POLL: do the black bars around the screen bother you ??

[kaerflog]

I mean is it a deal breaker ?? It is for me.
I'm not talking about the gigantic black bar on HTC phones or even the top and bottom black bars on the Axon(other wise a great phone all around for $399). NO, I'm talking about the black bars that goes all around the screen on the LG G5, Zen 3 Deluxe and all the Mate 7.8 and 9. And of course pretty much all the Chinese phones are famous for these black lines.
What got to post this was a picture of the Mate 9. I'm a big big fan of the Mate 7 and 8 and when I saw the Mate 9, the first thing that jumped out at me are the black borders. I mean this is 2016. make the phone clean if you expect to compete with the big boys.
All the Samsung phone are free of black borders. The Xiaomi phones are usually free of black borders too. The new Mi Note 2 is just gorgeous.
SO do the black borders a deal breaker for you ?? It is for me.
The Axon 7 is a fantastic phone and I refuse to get one because of the top and bottom black bars.
Zen 3 deluxe is gorgeous until I see the black borders. Now you can add the Mate 9 to that list too.
Take a look at the bottom picture and see for yourself.

 

[evident]

people find too much shit to bitch about in phones. this would be one of them.

 

[Zaap]

In 2010, no, they didn't bother me.

In 2016... EEEH.

That sucks that the Mate 9 has them, but that's what I've found with so many Chinese phones. You look at them and it's "Wow... can't believe this! This stat is great... this is great... it looks good... (then) *something unacceptable* ...aaaaand deal-breaker."

Black bars on what is supposed to be a flagship killer just screams corner-cutting to me.

People act like it's a big deal to expect 2016 stats on devices, when here it is almost 2017. Like "Oh just accept paying for 2015's best here at the end of 2016 already!"

No thanks. These things aren't free, and we've all seen what's possible now. Enjoy your own $500+ journeys back to 2015 if you like, but personally I want at *least* the best of 2016 moving forward.

On a $300 phone... black bars... eh. Okay, fine.

$600 phone? Get out.

 

[grissom]

They are definitely annoying, but not a deal-breaker.

There are so many variables with phones that it is hard to classify any of them as absolute deal-breakers.

Then again, I am a bang-for-buck guy, and in fact that is my only deal-breaker.

 

[Anubis]

could not possibly care any less about them

edit: also if you don't buy a white phone its much less noticeable - you shouldn't be buying white phones in the first place because all white electronics look like shit compared to black ones

 

[podspi]

Had to check if my phone (Honor 8) even had them... seems like it has small ones? They don't look great, but they are one of those things I never noticed unless I'm looking...

 

[MarkizSchnitzel]

I think chinese are doing it to be able to advertise narrow bezels, when in fact they are average.

 

[Yakk]

Deal breaker for me. My phone is a tool I have to work with, and I have to like the tools I use.

 

[lothar]

Interesting that most people seem okay with this. If this were bezels rather than those black bars, more people would already be up in arms. Hopefully, this race to create a bezel-less phone (similar to the smartphone "thinness" race) will die soon.

I'd rather those black bars be filled with bezels than to just have them there. It's an annoying design choice.
Those black bars would be a distraction, especially on an LCD screen which means that they will never be completely black and will still be lighted up.

If it's on an LCD screen, it's a deal breaker for me.
If it's on an AMOLED screen, I still hate it and would prefer to have bezels there instead of those black bars but it's not a deal breaker.

 

[Zaap]

Thin bezels/no excessive black bars is not an either/or proposition in 2016.

 

[gorcorps]

you'll never notice unless the front of your phone is white

 

[kaerflog]

you'll never notice unless the front of your phone is white

It's should be rephrase that your will always notice them unless they're black.

 

[Red Storm]

The black bars are same as any other bezel. To me, they're ugly design, but not a complete deal breaker. I think the Pixel - an iPhone look-a-like - has a very ugly, dated design, but if I were buying an Android phone today it would be the Pixel, because as much as I dislike the design, everything else still outweighs that dislike.

 

[Chiropteran]

I was watching a movie and the ridiculous corner-cutting theater had black bars around the screen, and worse it had curtains beyond those, and yet even worse there were some other paying customers in my field of view.

How can I watch something if there are other things visible around me!?

In all seriousness, no. Black bars around a screen were considered a huge plus just a few years back by A/V enthusiasts, they would even use special blackout cloth around their projection screen. The contrast makes the screen image stand out better. This sort of reminds me of the whole curved/flat screen thing. When I grew up all TVs had curved screens. One day, flat screens were the hot new thing, and soon everywhere. Now, the high end TVs differentiate themselves with curved screens.

 

[podspi]

I was watching a movie and the ridiculous corner-cutting theater had black bars around the screen, and worse it had curtains beyond those, and yet even worse there were some other paying customers in my field of view.

How can I watch something if there are other things visible around me!?

In all seriousness, no. Black bars around a screen were considered a huge plus just a few years back by A/V enthusiasts, they would even use special blackout cloth around their projection screen. The contrast makes the screen image stand out better. This sort of reminds me of the whole curved/flat screen thing. When I grew up all TVs had curved screens. One day, flat screens were the hot new thing, and soon everywhere. Now, the high end TVs differentiate themselves with curved screens.

That's a good point. I know people with blackout cloth. It still is one of those things I am just never noticing until talking about it, within reason.


Though for TVs, older CRTs are convex, while newer curved TVs are concave... I'd argue it is a big different.