Weekly poll: what's the best position for a punch hole camera?

23 June 2019
Left, center or right? Makers are trying out the different options, but they haven't settled on a favorite yet. What about you?

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Dear 'GSM Arena' consumers: I am proud that the majority of you polling wise, so far see eye to eye with me for a welcomed change - I use an S10e. It has one of those god dang-ugly, punch holes. I have set the display to create a fake bezel that hides the punch hole, until I go and get an S9+ this Fall. No stupid punch hole on S9+ 's ! Yeah!

    • A
    • Alexvip12
    • q}9
    • 24 Jun 2019

    The position is not having a punch hole at all. Just leave small bezel at the top for all the camera and that's it.

      Right corner = worse spot to put it, it's too noticeable, and if you're using this as a sales pitch like Samsung then you're doing it wrong.

      Centre = just like a teardrop notch. This is great for the notification bar. It's quite noticeable on fullscreen Apps and if you're watching a video which has been zoomed-in to fill the screen.

      Left corner = it's the least noticeable spot, especially with fullscreen Apps and zoomed in videos. It does push the notification icons towards the centre/right which makes them blend with the standard icons. This makes it slightly harder to glance and read, and more jumbled from a distance.

      Overall;
      1) Placing it in the middle but under the screen would be best if you kept the device at around 90% Screen to Bezel, with a wideview display like Sony's 21:9 choice.
      2) If you're going to be ignorant and have some borders along the front (85%) and use a non-standard aspect ratio like 19:9, then you might as well not use a large/medium/teardrop notch and instead use a Left Corner punch-hole like the Honor devices.
      3) Otherwise, its better to stick to 16:9 and have slim bezels (80%) at the top and bottom, and use these to house the cameras, sensors, and speakers.


      PS: Me personally, I like option 3 because I don't need an aspect ratio above 16:9, I actually want good speakers on my phone, and I prefer somewhere handy to hold the device.

        yeah I'm a fan of note 10 and will buy it next year, but hole punches aren't the way to go, dont like them at all

          • b
          • bloop
          • EKW
          • 23 Jun 2019

          The Voice of Reason, 23 Jun 2019What about NOT having a selfie camera at all? Has anyone... moreActually yes, there's pretty much always a bunch of "just remove the selfie cam" posts whenever anyone talks about notches etc. The snark about "narcissism" and all that is uncalled for though; you don't know what everyone's use cases are, and bashing a feature just because you don't make use of it yourself is pretty silly. I could say that the desire to have phones be all screen at the expense of removing perfectly useful features is equally narcissistic, as the main benefit of a bezelless phone is really just that it looks cool.

          No matter what we think though, completely removing front camera features is a non-starter. It would be a sales disaster, as I'd guess that at least half the mainstream customer base does use it. I think the closest thing there will be is pop-up cameras or flip mechanisms like the Zenfone 6.

            • t
            • tg
            • t@g
            • 23 Jun 2019

            the best position is under display

              • k
              • kammem2
              • arT
              • 23 Jun 2019

              for pubg left center but anyways i like slide mechanism over notches

                I can live with all this, but what is hard for me to live with is the lack of 16/9 ratio.
                19/9, 21/9 etc. and curved screen is for me the worst thing ever... YAK

                  I prefer a teardrop notch over hole but for best hole position I voted left

                    • r
                    • regs
                    • pR}
                    • 23 Jun 2019

                    Yeah no need for selfie camera at all. But if there is any, definitely not at center. Looks ugly. Teardrop at center is ok. But still better without front camera at all.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • m2J
                      • 23 Jun 2019

                      That hole in the middle is same as teardrop notch. On the corners it's just waste of screen space. Either have it like Zenfone 6 have or under display. Or like Meizu have it on the small bezel.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 0xU
                        • 23 Jun 2019

                        No camera.

                          If they can't find a better solution than the punch hole or the notch, they should just let the bezels be.

                            • D
                            • Dometalican
                            • B45
                            • 23 Jun 2019

                            Anonymous, 23 Jun 2019Slim bezels are way more functional and better-looking (IMO... moreThank you. That's why I was pleased with the design of the Nubia Red Magic 3. Slim bezels for grip but enough space for the front-facing camera headphone jack, and stereo speakers.

                              The Voice of Reason, 23 Jun 2019What about NOT having a selfie camera at all? Has anyone... moreJust like you I hate the idea of selfies. But front camera has another use, for video calls to be precise. So a slim bezel, or eventually a pop-up mechanism, is best for me. The camera is there when needed, but it doesn't obstruct anything on the screen.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • KSy
                                • 23 Jun 2019

                                No where.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 3xJ
                                  • 23 Jun 2019

                                  Waterdrop notch > punch hole

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • jIT
                                    • 23 Jun 2019

                                    Slim bezels are way more functional and better-looking (IMO). You can add more stuff like better speakers, more cameras in front the proximity sensors, a front flash, more space to include a headphone jack and still retain a full screen. It also gives phone case manufacturers the ability to design better cases for the phones since they have more real estate to work with without blocking the screen. Some cases get too close to the borders of the screen that it hinders people from correctly touching the edges of their screen.

                                      haha the results of the survey are obvious.
                                      Who on earth likes holes in their screen? The manufacturers have never given us what we want, quite the opposite, they do what they want.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 0Bh
                                        • 23 Jun 2019

                                        Small bezels are the best ! Enough place for stereo
                                        speakers, camera, notification led, some sensors...
                                        And the most important, with huge letters - the name
                                        of the COMPANY, which makes such perfect phones !
                                        With bezels !!!