Ryan Haines / Android Authority
It used to be that curved screens were all the rage among Android phone makers — especially Samsung, which has occasionally experimented with making controls and even essential information available on the sides of waterfall displays. Other companies, including Google, have used curved screens largely for aesthetic reasons, though they can make some swiping gestures easier. So what’s the situation with the new Pixel 8 Pro?
Does the Pixel 8 Pro have a curved screen?
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
No actually, and that marks a small but significant change from the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro. The new phone’s screen is fully flat, matching competing flagship devices such as Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy S23.
As you might expect, Google hasn’t really highlighted the switch, preferring to focus on more dramatic changes such as the Tensor G3 chip and even the screen’s 2,400 nits of peak brightness. It could be that the company is simply following design trends — whether we like to admit or not, us shoppers can be picky, and might consciously or subconsciously see curved screens as being out-of-step. It’s a popularity contest in which subtle differences could mean millions of dollars lost or gained.
There are, of course, more practical reasons to go with a flat design. Customers often complain that it’s too easy to trigger touch input on curved screens, since people naturally grip their fingers around the edges of a device. Indeed, lack of grip can be another issue.
Curved glass may also be easier to damage in a bump or drop, and from a phone maker’s point of view, it can introduce unnecessary costs and complications to the manufacturing process. That depends, of course, on how much it might cost to produce a curved OLED panel versus a raised metal frame, and whether one design choice or the other might sell enough units to justify it.
