I don’t mind a little bezel on my smartphones — it gives me something to hold onto. But I know some folks have been longing for a phone that has nothing but screen on the front.
We’re not quite living in the bezel-free future yet… but we’re getting closer. Chinese company LeTV is reportedly working on a phone that has next-to-nothing on the left and right sides of the screen.
There’s still a bezel on top of the screen (which is where the speaker, camera, and light sensor hang out), and another at the bottom.
Speaking of the bottom of the phone, there’s at least one other thing that’s special about this phone: it has a USB Type-C connector like the new MacBook and Google Chromebook Pixel. We’ll probably see more and more devices with Type-C connectors in the coming months, but right now this one-port-for-everything connector is rare enough to be worth noting.
According to GizmoChina, the phone’s other specs are decent, but a little less out of the ordinary. It’s said to feature a 5.5 inch, 1080p display, a 2.2 GHz octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage as well as dual SIM slots, a 13MP rear camera, and a 5MP front camera.
via /r/Android and GizChina
Shut up and take my money!
I’d love to see a small thin pocketable 7 inch tablet everytime I see one it the bezel is the only thing holding it back…
I favor no side bezels at all, and only enough top and bottom bezel to hold front firing stereo speakers in landscape. That’s as minimalist as my imagination can conjure.
USB Type-C seems to be the third iteration of host USB, after Mini USB and Micro USB ports, and in no way a replacement, or threat, or feasible alternative for the institution that is the standard USB port since 1.1 to 3.1 now. Everybody should stop gulping down the Cool-Aid, before the industry takes notice and Type-C-ez all over itself, and we all end up walking around with adapters in our pockets.
About bezels, Korean PANTECH came closest to a bezel-free design with the VEGA IRON, back in 2013, but immediately realized that nobody really gave a shit about this design direction, and when the PANTECH VEGA IRON 2 came out, it came out with twice the bezel thickness.
While you’re right it’s the latest in a long line of form factor changes, none of the previous generations were really an upgrade functionally over regular USB ports, except MHL which is now pretty common. USB-C adds functionality, it replaces charging ports on all but the biggest gaming laptops, it replaces video output ports, it replaces thunderbolt’s specialised uses, it’s faster than USB 3 and above all else it’s plain easier to use. This is the first form factor change that I expect to see on every laptop releasing from now because it’s actually useful, unlike microUSB which can’t even charge a good 10″ tablet without breaking specification with higher voltage.
You’re wrong about USB-C. I predict the adoption rate will be much faster than it was for USB 3. For one, Apple has already signaled an aggressive adoption speed and when Apple leads, other high-end laptop manufactures will be keen to follow.
If Apple leads, NO ONE follows! Firewire, Thunderbolt, Lightning. You think they’ll succeed in throwing two decades of legacy compatibility out the window, for literally billions of devices and connectors, just because the douchebags with fashion laptops can’t plug a cable in without 4 attempts ? USB 3.1 is great with the Type-A connector, offering platform and physical backwards compatibility with previous generations, why bring a round hole in a square peg world ? I always wondered why they don’t just paint one side of the USB Type-A male connector a different color, and then do the same for the female end, nothing much, just a discrete red line or something, if there are still people in this world who try to plug something in whilst trying to see what life would be like if they were blind and were unable look at where the host connector tongue is so they could do it right the first time, rather than reenacting the anxiety rim grinding maneuvers, from the moments just before they lost their virginity.
but still.. having a smaller connector is a feature device-manufacturers will love.
Users? they will hate it. doesn’t matter though since everybody seems to like buying smaller devices no matter how much ports he/she has to sacrifice for that.
so i’d say we’ll see USB 3.1 widely used soon. (unlike thunderbold/firewire)
first non-apple-smartphones are even produced with it.
has that anything to do with apple? i’d say no.
I think manufacturers should go nuts with the Type-C on all phones and small tablets, but to put a Type-C on a laptop is just asenine. Think of all the things you can’t do with the new MacBook, like connect a FlashDrive, card reader, external HDD, printers/scanners, webcams, WI-FI adapters etc. You can’t even charge your phone in a pinch, because guess what, you need an adapter the size o a wallet to do that. How much do you really compromise the design of a laptop by going with a Type-A 3.1 connector ? You still get 100W and 10Gb/s over that wire and you keep the compatibility with what, by now, are over 10 billion devices and accessories, that you are very likely to come in contact with.
Just because you charge from a typeC doesn’t mean everything has to be done through only one port…. that’s a mac problem, not a typeC problem
While there’s been a torrent of teaser photos, mockups, and speculation, LeTV hasn’t released a single phone to date. LeTV’s primary business in China is delivering media via PC, their set-top boxes and smart TVs. Any phone they release is sure to be tightly integrated with their core money-spinning operations. In short, believe it when you see it, and when you do see it, it’s probably going to be useful only in China.
i prefer a bit of bezel. guess i’m just old school
All about that base?
I don’t think there’s ever a need for bezels on a smartphone. You don’t hold a phone like holding a stack of paper.
Analogy would be more appropriate with comparing it to holding a notepad or similar hand held object but people don’t always hold their devices only from the sides and when grabbing their devices the smaller bezels means it’s more likely you would accidentally touch the screen and accidentally activate something…
Even if that wasn’t the case many people make use of accessories like cases to help make their phone more durable but thinner bezel means it’s harder for the case to wrap around the device without blocking part of the screen…
The addition of pressure sensitive touch screens that’s coming out on some newer devices can also become problematic if it becomes too easy to touch the screen and/or apply pressure…
Then there’s the larger devices, namely phablets, to consider as they often get used like mini-tablets and are generally harder to hold without a better grip that often overlaps the front of the device…
There’s basically a balance to consider between the visual aesthetics and physical practical design concerns…
Though, this doesn’t mean it should apply to all devices but does help explain why it’s so hard to just eliminate bezels…
I’ve had my Sharp Aquos Crystal for about 5 months and am delighted with it. I was initially concerned about accidental screen taps, but I can count on one hand the number of times I accidentally tapped the screen due to the lack of a bezel (on 3 sides).
Watching videos on it is absolutely wonderful. I will use it as a portable media player after I stop using it as a phone.