Curved screens: The bane of modern smartphones that we thankfully fixed
To me, there was nothing more annoying than a great flagship phone with a screen that curves towards the frame to the sides.
I’ll admit that the first iterations of this design fad that I experienced on the Galaxy S7 edge and the Galaxy S8 were quite intriguing and novel, successfully setting themselves apart from the rest of their rivals at the time. It was new and flashy and looked a bit futuristic. What do you mean we could suddenly make phones with curved displays that didn’t have to be completely flat?
As an added bonus, the arrival of curved screens coincided with the major paradigm shift in terms of interface navigation: gestures. Somehow, curved screens worked quite well with gesture-based navigation back in the day, allowing for really satisfying and precise back gestures, for example.
However, over the next couple of years since the first curved-screen Samsung flagships, I used many more phones with such screens and quickly began to detest them for various, dare I say, objectively true reasons.
Inferior grip and ergonomics
No two ways about it – curved screens are terrible when it comes to ergonomics. The reason is glaringly obvious: less area on the side for a comfortable grip. In the most extreme cases I can recall, we had some very extreme curves that ended with barely a millimeter or two of usable area, which is barely enough for a secure hold.
That’s opposed to most modern phones, where the side frame you grip is as thick as the phone itself, giving significantly better contact with the user’s palm even though sharper edges themselves are a whole other can of worms.
Content distortion
Probably the most offensive aspect of a phone with a curved screen is just how much of the displayed content is lost to the curve itself. Even though a phone with such a screen was technically, say, 6.7 inches wide, the actual usable area was smaller due to the sides of the screen warping the photos, videos, or any other content you’re viewing.
Not cool at all.
That was particularly bad if you watched a lot of video or gamed a lot on your phone, as the experience was much worse than a contemporary device with a more regular flat display. This was one of the biggest reasons why I grew to dislike phones with curved screens that much.
Reflections and screen glare
But get this, it’s not only that curved screens “ate” up usable screen real estate – the curves also gave us significant edge reflections and glare. The crests of the curves were always prone to pick up all the reflections from all nearby light sources. This only added insult to injury, as you not only had less usable screen real estate, the offending areas also blinded you and added to the inferior experience.
Accidental “ghost” touches
In the earlier days of curved-screen phones, I used to accidentally trigger gestures and buttons all the time. Palm rejection wasn’t great then, but even later devices often made it easy to unintentionally tap some interface element. That has never happened to me with a regular non-curved phone.
Less internal space for hardware
Imagine how much more battery you could fit on a phone with a curved screen if it had flat edges instead. Well, probably not much, but as in all cases, every little bit helps. The unique shape of curved-screen phones means that the extreme parts of the phones were a liability rather than providing usable extra space for extra hardware.
Limited accessory compatibility
I’m a klutz, so if a phone I’m using doesn’t come with a pre-applied screen protector, I usually try to get one just for the sake of protecting the screen from scratches and drops. With modern flat-screen phones, that’s an easy ordeal, you can find a decent tempered glass or TPU screen protector for just about any modern phone out there.
However, that’s not the case with curved screens. Screen protectors were a pain to find and apply, and they typically left an unprotected area which got in the way of your finger tips and made the navigation experience that much worse.
Added costs without real-life benefits
Have you cracked the screen of a phone with a curved display? I have, and the repair bill was not a particularly beautiful sight to behold. Call in anecdotal evidence, but I’m certain that curved screen replacements were always pricier than those of standard phones.
And that’s the problem, really: curved displays only added to the costs of ownership without actively contributing to the overall functionality of the phone itself. For me, that’s the clearest case of form over function, and I’,m so glad we’ve phased these out.
Conclusion: Not sad to see you go, curved screens!
I haven’t had to use a curved-screen phone extensively for more than a year, and what a relief! Only dealing with flat-screen phones and not having to put up with all the negative reasons listed above has been nothing short of a mini revelation.
I’m so glad we’ve outgrown the peculiar curves and universally adopted the modern all-flat design language, which honestly is the most sensible one around.
