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Bezel Wars!
- Thread starter Tiger8
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Lol that's funny considering the 6 Plus has more screen space vs. bezel (screen:bezel ratio).
Than the G3? No.
The screen to bezel ratio on the G3 is 76.41%. The 6 Plus is at 67.9%.
Source:
http://08-08-08.com/2014/09/12/ultimate-screen-to-body-ratio-comparison-ifa-2014/
My complaint with this study is that it does not take in to account what I consider to be "unusable screen real estate" which is the navigation bar.
The best comparison to the 6 Plus, IMO, is something like the Galaxy Note 3 or 4, which hover at 74%. Or the Galaxy S5, which comes in at 69.65%. Flagship Samsung devices have physical and capacitive buttons on the bottom bezel meaning that you get the full screen real estate during normal usage of your device since they do not have to use that space for a navigation bar.
I was talking about the first part of his post comparing the 6 and 6 Plus. Sorry for not clarifying.
When the phone hasn't passed the phablet threshold, the ratio simply doesn't matter as much. But I do see your point.
I have both the 6 Plus and the Note 4. The biggest feature of the Note lineup for me has always been the screen size and battery life. The multitasking features are nothing more than "show-off-to-your-friends-at-the-bar" to me because the screen is still not large enough to actually enjoy two windows on it. It feels like trying to run Windows 98 on a 5.5" screen; multi-window is a PITA on a screen that small.
So I moved my priorities towards how single apps handle screen real estate, and honestly, apps on the Note 4 are just blown up and zoomed in, instead of scaling properly and showing much more material. iPhone 6 Plus apps are scaled properly and use the pixels for displaying more things at once. Therefore I would actually argue that based on app quality alone, it seems that the iPhone 6 Plus does apps better, unless two zoomed-in apps running side-by-side is your thing.
Anyway, that's just my opinion, but I won't post more about it here (this isn't the thread for that).
Do you guys care about the symmetry of the bezels? That supposedly has been apple's lame excuse for the huge bezels, that they want to keep the symmetry between the bottom bezel (which has to be large in order for them to accomodate the touch ID button) and the upper bezel , I'd say trim the upper bezel as much as possible! Also the bottom bezel on the 6 plus is behind huge, there's room for 2 touch ID buttons there! I'm exaggerating but you get the point 
-symmetry is important not just visually for design but for landscape gaming and such
-side bezels need room to have a case on top otherwise edge functions like back and forward swipes won't work with a case on
-bezels add comfort to overall handling of the phone even if it does make the phone have a bigger footprint, there is a huge ergonomic tradeoff that is not worth it to make the bezels too bleeding edge small
-its more protection for the glass if dropped
-side bezels need room to have a case on top otherwise edge functions like back and forward swipes won't work with a case on
-bezels add comfort to overall handling of the phone even if it does make the phone have a bigger footprint, there is a huge ergonomic tradeoff that is not worth it to make the bezels too bleeding edge small
-its more protection for the glass if dropped
I think I have to disagree on that one, the iphone 6 plus has huge screen but it still displays only 3 times at a time in the recent apps menu, it doesn't show any contact pictures in the agenda , emails, it still has 4 icon dock wth!
I think I have to disagree on that one, the iphone 6 plus has huge screen but it still displays only 3 times at a time in the recent apps menu, it doesn't show any contact pictures in the agenda , emails, it still has 4 icon dock wth!
You're talking about the basics like home screen and stock apps (mail shows threads + content of threads in landscape, by the way..a bit more valuable than pictures). I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of apps on the App Store/Play Store.
It's just discouraging that apple itself , the creator of the phone treats it just like a blown up version of the 6, an afterthought if you will, that's what bothers me
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It's just discouraging that apple itself , the creator of the phone treats just like a blown up version of the 6, an afterthought if you will, that's what bothers me
I do agree that they can and should be doing a lot more with the screen real-estate. They're going in the right direction with the extra functionality in landscape view but yeah, there's still a lot of wasted space.
That's part of what I felt with the Plus, like they are on the right track but they can definitely do better. Apple is great at innovation and even better at implementation. I'm excited for iOS 9 and the 7 Plus.
I agree on a lot of what you said about the Note 4. When I had it, I was always trying to think of ways to productively use all the "features", but many of them just aren't that useful. The S Pen is a cool idea, but I always had to remind myself to use it. And even then I had to admit that my finger was quicker and simpler.
The multi tasking stuff, also a nice idea, but multi-screen on anything smaller than a 13" laptop is too cramped to be practical, especially with on-screen keyboards.
i bought this phone acouple of days ago...it is a game changer. samsung already jumped on the bevelless bandwagon with the S6 and you know who will follow soon. ill rather sacrifice specs for looks but thats just me. this phone is a chick magnet for sure
Doesn't bother me one bit, by I gues I get people who feel cheated on screen size with large bezels.
I think they add character to the face of the phone.
I think we will see bezel slimming on the 2017 redesign to really modernize the phone, but I don't think it will be drastic elimination of the bezels like in the OP.
The bezels don't really bother me, but I could see Apple slimming them right and the phone being an instant hit, and instantly dating every iPhone prior.
The bezels don't really bother me, but I could see Apple slimming them right and the phone being an instant hit, and instantly dating every iPhone prior.
I can't say I have ever looked at my smartphone and said 'oh I hate that bezel'. Perhaps my time is occupied with more important worries and priorities, I just don't know.
I suspect that the general public are fine with the bezels on the current iPhone 6. It's the fanatics on this forum that want the bezels smaller. There is nothing wrong with that, except that the general public is far more important to Apple than the fanatics, like one million to one.
If it were a display or a laptop, I would say make the bezels as narrow as possible, but as I look at the way I handle my phone, with the current bezels there is just about enough space to place your fingers and hold the phone securely and comfortably without obscuring part of the screen in landscape mode. In portrait mode, the top and bottom bezels could be smaller for the iPhone 6 because your hand can cup the phone.
But it's not like the space behind the bezel is wasted. There is a speaker and cameras and microphone and headphone and Home button. Plus the side bezels make it possible to round the edges to the phone which make it a lot more comfortable to hold than the 5 and 4 in my opinion.
So it seems to me that the benefits clearly outweigh the draw back in this case.
If it were a display or a laptop, I would say make the bezels as narrow as possible, but as I look at the way I handle my phone, with the current bezels there is just about enough space to place your fingers and hold the phone securely and comfortably without obscuring part of the screen in landscape mode. In portrait mode, the top and bottom bezels could be smaller for the iPhone 6 because your hand can cup the phone.
But it's not like the space behind the bezel is wasted. There is a speaker and cameras and microphone and headphone and Home button. Plus the side bezels make it possible to round the edges to the phone which make it a lot more comfortable to hold than the 5 and 4 in my opinion.
So it seems to me that the benefits clearly outweigh the draw back in this case.