the ui for about 2mm? Unless they stick a popup camera or get rid of the sensors on the front it makes as near as no difference to have a notch...
But...each to their own I guess

[Spud1]

Notched screens are just bigger, cerberus parebus, and an un-notched iphone X would lose a lot more than 2mm in the screen height (as the notch cuts deeper than 2mm, this is obvious). If it really offends you, you can turn it off and get the same screen size that could fit with an un-notched screen.

It's very much each to their own - the notch does offend me more than it should and I really hope the fad vanishes next year so I have more than a single flagship to choose from when the time comes to upgrade The 2mm I mentioned was compared to my S8+; I was saying that you gain approx 2mm due to the notch vs not having one by comparing the screen & bezel sizes between the two devices side by side..but I take your point.

You also cannot remove the notch - you can fade/darken the sides but its still very obviously there looking very out of place. It's still a big leap backwards in design but very much each to their own and if you like them then that's fine, you have a lot of choice this year