The average person spends about five hours per day on a smartphone. The phone is constantly developing, and one of the big trends we see for the future is focused on the display. To maximize user experience, the screens are getting larger, and they’re more flexible than before.
As phones have evolved, they have changed size, shape, and capabilities. But one of the most prominent features in the phone evolution might still be the display.
The beginning of mobile phones
If we start from the beginning, we got the Motorola MicroTac released in 1991. A tiny screen, looking more like a calculator than a modern time phone display. A few years later, the Nokia 3310 was released, and Nokia announced, on the MWC 2017, that this model will be making a comeback. As it’s rereleased, it will come in multiple colors but remain “dumb” as it was back in 2000.
Blackberry Quark was released three years later than the 3310 and had a somewhat larger screen but similar capabilities. It wasn’t until Motorola Razr entered the market that the display got some color.
When phones got smart
The second phase for mobile phones started in 2007 with the very first iPhone (iPhone 2G). The phones officially got smart. The definition of a smartphone, according to Search Mobile Computing, is: “A smartphone is a cellular telephone with an integrated computer and other features not originally associated with telephones, such as an operating system, Web browsing and the ability to run software applications”.
Beyond being data-enabled, the display got a lot bigger, and it was suddenly a touch screen! Samsung also introduced the pen to the mobile screen. By clicking on the S Pen and double-tapping the screen, you could take notes while on a call. Simply put, the phone was also a digital notepad.
Finally, in 2015 LG introduced the Flex 2 phone, which had the world’s first curved battery. This phone is dipping its toe into what is to come in the smartphone future.
The future of phone displays
Looking ahead, the trend in smartphone design is to have less prominent frames to give space for the screen itself. We call this phase. Bigger is Better. When people started using their phones as entertainment systems, watching videos, and playing games, the demand for a larger screen increased with smaller frames (called bezels)—the ratio of screen-to-bezels increases.
A good example of this is the iPhone 8 concept idea, where the screen essentially wraps around the phone’s edges. Currently, the highest screen-to-ratio-bezels is 91.3 percent.
Another approach to get a bigger screen is exemplified in Samsung’s Galaxy 8, which folds in and out like a book. When you carry it in your pockets, it’s compact, but as you’re about to watch a video, you can unfold it to enjoy a bigger display.
Finally, continuing on the LG Flex track, we have Samsungs “Project Valley.” This is the project name for Samsung’s foldable phones, marking a new trend in the smartphone industry. The bendable display concept is to have a foldable compact handset that can be unfurled if required.
Several iterations of the Samsung Project Valley, including one phone that folds up to become wearable. The foldable smartphone would be the first one globally, and it’s expected to hit the market in 2018.
No matter what the future holds, we’ll stay on top of it, so make sure to follow us on Facebook. In case you’re looking for a new phone, we recommend that you head over to our shop to get a new or older model phone. They’re unlocked as per usual.
