In defense of the bezel

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

In defense of the bezel

 

Let?s get one thing straight: I think the phone screen-as-device face looks as attractive as anyone else. But am I so married to the mantra of bezel-less handsets and tablets that I?d go screaming at every bezel I saw in an article, post, or tweet? Of course not, and you should?t either. The fact is that a very vocal contigent of ?bezel-haters? has sprung up in the last few years, forcibly pushing manfacturers into sacrificing usability and structural soundness in pursuit of this seeming expressed consumer preference. The vitriol of some of these haters is ridiculous, attacking any device unfortunate enough to be low end and unable to afford the flagships? million-dollar development budgets and manufacturing techniques.

 

When I first saw the upper screen corners of the LG G2, I couldn?t even believe it was a real product. It?s a great phone to be sure, but I still cringe at the thought of dropping it from any decent distance off-the-ground and having it land smack on that little sliver of plastic. I once had the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 ? built by HTC (codename Venus) ? and that thing was a little tank. Dropped it many times on any number of surfaces from a few heart-stopping heights, and it sits in my drawer today almost like new, recessed screen out-of-vogue but completely crack-free and ready to shine. Phones today, with their tiny bezels, are churning through warranty claims so fast that the deductibles have inflated to nearly the same as the price of a brand new handset.

The other issue that plagues small-bezeled devices is a preponderance of unintentional screen taps. To use the G2 as an example again ? sorry LG! ? I can?t tell you how many times I accidently tap the screen while my finger is hovering around the border contemplating a selection. Usually the tap is completely benign and only the slightest bit annoying, but sometimes it results in the device performing a more serious miscue, and it make me wonder how the aging Generations X, Y, and beyond are ever going to sucessfully avoid accidents with what will surely be wraparound, completely bezel-less displays. I?ve not even touched on the entirely separate issue of palms on tablets, and how the so-called rejection technology is far from universally perfected across the wide breadth of OEMs. Nor did I mention the superior viewing experience offered by a screen with a distinct black border around it ? a bezel.

 

I honestly think that the bezel-haters are actually just a vocal minority, and that the vast majority of people are reasonalbe enough to see all these yet-to-be-addressed issues with the unwavering march towards no bezels, anywhere, for anything. Maybe I?m wrong and just getting old, in which case I can only hope for the rapid ascension of alternative display technologies, the voice-controlled Google Glasses and motion-responsive Oculus Rifts of the future.

 

Source: evleaks.at

 

Personally I prefer small bezels from an aesthetics point of view. What do you think?

[Dot Matrix]

Nothing wrong with bezels, however most hardware manufacturers have HUGE bezels that look ugly, and are completely unwarranted. You don't need 1+ inch bezels on your devices.  

[Mordkanin]

Without a bezel, edge swiping gestures suck.

[Roger H. Veteran]

The nexus 5 technically has like a 1mm bezel as the front is all glass buy the screen doesn't start till about 3-4mm in from the sides. If he is talking about screen starting going all the way yo the edge of the device then yeah I agree but I hate having a thick piece of plastic surrounding the glass portion of the screen. I think the nexus 4 did it best with the wrap around glass. The glass on the back wasnt a good idea tho, not gonna try to excuse that!! :boo:

[Anibal P]

Look at the new HP tablet and you'll see why there's so much deserved hate for most bezels 

[Auzeras]

I prefer a small bezel, mostly to stop your hands going onto the physical display itself. As others have pointed I guess it needs to  be defined what is the bezel if you, is it the edge of the device to the screen or the edge of the device to the display surface (which on tablets/phones is the glass). This varies as  of course on an LCD display for TV/Computer we'd say the bezel is anything that's not screen, on a phone it's a bit blurred. I take the bezel to be the frame that supports the display interface, so in the case of the Nexus 5 it would be <1mm.

 

As I mentioned earlier, a slim bezel (going by my definition) is good because it allows  the display to be as seamless as possible, giving the user a subversive experience. It also allows for easier cleaning and less space for grime to become trapped. It does however open up more areas for damage due to drops as there is a larger straight edge to be exposed to stress. As I noted previously though, there needs to be a boundary between the actual display and the users hand so that false touches aren't recorded or the screen obstructed. No only can it be annoying to use, but also  can cause damage as users adopt un natural or awkward positions to interact with the device. Tablets being held firmly in two hands require a larger interface barrier as seen on pretty much every tablet, whilst one handed phones can afford smaller ones. Until we can sort out an easier way to hold large mobile devices tablets will continue to have large boarders around the screen.