An interesting trend is beginning to take shape at the tippy top of the smartphone market. The two leaders in the market in terms of profits are Samsung and Apple, and that has been the case for years now. These two companies are also leaders in terms of smartphone design. Well, to be fair, Samsung copied every Apple design it could while it was cutting its teeth, but the company eventually found its own path that has definitely diverged from Apple’s iPhone lineup in terms of design.
In 2018, Samsung and Apple are pretty much the only smartphone makers of note with original phone designs. Samsung has its curved infinity display, and Apple has its notched “all-screen” design that is currently being copied by nearly every single Android phone company on the planet. Ironically, in fact, Samsung is pretty much the only popular brand that isn’t copying Apple’s iPhone X design right now.
Here’s where things get interesting. Remember the trend that we said is beginning to take shape? Well, despite the fact that Apple and Samsung have the only unique smartphone designs of note, and despite the fact that many people love the look of their flagship phones, a growing number of people are voicing their distaste for both of these industry-leading designs.
The notch cut out of the top of Apple’s iPhone X display has been a big point of contention among tech fans ever since the phone’s design began leaking early last year. Just earlier today, in fact, we posed a question: Would you like the iPhone X more if Apple stole this feature from Huawei’s new iPhone clone? We’ve already received a bunch of interesting feedback that confirms there are people out there who are avoiding the iPhone X solely because of Apple’s design.
Samsung might not have a problem that extends quite as far as Apple’s divisive notch design, but it turns out that there are a number of people out there who really don’t like the signature infinity display design that defines Samsung’s Galaxy S and Galaxy Note smartphone lines.
In a thread on Reddit, a number of Android fans have expressed a clear distaste for the curved edges on Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and its earlier handsets. Of course, the curved edges on the front and back of Samsung’s flagship phones are really the only unique design feature that sets them apart from the competition, so it’s interesting to see how many Android fans dislike the design.
The thread is titled “Would you buy a flat-edged Galaxy S9?” and at the time of this writing, it had more than 700 comments and nearly 2,100 points. All of the top-rated comments in the thread are from people saying that they would prefer a Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus design with flat edges instead of curved sides.
People shared different reasons for disliking the curved design. They range from a general dislike of the look to issues with screen protectors and cases not fitting the phone quite right. Personally, I’m at the other end of the spectrum — I love Samsung’s curved design. It’s unique, it looks great, and it makes Samsung’s large flagship phones far more comfortable in the hand. It’s clear that not everyone shares those opinions though, and it’ll be interesting to see if Samsung ever goes back to its previous strategy of launching flagship phones in pairs, one with a flat screen and one with a curved display.
