Earlier than you bounce straight to the feedback to inform me I am an fool wishing for the return of an objectively unhealthy function, I need to make one factor clear.
I am not calling for the return of curved shows as Samsung popularized.
As an alternative, I am trying again on a nearly-defunct function and questioning, in an age of equivalent iPhone clones, ought to we have a look at our shows once more?
Samsung, as soon as the pioneer of curved-screen expertise, has utterly deserted the thought.
Most firms that adopted in its footsteps, like Honor, have additionally deserted the design, with solely Motorola remaining as a major identify producing telephones with curved shows.
It is clear that curved shows aren’t coming again anytime quickly, however as each telephone begins to resemble an iPhone, I feel there is a affordable case for reconsidering curved shows and what we are able to be taught from them.
I am over specs: The one Android options that really matter in 2026
Actual options that enhance day by day use
Curved shows prioritized model over substance
They appear futuristic, however is that definitely worth the frustration?
The primary brand-new Android telephone I purchased after years of rustling up second-hand and refurbished telephones was the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
In 2016, telephones with curved edges appeared like the subsequent huge factor, and I used to be bought on the trendy design that appeared prefer it got here straight from the longer term.
If you happen to by no means used one, Samsung shipped quite a lot of options that made use of the curved edge.
Maybe essentially the most sensible was the Edge feed, which displayed a tiny scrollable checklist of knowledge and notifications when the display screen was off.
There was additionally Edge lighting and an expanded Edge panels suite of apps.
The issue was that, after just a few months of utilizing the telephone, irritation started to be my major response to utilizing the telephone.
I had failed to put in two display screen protectors, the glare was unforgivable, and I had made extra mistaken actions than I believed attainable.
Positive, it appeared cool, however was that basically price a gimmick that brought about extra issues than it solved?
If Samsung launched a brand new Edge telephone (no, not like that), I’d cheerfully expound about rose-tinted glasses and the perils of nostalgia.
Nevertheless, the extra I take into consideration my outdated Galaxy S7, I start to assume that curved screens did have worth, and may encourage a brand new technology of shows.
I am sick of featureless glass slabs
I do not need my telephone to be boring
I do not blame Android producers for copying Apple, however I discover the adoption of the square-sided slab design unforgivable.
This design peaked with the iPhone SE, however since then, it is develop into a staple of, properly, each telephone.
I hate how the edges press into my palm, as even with a case, they’re arduous and unyielding.
Whether or not you agree with the next is solely subjective, however I really like holding a telephone with a curved show. I am not the one one, AP’s Stephen Radochia identified the superb really feel of the Motorola Edge 2024 due to its skinny body and curved show.
Nevertheless, the Motorola Edge sequence suffers from the identical poor responsiveness that plagued Samsung’s curved shows.
I’ve seen surprisingly few feedback about unintentional faucets, so I assume it is resulting from Motorola reducing the sensitivity to keep away from errors.
General, the Edge 2024 and 2025 present {that a} curved display screen remains to be viable, however sticking to the identical design we noticed a decade in the past is not the best way to go.
I feel curved screens can have a future, however they should modernize.
What curved screens might appear like sooner or later
Brief curves? Improved software program? Quirky options? It is all attainable
One of many ironic elements of the shift to slabs is that it creates extra actual property on the edges of our telephones that is not wanted.
My Pixel 10 Professional is the proper measurement to undertake a headphone jack, and whereas it nonetheless has a SIM card slot, I feel it is doomed as extra folks undertake eSIMs.
I am a sensible chap, so once I see this a lot clean area on a telephone, I take into consideration how we might use it. Or, what if we did not use it in any respect?
The Android telephone that sparked my enthusiasm for the subject was the Google Pixel 2 XL. This was the primary telephone that I considered greater than a practical gadget; it was one thing to be loved.
However once I assume again on it, I keep in mind its slim body and curved edges that rested neatly within the hand.
I’d love for the subsequent Pixel telephone to ditch the slab sides that are not wanted and undertake the slim design of the Pixel 2. However that is not sufficient. I desire a curved show.
How about we ditch the SIM card slot and curve the display screen excessive of the telephone as an alternative? No probability of errors, and it is the proper place to show a feed of knowledge if you set down your telephone.
Or let’s curve the show across the aspect like earlier than, however make the most of software program smarts to establish the suitable faucets.
Android does a superb job compensating for display screen protectors. Why cannot it adapt this for mistaken palm faucets?
Principally, although, I simply need one thing fascinating that makes the iPhone look old style.
Curved screens won’t be the reply, however they may shake up the established order
There is a rising backlash towards the standardization of our telephones.
Presently, it is taking the type of bodily keyboards, which harken again to a day when telephones had been extra tactile (which is an efficient factor, I feel).
Glass slabs are out, pointless {hardware} is in. So why not take it additional and modernize one of many largest smartphone disappointments of the 2010s?
I am not satisfied that curved shows have a future, however I am all for producers making an attempt to shake up the tedious designs that may in any other case mark the smartphones of the 2020s.