iPhone X-style notch added to LG G7 ThinQ after positive feedback
The display notch in LG's latest high-end smartphone -- the G7 ThinQ -- was greenlit only after the majority of a survey group said they either liked or didn't mind the design choice first found in the iPhone X.
LG surveyed over 1,000 people in the U.S., U.K., Italy, and South Korea early into work on the phone, the company explained to Engadget. The poll group was presented with a series of mockups, and only 30 percent objected to the notch design.
"Some people hated that design, [saying] it's like a man's bald head like mine," commented LG's head of product planning, Shintae Hong. "Some people said [it is] cool... It totally depends on their personal choices, preferences."
The notch on Apple's iPhone X has been controversial. Though many people are now used to it, some critics have felt that it can be jarring, particularly with video or app interfaces that don't fully accommodate it.
At the same time, a number of major and lesser-known Android phone makers have added notches, sometimes as a purely cosmetic choice meant to evoke the prestige of the iPhone X. A significant exception is the Essential Phone, which launched before Apple's flagship.
In LG's case, Hong remarked that the company is working towards a fully edge-to-edge display, and considers the G7 notch a stepping stone.
Apple is believed to be preparing three new iPhones for this fall, all of them with edge-to-edge displays. These include 5.8- and 6.5-inch OLED models, and a more affordable 6.1-inch LCD unit. The company isn't expected to drop notches until 2019.
LG surveyed over 1,000 people in the U.S., U.K., Italy, and South Korea early into work on the phone, the company explained to Engadget. The poll group was presented with a series of mockups, and only 30 percent objected to the notch design.
"Some people hated that design, [saying] it's like a man's bald head like mine," commented LG's head of product planning, Shintae Hong. "Some people said [it is] cool... It totally depends on their personal choices, preferences."
The notch on Apple's iPhone X has been controversial. Though many people are now used to it, some critics have felt that it can be jarring, particularly with video or app interfaces that don't fully accommodate it.
At the same time, a number of major and lesser-known Android phone makers have added notches, sometimes as a purely cosmetic choice meant to evoke the prestige of the iPhone X. A significant exception is the Essential Phone, which launched before Apple's flagship.
In LG's case, Hong remarked that the company is working towards a fully edge-to-edge display, and considers the G7 notch a stepping stone.
Apple is believed to be preparing three new iPhones for this fall, all of them with edge-to-edge displays. These include 5.8- and 6.5-inch OLED models, and a more affordable 6.1-inch LCD unit. The company isn't expected to drop notches until 2019.
Comments
...so now you think Apple should patent a notch design ...
/s
Non-issue. Next.
Soon the components will be in the frame and the notch will be a thing of the past.
Asian companies 'copy' so much. Not just from Apple, but Mercedes, BMW, etc., and they just can't quite match the elan. No matter how hard they try.
How is it taking up Valuable Screen estate? So if it's just like a Black bar going all the way across, that's ok? That's LESS screen space!!! Apple gave people what they wanted. More screen, Less Bezel. The Notch is not taking up any screen, you get bonus screen on the left and right side of the notch. You are looking at things completely wrong. What you watch a Video, the Notch is not cutting into the video. Not unless you blow up the picture, to go into the notch, but that also cuts off a bit of the top and bottom of the video when blowing it up larger. This may be what you see in pictures of the iPhone X when the whole screen being used for a video and the notch is cutting into it. Not that after owning the phone for a bit, it even bothers you anymore.
Apple put a notch there for technical reasons. These clowns are putting one for copying reasons.
That’s pretty dramatic language. Jarring is when a safe falls out of a window and lands a few feet from you.
I have only used an iPhone X at the Apple store a couple of times, but I bet you don’t even notice that jarring notch after the second day of use.