Flat or curved: which smartphone screen is better?

Almost 10 years have passed since Samsung first showed a smartphone with a "curved" screen.

Of course

there have been attempts before. For example, you can remember LG Flex, shown in October 2013 and went on sale in November.

6-inch P-OLED screen, 1280x720 resolution, Snapdragon 800 chipset (28nm), 2GB/13GB, 13MP main camera, 2.1MP selfie camera

Although it would probably be more correct to call the firstSamsung Galaxy Round, introduced in October 2013 and went on sale the same month. There is a feeling that Samsung specially strained and rolled out its version for sale in order to go down in history at number one, overtaking LG (at that time still a formidable competitor) by a month.

5.7" Super Flexible AMOLED Screen, 1920x1080, Snapdragon 800 (28nm), 3GB/13GB, 13MP Main Camera, 2MP Selfie Camera

Which smartphone do you like best? According to the characteristics of Samsung, it seems to be more interesting (even the Full HD screen), but the price was almost 2 times higher (350 euros for LG versus 700 euros for Samsung).

Perhaps, in both cases, these were imagedevices to show that their owner is not like everyone else. Along the way, it is important to remember that 2013-2014 are the years when the iPhone is most actively walking around the planet, collecting insane queues at the start of sales. So all the other manufacturers were in constant stress, trying to find an antidote against apple infection.

Another common feature of these smartphones was thatneither Samsung nor LG had any idea why it was needed. They were sold with a “look how cool we could” sauce. Anonymous insiders from Samsung said that the Samsung Galaxy Round is a prototype that they decided to sell publicly in order to collect reviews (plus, apparently, wipe LG's nose) and understand the reaction of the buyer.

But a year later, the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge model entered the market, which turned the world of smartphones upside down and made the curved screen a feature of premium smartphones. However, then something went wrong.

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Now many users say that curved screens are less convenient. The following are the main arguments:

• Phantom touches that occur regularlywhen working with a curved screen. Because of this, you can accidentally swipe an open application. Or, for example, the face fixes the touch, and the screen becomes insensitive to other touches. This happens when working with a camera. I touched the edge, and the on-screen shutter button can no longer be pressed.
• Separately, I would like to note phantom touches in reaction games.
• Curved screens are more fragile when dropped.
• A curved screen is more difficult to protect: the protective glass cannot be glued, and the film will lift up.

What are the advantages of curved screens?

Pros of curved screens in 2022:

• It is beautiful.
• Slightly more screen area in a body of the same size.
• …

I couldn't think of any more benefits. And this is the fault of the manufacturers! At some point, they stopped trying.

Let's go back to the first Galaxy Note Edge. In a smartphone, a curved screen was presented under the idea of ​​improved productivity. The user was offered many useful tools.

For example, the chief, returning from the presentation of the smartphone, first of all told how journalists found a ruler on a bent edge and began to measure something there.

Mobile-review.com Galaxy Note Edge first look built-in slope meter

So we lived to the moment when a ruler was built into the phone, which in any dispute will allow us to put a bold point. Curved screen as an experiment

However, in addition to the line, Samsung offered a number ofother more useful and interesting options. You should start with the fact that then the bent edge was positioned as a separate screen with a diagonal of 0.1 inches with a resolution of 2560x160 pixels.

The user was prompted to use the edge as a notification bar, news ticker, weather forecast, etc.

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Subsequently, the status was displayed on such facescharging. In subsequent models, a whole set of tools appeared: quick access to applications, the ability to create combinations of simultaneous launch of two applications, access to contacts, a flashlight, a compass, etc. As a person suffering with the choice of a new smartphone (let Samsung succeed with the Galaxy S23, otherwise I will switch to Xiaomi!), I still use the Galaxy Note 9 and I can say that I have become in the habit of using quick access across the edge for a number of apps and contacts.

It's hard to deny that the curved screen is beautiful.

At the same time, I cannot but note that working with a stylus on a smartphone with curved edges is not so convenient. And be my will, I would prefer the original version, when only one side of the screen is bent.

Samsung's attempt to give not only beauty and marketing slogans is worthy of respect. It is a pity that rational times have passed and now only emotions rule the world.

Unfortunately, in 2022, the curved screen is notused for nothing but beauty. No one even bothers to bring the charging scale or the notification indicator to the curved edge in the era of Always-On screens.

If we talk about Samsung, then the company leftthe curved screen is only on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, while the S22 and S22+ use flat screens. And this, by the way, is a controversial decision, since in a compact smartphone a curved screen makes more sense (the usable area increases), and a smartphone with a stylus, in theory, should not have a curved screen. Now there are rumors that maybe Samsung will have a flat screen in the future S23 Ultra.

It's sad that none of the manufacturers are tryingcome up with something useful in this area. For example, both Huawei and Honor love curved screens, but they don’t offer any options other than beauty (or did the Mate 40 Pro have something?). A similar story with the new Google Pixel 7 Pro, which can do a lot, but does not use its curved screen. Motorola tried to portray something useful in its Motorola Edge.

Pictured is Huawei Nova 10 Pro.The curved screen is definitely beautiful. But just the other day, I accidentally peeled off the protective film from the screen, fixing the smartphone on a tripod. Somehow, the rubber pad of the tripod rested against the film and picked it up. Of course, once peeled back, it cannot be glued without a crease.

My thought is that during the economic yearsrecessions, when buyers are much more careful in choosing a smartphone as such and a flagship in particular, you can’t make decisions that affect ergonomics just for the sake of beauty. At the same time, we are not talking about some radical innovations, but rather simply about the rationale for a curved screen. There you can put a notification indicator, design options for the Always-On screen (for example, a narrow line of time, weather, timer, etc.), calling some functions from the lock screen.

Accordingly, the question is for you.Which smartphone screen is better: flat or curved? Have you encountered any problems due to the curved screen? Do you feel the premium curved screen? Has having a curved screen stopped you from buying a smartphone?