The exit iPhone X with bangs produced the effect of an exploding bomb, and the filling of this bomb was different for different publications and different manufacturers. A real battle of fans of hairstyles a la 'prince' and her opponents immediately unfolded on the network.
Some manufacturers, let's not poke a finger, did not hesitate to joke about this decision at the presentation of their then actual brainchild, in order to repeat in the next generation what was recently ridiculed.
It was embarrassing.
Chinese factories, as usual, did not stand aside, and the market was flooded with dozens of variations on the 'king's son' theme. One of the few manufacturers who did not succumb to the fashion trend was Samsung, which released a scattering of devices lacking such a fashionable 'bangs'.
Time passed, and it seemed that the designers Apple again became the sole trendsetters – the horizontal cutout at the top of the display was copied, copied and copied again, and if in the case of the 'Cupertinos' the presence of such a structural element was dictated by the need placement of an advanced face scanning system designed to replace a fingerprint scanner, then for most other manufacturers, following this trend looked more like blind copying for no objective reason.
iPhone X
Someone went their own way, returning to the well-forgotten old – to the retractable elements. Others have tried to revive the slider form factor.
And the main competitor Apple, Samsung, apparently, could not afford to copy the design decisions of competitors – at one time there were enough jokes about two designers …
A symmetrical response was urgently required with its own vision of the front panel design, which would not only differ from the concept invented in Apple, but would also become a new object of imitation, securing the title of a trendsetter for the Korean company.
Starting in the second half of 2018, rumors began to circulate on the network that Samsung plans to place all the sensors under the screen without a cutout, and the front camera will learn to shoot directly from under the matrix – at the time of shooting, the display above the front camera should become transparent. Fantasy.
The desire to do this is not an opportunity to do it – an indirect confirmation of this was the fact that after almost six months such a decision was never presented. Instead, on November 7, 2018, a new 'infinity' display concept was introduced in three iterations – Infinity-V, Infinity-U, Infinity-O and New Infinity. The letters in this case reflect the shape of the notch in the display, and New Infinity is the same display with a disappearing camera hole.
And if Infinity-O became, albeit an expected, but still an unusual option, the other two are just a repetition of previously used cutouts in devices from other manufacturers, such as Essential Phone or Sharp.
Despite being secondary, the idea found its response in the hearts of designers from other companies. Most of all, many liked the concept of Infinity-O and Infinity-U. How else to explain the announcement of the smartphone Honor View 20 with a screen equipped with a cutout that happened almost simultaneously with the presentation of the Samsung Galaxy A8s
Infinity-Oh, and a few days later the announcement Xiaomi Play with the Infinity-U screen, respectively?
Samsung A8s
Honor View 20
Source: www.fonearena.com
And if there is no doubt about the secondary design of Xiaomi Play, then with Honor View 20 not everything is so simple. Apparently, the idea to make holes in the display appeared in the design lobbies of Samsung, and Honor, if not simultaneously, then with a very small gap, moreover, even despite the fact that samsung presented a ready-to-sell device, and Honor just announced its View 20, now it's hard to say who was the first.
One thing is clear: the next trend is not only outlined, but also found ground underfoot – already now we can predict the mass appearance of devices with leaky displays from different manufacturers who want to get into the stream.
In this regard, it becomes especially interesting to find out what the answer will be Apple. Cupertinos, despite the gradually weakening positions, still know how to surprise and dictate their conditions to the market, bringing to mind and making massive decisions that could not take off from other manufacturers who had thought of this before.
It will be interesting to know if Apple will be able to fully implement the concept of 'Everything under the screen'.
In connection with the outlined new course in device design, I would like to ask you, dear readers, which option for placing a selfie camera is closest to you?
Maybe it's a solution from Apple with bangs, or one of Samsung's four Infinity-U / V / O / New options? Or maybe you think that it is not worth reinventing the wheel and you can stop at the current version with cameras and sensors at the top of the display, without any cutouts? I invite you for discussion in the comments.