It was only mere months ago that we were officially introduced to the uniquely designed Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, which is essentially the Galaxy Note 4 with a secondary display... sort of. The secondary display is actually a very thin screen that curves over the right side of the screen, but is technically separate from the main screen. This secondary display can be used for notifications, updates, controls, and even some games.
The question still remains whether this concept is a hit or a miss in the mobile industry, but it would seem that some companies are taking the concept more seriously than others. LG Display, a sister company to LG Electronics, showed off a very Edge-like prototype of their own during CES 2015 in Las Vegas this year. The main difference? The LG version has two edges, one for each side of the phone.
For people who liked the concept of the Edge but couldn’t stand the asymmetrical design, this might be your solution. Although this display was just a prototype, LG Display claims that they’re ready to mass produce this design. It’s also a brilliant design for all you bezel haters out there, because there virtually isn’t one.
But even with two “edgy” phones on the market, I still don’t see either one becoming a huge hit. I see this as LG and Samsung going head-to-head once again to see which one can create the better model. I kind of relate this to the LG G Flex and the Samsung Galaxy Round. Both had similar concepts (curved displays, although each had a different type of curvature) and both were released around the same time as each other. However, I haven’t heard of the Samsung Galaxy Round in quite some time, while the LG G Flex is apparently back for a second round this year with the LG G Flex 2. This looks to be a similar competition to win the hearts of people in what I would consider to be a niche market.
And I call it niche because I really don’t see how the curved edges could be considered so necessary that one day everybody will want this in their phone. I could see where some people would find the design appealing and useful, but not that many.
My main question is wondering whether people interested in this concept would prefer a second and third display, like in the LG prototype, or if they would prefer to stick with just the single secondary display, like the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge has.
There’s obviously no way of telling with only one of the phones officially being available on the market right now. If I had to make a guess, though, I think LG probably has the winner if this double-edged display becomes a reality. While the Galaxy Note Edge has had more shelf life, and may be the only device that comes with the included stylus (or S Pen), the two edge displays on the LG version cover one glaring problem that the Galaxy Note Edge has - it can be easily used by left and right-handed people, whereas the Note Edge works favorably only for right-handed individuals. I mean, yes, Samsung technically has a solution for left-handed people, which is to turn the phone upside down. Now you can confidently show off your shiny new GNUSMAS phone. Brilliant. But seriously, that’s a silly solution. LG covers both bases by simply having two edges.
Personally, I don’t see myself ever picking up one of these phones for myself, but I do find the concept rather fascinating. It will be interesting to see if the concept of an “edge” display ever makes it to a second generation or not. But more importantly, for now, I’d really like to see if LG’s two edge displays will win people over more than Samsung’s single-edged display.
