Love the curved display on the Galaxy S8? That could just be the beginning.
Samsung is reportedly working on curving its now-signature display on all four sides of its phones, according to Android Authority, citing Korean publication ETNews (Korean) — not just the left and right sides, but also the bottom and top.
Wrapping the display on all sides could make future Samsung phones up to 98 percent screen, according to the report.
Phones with large screen-to-body ratios and slim bezels seems to be the mantra for 2017. The Xiaomi Mi Mix, LG G6 and Galaxy S8 all represent an ongoing trend that fits a larger screen in a smaller body. That can help keep phone size in check as display size grows. The Galaxy S8 display now takes up 83 percent of its face.
The only problem is that this isn’t easy. Due to Samsung Display’s current lamination process, wrapping the screen around all four sides of the phone would create a blind spot on each corner, ETNews wrote. This means that the corners wouldn’t register touch, making them essentially just for show.
Display lamination difficulties are also reportedly the reason Apple might consider keeping the OLED screen flat for the iPhone 8, ETNews continues. Samsung Display is said to be manufacturing the iPhone’s screens. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that the iPhone 8 might not get the curved OLED screen it was rumored to have. Still, the report claims that Apple and Samsung are working together to solve this issue.
LG Display is also allegedly thinking of ways to implement a four-sided curved display. Currently LG Display supplies the curved screens for the Xiaomi Mi Note 2, and is rumored to be ramping up production.
Besides manufacturing setbacks, a phone with four curved edges might face other real-world challenges. The more glass on your phone, the greater the surface area for shattering — just check out our drop tests for the S8 and the Note 7/S7 Edge.
The obvious fix to a shatter-prone phone is to buy a screen protector or a case, but how would this work for a phone with four curved sides? Hopefully it won’t look as goofy as the two-piece case that Samsung sells for the S8.
Samsung declined to comment, and Apple did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
