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The Great Screen Debate: Flat vs. Curved Dec 4, 2019

KeBlam , Dec 4, 2019 :

Hey everyone! @Taylor.Mah and @KeBlam, two of the many passionate US brand ambassadors, back here again! We’re not here to start a fight; we’re here to start a debate!

As the title suggests, we’re here to talk about one of the greatest dichotomies of 2019: curved versus flat displays!

Ah yes, curved displays they look so cool, right? They give off that eye-catching and sleek appeal that your Oneplus device is one premium piece of hardware. That bezel-less display design keeps having your eye coming back for more and more. It cleans off the notch that was offered in the 6 and 6T and offers you an 88.1% screen-to-body ratio. Not to mention when you whip that dope piece of tech out of your pocket and your friends are like, “Whoa, what phone is that?” and I’m like, “That, my friend, is the OnePlus 7 Pro you’re gazing your eyes upon.” But it all can’t be about the looks, the curved display adds some functionality to your device as well.

The curved display opens a door of limitless opportunities, which allows for the Horizon Light. Horizon light has been a long-awaited feature for some time. Up till the OnePlus 6, OnePlus has always had a way of showing notifications. When the 6 and 6T were launched, many OnePlus fans were taken aback since there were no notification LEDs present. With the curved display from the OnePlus 7 Pro, there is this very subtle horizon light that notifies you when you receive a notification. In addition to the Horizon Light, the curved display can offer a variety of other opportunities as well.

The curved display can offer a buttonless future where UI, app developers can take full advantage of the curved edges and add extended functionality. Theoretically speaking, there are an infinite number of software in which we can complement the hardware with. Examples would be changing the color of your power button or even swiping the edges of your phone to turn it on. Of course, there would have to be the hardware and all, but let’s just come back to the present for a moment!

With the amazing bundle of benefits definitely comes at a cost. One of the biggest downsides to the curved display, which can lead to an opportunity, is that you risk accidentally touching it when you don’t mean to. Imagine losing a game because the fat of your palm moved your characters to the edge of the screen. (I did that on Clash Royale!) Another scenario would be texting words or sending images that you didn’t mean to. We’re essentially at risk to a whole problem set rather than just the intrusiveness of the notch. One way to improve and maybe fix this issue is to incorporate palm-rejection technology like in many tablets!

Another downside to the curved display is that some of the screen strength and integrity are lost when you drop your device. With all that screen real estate, poses a greater chance for your phone to get damaged. And of course, many cases out there don’t do it much justice since it mainly wraps around the bezels rather than the screen itself. Of course, you can simply just purchase a screen-protector, but all of a sudden, you have another problem on our hands: Five star high-quality third-party screen protectors are hard to come across and are not entirely that easy to apply; which is why the 7 Pro sports a Gorilla Glass 5 screen, making it a very hard shell to crack. (Don’t try to crack it at home!)




Curvier and distorted on the 7 Pro.

Flatter but not as curvy as we'd like it to be, making it appear slightly thicker.

We have discussed some of our likes and opportunities with the flat and curved screen! Many of us strongly prefer one over the other; while some of us are still adjusting! Let us know which screen you like and why!

Thanks for listening to us. Let us know in the comments which display you prefer and why! Let the great debate begin!