Admit it, curved screen phones are well recieved.For example the new coming Samsung Galaxy S8 . You must have already been excited about this Samsung new flagship. It sounds fantastic, a curved, bezel-less infinity display, dual pixel 12MP rear camera, Bixby, the new intelligent assistant, a free Gear VR headset with Touch Controller (for those that pre-order), a pair of Harman AKG ear buds, the list goes on and on. Although, there might still be a shred of doubt about the reliability given what happened with the Note 7 battery debacle, seriously, we don’t want that happening again.
However, the fact is, the Samsung Galaxy S8 has broken all the pre-order records over the previous model, the Galaxy S7, in South Korea and it has also seen double digit growth in the USA.
The feedback and general public perception is positive regarding the S8 and it seems to be that the Note 7 problems are slowly becoming a distant memory.
As you can clearly see from the news headlines echoing around the Internet, Samsung is on the rise once more:
“What Note 7 recall? Samsung Galaxy S8 pre-orders see double-digit growth in the US” (ZDNET)
“Samsung says its new phone is selling well, showing consumers have gotten over the Galaxy Note 7 disaster” (CNBC)
“Maybe the Galaxy Note 7 Debacle Didn’t Hurt Samsung That Much After All” (Fortune)
samsung note 7 explosion1. The tremendous popularity of Samsung S8 and curved screen phonesOK, enough of the sorry tale of the Galaxy Note 7, let’s focus on the new world, the exciting world of the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Before I sat down to write this blog, I went through countless online reviews about the Galaxy S8, watched dozens of YouTube video reviews and poured over magazine articles about the latest and greatest phone. The overall view shows that there is almost 99% satisfaction, amazing.
Now, to be fair, that is not surprising when you consider the number of firsts that this delivers phones, the latest display technology, the latest battery technology, Bixby the new AI assistant, the new Gear VR headset etc.
Of all of these new and exciting features, the one I want to focus on is the curved surface screen.
samsung galaxy S8 holds an infinity displayThe experts at DisplayMate Technologies described the Samsung Galaxy S8 as the best you can buy right now. They went on to say that the S8 is pioneering the very latest in full screen OLED displays.
“It has many major and important state-of-the-art display performance enhancements, features and functions, with mobile OLED display technology now advancing faster than ever. The Galaxy S8 is the most innovative and highest performing smartphone display that we have ever lab tested. So the Galaxy S8 becomes the Best Performing Smartphone Display, earning DisplayMate’s highest ever A+ grade.”
The Galaxy S8’s screen has been highly praised due to its curved design, higher resolution, more accurate color representation, HDR video support and strong Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
And the curved screen design does make a lot of sense. It’s built using AMOLED technology with better flexibility and less fragility, reducing the chances of screen cracking. Also, curved screen phones feel more comfortable to hold and offer up a better visual effect.
Thanks to the front and back curved design, the S8 instantly feels comfortable in the hand, easing itself perfectly into the palm of your hand.
“Better even than the LG G6, which has similar proportions but no curved screen, and sleeker than the iPhone 7 Plus, which puts a smaller screen on taller, wider body.” Jessica Dolcourt from CNET commented the S8 like this. It showed that it’s the curved 4K display makes the Galaxy S8 stand out. According to Business Insider, Apple and Google are forecast to borrow the curved screen design on their upcoming devices.
In just two days, from April 7 to 8, something in the region of 550,000 Galaxy S8 units were pre-ordered, consequently breaking the record previously set by the Galaxy S7. This solidified the overwhelming popularity of Galaxy S8 and has introduced the new era of the curved screen.
However…
The things that excite consumers can be monumental challenges for phone case manufacturers.
2. Curved screen phones: A growing headache for case makersA curved screen is wonderful to touch and to use, but from a case maker’s perspective, it’s an absolute nightmare. The design challenges are significant and difficult to solve without ending up with a bulky, ugly case, which is not going to appeal to the person who has just purchased a shiny new Galaxy S8.
implied, as reported by Nikkei Asian Review, Apple has ordered 70 million display panels from rival Samsung Electronics for the upcoming iPhone 8.
iPhone8-concept-graphiPhone 8 (Concept Graph)
And another report from South Korea’s Electronic Times, noted that Google has offered to invest at least $880 million in LG Display Co., so as to guarantee a stable supply of OLED screens for its next Pixel phone .
And what you might be surprised to know is that before the Samsung Galaxy S8, there were other curved screen phones that were well received, the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, the Huawei Honor Magic, the Huawei Mate 9 Pro, the Xiaomi Note 2 and the Vivo Xplay 6.
vivo xplay-6 vs. xiaomi note2 vs. huawei mate 9 proLet’s be honest here, curved screen phones are simply gorgeous. The Galaxy S8 is, in my mind one of the nicest android phones out there.
But the sad truth is, that you will find very few phone cases that fit the curved screen design perfectly.
To be fair, it’s not the phone case makers’ fault, most of them are frantically trying to solve the design constraints that a curved screen presents, although a lot of them seem to have just given up.
Just take a look at how many Galaxy S7 edge cases are out there and you will see my point.
Now, the biggest issue is how to strike the balance between protection and style so that it protects the phone in the event of a fall but doesn’t make the phone look fat and ugly.
Sadly, few have achieved this balance and if you look around at the phone cases out there, most of them are in fact fat and ugly, which completely ruins the design ethos that Samsung crafted into their latest baby.
curved screen phones will be a trendWhat is even more worrying when it comes to protection is that some cases out there do not leave enough room for a tempered screen protector. That means those seemingly most protective case will do interference on the tempered screen protector. As you can see the vast majority of Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tempered screen protector are full coverage ones to protect the beautiful curved screen fully. So those protective cases just don’t allow for a good tempered screen protector.
You’d either choose those bulky full covered phone cases or full covered tempered screen protector. In most occasions, I found SmartphoneGalaxy S7 edge users used a bulky case and left the screen bare. That’s fine but I am jua bit of concerned about the gorgeous curved display.