To have or not to have the notch is the question most smartphone makers seem to be faced with of late. Ever since Apple unveiled its special edition iPhone X with the bezel-free display and the notch the accommodate the front camera, it became a kind of fashion statement and nearly every device started sporting this notch. There may be a rethink on this if some rumors doing the rounds on the likely design of the next generation Pixel phone to be launched by Google, which may be called the Pixel 3.
While nothing official has so far been revealed by the company, there is no stopping the speculations and even wishful expectations from the tech giant.
Following the rave reviews the Google Pixel 2XL received in the market, particularly for the software functioning, it might be the turn of the hardware design that Google may focus on to get the near-perfect smartphone yet. It could rope in some of the known phone makers who have displayed the best device building capabilities. Names like Lenovo and Vivo are being thrown about; as indicated these are just rumors by market observers, probably Google fans even.
But one cannot dismiss these outright, since the idea has sprung from an image Google has included in the illustrations of Android P functioning in the beta version of the OS that it has released to select devices. And the desire to do away the notch has been picked up from feedback users post online. And some other manufacturers have already showed glimpses of such a possibility; Lenovo’s Z5, Vivo’s Apex and Xiaomi’s Mi Mix 2S are all cited as examples of phones trying to have a bezel-free screen with no notch or almost doing away with it.
With the Android P, the company may have the best operating system in the market and if it can get its hardware right with the Pixel 3, Google may have an unbeatable phone for the next round of competition among the top 3-4 brands. Having said all the above, one should not be surprised if the Google Pixel 3 does sport a notch.