Dear smartphone makers, please stop with the bezel-less displays

Summary

• The thin or non-existent bezels on modern smartphones can create problems with durability, as well as accidental inputs, even if you’re using a case.
• At other times, the combination of a case and thin bezels can interfere with touchscreen gestures.
• The trend towards eliminating bezels is unlikely to reverse, however, given its marketing appeal and the reduced material costs for phone makers.

If you pick up any smartphone these days — whether it’s an iPhone 16, a Galaxy S25, a Pixel 9, or something else — there’s a strong chance its bezel will be tiny or non-existent. Saying the design trait is all the rage would be an understatement, as the only way you can find anything different is by shopping for budget models. Once the 2025 iPhone SE rolls around, you won’t have a choice at all if you want a new model based on Apple’s platform.

For many of you, bezels are probably a minor issue, and I get that. But personally speaking, some recent incidents have called attention to the downsides of removing them, and I suspect I’m not alone in thinking phone makers should dial back their ambitions. Shipping a pure glass brick isn’t necessarily a sign of progress, despite what glitzy PR events and videos would have you believe.

Tight grips and close misses

Real-world usability matters

My biggest complaint about the iPhone 16 Pro isn’t the questionable usefulness of Apple Intelligence or the Camera Control button, but simply how easy it is to trigger something simply by holding the phone the wrong way. At this point, I can’t count how many times I’ve raised my phone only to notice the icons shaking, meaning iOS thought I was tapping and holding the homescreen to rearrange icons. At other times, I’ve launched apps or even in-app options without realizing it. Sometimes there’s a haptic buzz to tell me, but sometimes not.

It’s a little ironic, because early on, some iPhone 16 owners were having the exact opposite problem — palm rejection was blocking touch inputs. Now, though, we’re at the point that I’ve caught iOS doing things when I knew my fingers were only close to the screen, not on it. I made it a point to pay attention when I first started encountering unwanted touch inputs, thinking I was just being a klutz. Apparently I wasn’t.

A few millimeters of bezel can make a world of difference when it comes to the durability and usability of a phone.

The bezels on the iPhone 16 Pro are at least partly to blame, if not entirely. They’re even thinner than on the 15 Pro, leaving almost nowhere for your fingers to rest if you want a firm grip. I’m using a reasonably thick UAG case, so I can only imagine the trouble cropping up for people who have a minimalist case on their phone, or no protection at all. I’d be launching things every five seconds on a naked iPhone.

Speaking of cases, eliminating bezels often makes a case mandatory, especially for devices with curved edges. It’s like they’re designed to crack on the sidewalk. That in itself wouldn’t be a big deal — you need to protect a $400-plus mobile device regardless — but phone makers also seem to ignore how cases and touchscreens interact. These days, it’s not uncommon for the lip of a case to block taps and swipes, whereas just a few years ago that was a rare problem, at least in my experience. Depending on the apps you use on a daily basis, you might find yourself increasingly irritated.

A few millimeters of bezel can make a world of difference when it comes to the durability and usability of a phone. So is there any chance of getting our bezels back?

The unfortunate march of progress

A one-way road

I feel like I’m shouting in the wilderness, unfortunately. The trend towards bezel-less phones has been underway for well over a decade — what was once a gimmick (mostly on Samsung devices) is now the default. There’s probably no way of talking phone makers out of it, especially since they could point to sales being unaffected by complaints. If anything, they’d probably argue that slim bezels seem to boost sales figures. They’re also good for profit margins, since it means less money spent on aluminum, steel, plastic, or titanium. The difference might be a few cents per phone, but that adds up when you’re shipping millions of units and need to establish a supply chain.

The most we can do, I’d wager, is make occasional complaints, hoping that phone makers pick up on them.

The popularity of going bezel-less makes some sense. Many early smartphones had thick bezels, a consequence of the display technology at the time. As time went on, thinner bezels became a symbol of progress, to the point that modern consumers are subconsciously primed for it. Moreover, shrinking edges became functionally necessary to enable the large displays we have now — you wouldn’t want a 6.3-inch screen in your pocket if it had bezels as thick as the original iPhone. Modern folding designs would be out of the question.

The most we can do, I’d wager, is make occasional complaints, hoping that phone makers pick up on them. Perhaps there are design workarounds that’ll satisfy everyone — I know I’d be happy if I could get an iPhone 17 or 18 with an angled lip, which would protect my phone while still letting me swipe smoothly between apps. A man can dream, I suppose. There’s just not much chance of fighting the tide at this stage.