Samsung and Huawei are racing to release notch-free phones with camera cutouts

[Greg S]

Something to look forward to: Notches are old news while Samsung and Huawei are both aiming to launch phones with cutouts in the display for a camera. There is no need to worry about seeing anything like the design of the Pixel 3 XL ever again.

Apple may still be Samsung's biggest rival, but Huawei is working to match Samsung's every move with equivalent hardware of its own. One of the latest technologies that we may see before 2019 is Samsung's Infinity-O display that features only a small hole for the front-facing camera.

Samsung is apparently going to release the Galaxy A8S in December, but Huawei might try and beat Samsung to the punch with a phone of its own. Although leaker Ice universe states that Huawei might be first to release a phone with hole-on-screen technology, it may not make it to very many markets. Samsung's Galaxy A8S should be widely available at launch.

Even though hole-on-screen devices will finally get rid of the notch, we will not be seeing the full potential of the technology until the Galaxy S10 is released. The S10 will be the first device with an AMOLED display featuring an HIAA structure, something only Samsung can produce. LG has not yet shown any response yet to Samsung's latest innovations.

Huawei has confirmed that it will be releasing further information about its upcoming device on December 3. Samsung has not yet confirmed any plans for the A8S, but might be waiting for Huawei's move in hopes to launch a few days earlier.

Eliminating the notch is a step in the right direction for phone designs. Objectively, consumers never really asked for a notch. Few people even knew about notches until the iPhone X. It was always a compromise made to squeeze even more screen onto the front of a phone. The only question left to ask is where all of the sensors packed into the tops of existing phones will go. Dual front-facing cameras may not be as desirable, nor will numerous light sensors, LEDs, and facial recognition hardware if they all take up genuinely usable screen real estate.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/77589-samsung-huawei-racing-release-notch-free-phones-camera.html

 

[iamcts]

I would rather have a notch than a black dot on my screen in the middle of a video...

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

I would rather have a notch than a black dot on my screen in the middle of a video...

Agreed, it's like having a big dead pixel on your screen.

 

[andres meza]

Where did the speaker to listen to the call go

 

[yRaz]

Isn't a cutout just a different type of notch?

Where did the speaker to listen to the call go

Under the display

 

[Capaill]

If they can put the speakers and fingerprint scanners under the screen, maybe they can put the camera and sensors under there too. Or have a pop/swivel up camera for selfies.

 

[p51d007]

Phone makers are more about STYLE than function these days. Anything they can do to "jazz up" a phone from style, colors, design, gives them an excuse to raise the price to unheard of levels. When you have a 60+% markup between build cost & retail cost (yeah I know advertising plays into it too), the consumers are being taken to the cleaners. But, as long as consumers continue to ditch phones every 12-36 months, hey, can't blame the manufacturers for milking the cow til it's dead.

 

[emmzo]

Here`s my 2 cents: ditch the front camera altoghether and make the screen flip for selfies.

 

[Capaill]

Here's another idea: Bring back bezels.
Like, seriously, a 2-3mm bezel on top would fit everything.
Bezels probably protect the screen better as well. And make the phone easier to hold with less chance of pressing something by mistake on the display.
What is so wrong about bezels?

 

[OortCloud]

Here's another idea: Bring back bezels.
Like, seriously, a 2-3mm bezel on top would fit everything.
Bezels probably protect the screen better as well. And make the phone easier to hold with less chance of pressing something by mistake on the display.
What is so wrong about bezels?

Yeah I agree, a bezel, especially at the top, is fine. Marketeers/Media feed consumers this 'must have a thinner phone', 'must have a bezel-free phone', 'must have....etc' and we all lap it up, obsessing over meaningless details to paper over the cracks in our meaningless lives. I wouldn't care but our planet is going to drown under a huge pile of unnecessarily discarded junk if we don't wake up soon. Sorry got carried away...

 

[Underdog]

No need to apologize. You make a perfectly reasonable point. People are just too eager to gobble up the latest hyped-up plastic garbage without ever questioning their actual reason for doing so.

 

[stevae]

I would rather have a notch than a black dot on my screen in the middle of a video...

That's *****ic! Having a small camera whole is a lot less obtrusive than a "notch", which looks moronic at best.

 

[stevae]

Where did the speaker to listen to the call go

There is no speaker anymore. Do you not keep up with technology. Samsung has developed the entire screen as a speaker. So you will not need to put your ear to a particular place anymore, only to the screen.

 

[stevae]

Here's another idea: Bring back bezels.
Like, seriously, a 2-3mm bezel on top would fit everything.
Bezels probably protect the screen better as well. And make the phone easier to hold with less chance of pressing something by mistake on the display.
What is so wrong about bezels?

Yeah I agree, a bezel, especially at the top, is fine. Marketeers/Media feed consumers this 'must have a thinner phone', 'must have a bezel-free phone', 'must have....etc' and we all lap it up, obsessing over meaningless details to paper over the cracks in our meaningless lives. I wouldn't care but our planet is going to drown under a huge pile of unnecessarily discarded junk if we don't wake up soon. Sorry got carried away...

I disagree completely. You both don't seem to understand anything about the tech industry, or why it pushes forward. R&D is expensive. Most companies would love it if people were satisfied with their devices, and would just keep buying the same crap year after year. It would be easier and cheaper for the companies. It is the people, not the companies who demand things like less and less bezel space. And the companies compete to try to out-do each other to deliver what is wanted faster and better. It is the insatiable appetite of the people who brought this arms race to bear. The people are willing to pay for it, because they have been screaming for these things for years. There is NO supply without a demand!!! Economics 101... As for the 'huge pile of unnecessarily discarded junk", do you understand how recycling works, and the worldwide statistics on it over the last twenty years? I'm guessing you don't.

 

[Capaill]

I disagree completely. You both don't seem to understand anything about the tech industry, or why it pushes forward. R&D is expensive. Most companies would love it if people were satisfied with their devices, and would just keep buying the same crap year after year. It would be easier and cheaper for the companies. It is the people, not the companies who demand things like less and less bezel space. And the companies compete to try to out-do each other to deliver what is wanted faster and better. It is the insatiable appetite of the people who brought this arms race to bear. The people are willing to pay for it, because they have been screaming for these things for years. There is NO supply without a demand!!! Economics 101... As for the 'huge pile of unnecessarily discarded junk", do you understand how recycling works, and the worldwide statistics on it over the last twenty years? I'm guessing you don't.

Tech companies have a problem. They all produce good quality products that are capable of doing most of what a consumer wants and lasting for a couple of years, in markets that have largely reached saturation points. So how do they sell more products? By making something that the other manufacturers don't have in the hopes of differentiating their products.

Right now they are focusing on removing all bezels. At some point in the future it will be foldable screens and 8K screens. I'm fairly sure the consumers aren't asking for those features. Maybe some segments of consumers want a phone that is "different" in some way. But really most consumers want a good quality phone that meets their basic needs - voice calls, internet usage, photos/videos, good battery life, a pleasant user experience. None of those needs require bezels to be removed or screens to fold. I have never heard someone complain about a bezel on a phone except for reviewers who seem to think that any bezel is bad. I have heard people complain that the wrap-around screen on the Samsung Edge phones makes it very hard to hold the phone or to get cases that can protect it.

It is the tech companies that decide what the next big change or evolution will be in their desperate hope that consumers will want it. Just as the TV companies decided a while back that all TVs must be 3D-capable. Nobody asked for it and it bombed. Now the phone companies have decided that phones must not have 3.5mm headphone jacks, even though many consumers have begged for it to stay. I don't think it's the people driving these changes.

 

[OortCloud]

That's *****ic! Having a small camera whole is a lot less obtrusive than a "notch", which looks moronic at best.

You really have no idea how to talk to people do you? All three of your posts suggest the people you are replying to are incapable of understanding simple principals. If you disagree with somebody try coming up with reasoned arguments not calling them moronic. As for that recycling argument - I looked at a variety of websites after your reply and estimates put recycling at between 10 and 30 percent at best.