Weekly poll: on-screen buttons on wider screens vs. hardware buttons

Have you ever wondered why TVs have a 16:9 aspect ratio? If you want to know the full story, this video does an excellent job of covering it. But that’s trivia now, like it or not, 16:9 screens are the most popular option. Though that ratio gets skewed when phones have on-screen buttons.

True, they do duck out of the way when you’re watching a video (or even just viewing a photo), but physical buttons never get in the way of on-screen content. And they allowed makers to keep the fingerprint reader on the front (which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you ask).

There’s another option - when Xiaomi unveiled the Mi Mix, it said that the screen aspect ratio is 17:9 to leave room for the on-screen buttons. Later, LG G6 (18:9) and Galaxy S8 (18.5:9) did something similar.

With the Galaxy S8, Samsung also showed that screens can imitate a pressure sensitive button. Rumors promised a fingerprint reader below the glass too, though that didn’t pan out. Still, tech could bring back a “clickable” button that doubles as a fingerprint reader, even without an actual hardware key.

What do you think is the best design?

Physical buttons vs. on-screen

I don't care, really On-screen buttons on a taller screen

I want a physical button Pressure-sensitive, fingerprint reading on-screen buttons

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