Android Smartphone Quality Goes Down A Notch With Every Copied iPhone Feature

Last week’s Mobile World Congress was an interesting event for a handful of reasons. For one, it snowed in Barcelona, which is something that didn’t just affect the comfort of traveling press, it also complicated the plans of Formula 1 teams getting their preseason testing done. But more importantly, we also saw the true capabilities of Android phone makers when it comes to spotting a new idea, and then copying it immediately.

Apple’s iPhone X brings a lot to the table, but specs and features aside, one of the standout (or at least eye-catching) design choices was to introduce a notch at the top of the screen. Even if you don’t like the notch, the design has merit because of its FaceID improvements. Ultimately, the notch is found up top, and system tray icons are placed opposite the notch. The notch doesn’t eat into the user’s resolution, but instead extends it, ever-so-slightly.

ASUS implemented a notch on select ZenFone 5s (you may have to squint to see it)

At MWC, we saw an unbelievable number of phones announced that copy the iPhone X’s notch directly. You may be able to argue that Apple wasn’t the first by having a notch, as the Essential phone came out a month or two sooner; but Apple’s notch takes up much more real estate, just like the copycats.

I personally hated the idea of a notch at first, and ultimately, I’d still prefer to not have one, but I think I could get used to it. It just needs to serve a purpose other than aesthetics (especially since I think it worsens them). As The Verge reports, these notches are being put in so hastily, that some phone makers don’t even have software updates in place to gracefully complement the notch. In one case, a phone cut off the time due to a rounded corner that wasn’t accounted for.

If you don’t think this is a problem, take a look at this tweet:

Our notch is smaller! pic.twitter.com/U5xWeAx9Ih

— Vlad Savov (@vladsavov) February 27, 2018

That is without question one of the dumbest slides I’ve ever seen. No one was asking for a notch, yet ASUS deemed its copy important enough to warrant an explanation on stage, as if people are now gauging phone potential based on the size of the notch. If you don’t believe bigger is better, ASUS says its notch is “26% smaller than Fruit Phone X”. Ahh yes, make the cloning even worse by mocking the very company you’re copying.

Even OnePlus has seemingly fallen victim to this design choice, based on leaks. That’s unfortunate, as this is a company that’s typically tried to set itself from the rest of the pack. It’s already made its own identity, so it’s unfortunate to see just how much pressure Apple apparently has on the other side of the market. There are definitely those who want their Android device to look like an iPhone, but differentiation is a good thing.

Thanks for bucking the trend, Samsung.