Is anybody else unhappy with 18.5:9 aspect ratio?

[EMGSM]

Apple is a follower, not a leader when it comes to displays. They were the last to shift from 4:3 to 16:9. They are still on LCD and not OLED. They are still on flat bezeled screens and not curved displays. Apple will have a curved OLED display this fall. They follow Samsung in almost all aspects of phone design. They have since 2011. I expect that Apple will also have taller displays, just not in this decade.

IMO they have definitely fallen behind when it comes to innovation.

 

[rushmore]

Apple doe not need to lead, since the industry (sadly) follows them regardless. The black bars are what they are due to the ratio. Several professional articles point out the problems with the ratio and my few hours messing with the 8+ IMO agrees.

I love everything about the device except the narrow portrait display and the Bixby button.

On side note, would be nice if the radio reception is better than the S 7 and Note 7. Verizon reception at least was not that good.

 

[Ry]

IMO they have definitely fallen behind when it comes to innovation.

When have they led innovation? If anything, Apple simply takes time to develop and release their version of an existing idea.

 

[EMGSM]

When have they led innovation? If anything, Apple simply takes time to develop and release their version of an existing idea.

I wasn't suggesting they were ever leaders but they had good ideas and coupled them with their products. For instance, there were other MP3 players but Apple came up with the touch sensitive scroll wheel. They also revolutionized the "App Store". You also got pinch to zoom on a cell phone and slide to unlock just to name a few. Now they are as you stated releasing their version of existing ideas i.e. bigger screens, apple health, and fingerprint scanner ( again just to name a few).

 

[rushmore]

Whatever the case, Apple is not going wide.

 

[badMojo69]

My guess is my Mate9 with it's 6 inch screen will give me more usable space vs the S8+
It's probably more like 5.5 inches of usable screen leaving the black bars on for video.

 

[NickM00001]

1) Optimal for the display? Most content isn't in the native format of that display you happened to purchase. Ever watch movies at home? They're often 21:9 on your 16:9 screen. That TV show you're watching? It may seem to be 16:9 1080p, but many of them are actually converted from 1080i or even 720p. 2) Gear VR having less pixels? How does adding pixels reduce the number of pixels in any given area of the display? S7 edge was 2560x1440 5.5" = 534 pixels per inch. S8 is 2960x1440 5.8" = 568 pixels per inch. That's more pixels, regardless of inter pupil distance.

 

[oblivionlord666]

I'm all for this wide aspect ratio providing the phone is large. The s8+ fits the bill fine even though that's subjective in itself. I'll use the s7 Edge vs S8+.

Physically the s8+ isn't taking away from the physical width both being 2.8" however there's more stretch vertically with the s8+ by .5". Obviously a given since the phone is larger.

You'll get virtually the same 16:9 experience in horizontal mode.... 5.4" (s8+) vs 5.5" (S7 edge). Both phones will have 2.7" height. You will get a more natural experience when watching lots of Hollywood content being that more videos are recorded at a wider aspect ratio than 16:9. Given that... the s8+ will have less horizontal bar thickness compared to the s7 edge.

Then there's the productivity factor where apps will eventually be compatible with the wider aspect ratios just like how phones transitioned from smaller ratios to 16:9.

 

[bassplayrguy]

I was going to buy S8 but now I'm actually going to wait for Note 8. Stretching screen like that is like cheating in my opinion. What am I going to get for games and video black side bars?

Uncle Tera

Note 8 will be the same. If you are waiting because you think they will be going back to the old ratio you will be disappointed I'm afraid.

 

[trucksmoveamerica#AC]

Note 8 will be the same. If you are waiting because you think they will be going back to the old ratio you will be disappointed I'm afraid.

I agree. I don't see Samsung ditching the tall screen with the note 8. It might be a tad wider, but not much. Wider screens with bigger screens would suck using one handed.

 

[maf113]

Out of curiosity I just calculated that if Samsung had gone 2:1 rather than 18.5:9 and kept the screen widths the same then the S8 would have been half way between the S7 and S8 in length (145.4mm), which is comparable enough to other non-phablet handsets that it might not have received so much comment. The S8+ would still have been taller than the Note 7 though.

It's not clear to me why they thought that 18.5:9 was better. I don't think it's a given that the Note 8 won't be relatively wider - since the S8+ is already 6mm taller than any previous Note I'd personally think that widening while keeping the same height (or less??) would make more sense than just scaling up.

One reason is that the screen size can be listed as larger. Since the size is measured diagonally a longer hight make for a much larger listed screen size even if the width were smaller.

 

[oblivionlord666]

Out of curiosity I just calculated that if Samsung had gone 2:1 rather than 18.5:9 and kept the screen widths the same then the S8 would have been half way between the S7 and S8 in length (145.4mm), which is comparable enough to other non-phablet handsets that it might not have received so much comment. The S8+ would still have been taller than the Note 7 though.

It's not clear to me why they thought that 18.5:9 was better. I don't think it's a given that the Note 8 won't be relatively wider - since the S8+ is already 6mm taller than any previous Note I'd personally think that widening while keeping the same height (or less??) would make more sense than just scaling up.

S8+ with an 2:1 would increase the overall width by .1" over the s7 edge. 18:5.9 maintains the width.

 

[ABOSWORTH007]

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Lol!!! It reminds me of when the iPhone 5 came out. People had been begging for a larger phone for a couple years and they made it taller.

At first, I was kind of turned off by the screen ratio but I took the plunge and bought one anyway. Coming from my LG V20, it definitely felt weird at first but now I'm used to it and have no problems with it.

 

[Nreeldeep]

It's going to be the trend everybody is going to do. By this time next year anyone that does not have something close to that aspect ratio will be out of date.

That's what was said about a stylus a few years back.

 

[fatboy97]

That's what was said about a stylus a few years back.

Not by me... I've never been a fan of the stylus!

 

[ClintRo]

Honestly I feel these new screen sizes are kinda deceptive and misleading...

I was excited to hear the new screens are a whopping 5.8" and 6.2" over last years 5.1" and 5.7" yet not be as big as 'traditional' phones you imagine in those sizes.

But after really comparing them at the store to my iPhone 6 and S7 Edge in how the S8 is basically the same width as my 4.7" screened iPhone 6 and the Plus is basically the same width as the 5.5" S7 Edge...

I know look at the S8 as basically a 4.7" phone (or 5.1" S7 I guess but I was using my phone as a side by side comparo) stretched lengthwise 1" and the S8 a 5.5" phone stretched out an inch just to get the diagonal measurement they can claim.

Samsung and LG and we will see if Apple does this and if they do they may set a new trend I really don't care for but may have no choice.

The S8 with the width of the S8 Plus and the height of the S8 would have been my preference.

The thing for me is that the taller screen is better for my use and the letter box isnt that bad with a black front. Just makes the bezels look a little bigger when viewing.

 

[Ejjba]

I do not think this will be universal that quickly. Most people do not buy flagship phones. Even Samsung numbers are so large only because of the lower tier phones. Especially the J series. These are all 16:9 ratio. The new J series just announced . The real world does not buy expensive phones. For most people it has become a commodity like TV sets.

 

[Gary02468]

Most professionally-recorded video is already wider than older (16 : 9) screens, and in some cases is even wider than the S8 and S8+ screens. Here's a comparison.
1.78 : 1 -- QHD, S7 screen
1.90 : 1 -- 4K, 8K resolution
2.06 : 1 -- WQHD+ (S8, S8+ screen)
2.35 : 1 - 2.40 : 1 -- Cinemascope

You can already find some Netflix content streamed in the Cinemascope aspect ratio. If you don't zoom, you get black bars at the top and bottom (rather than the sides); if you zoom to fill, you crop off the image's edges (rather than the top and bottom).

 

[Andrew Webs]

It is a big mistake pretending that the format 18.5:9 is larger. Is is wider, not larger at all. In fact the S8 bodies is even smaller than the S4's and earlier models. It is 68.1 mm (2.68 in) against 69.8 mm (2.75 in). And soft buttons eat up the screen area. Haver a look at this article:
https://www.androidcentral.com/189-world-we-need-new-way-quantify-screen-size

 

[justnivek]

its puzzling to me how anyone could not be happy with this aspect ratio, this phone amazes more and more since I got it

the aspect ration to me is amazing, I love the long style for instagram, web browsing and especially watching movies (the 64gb storage gives me an excuse to have a bunch of movies)