Unpopular opinion: I prefer rectangular notchless screens and dedicated navigation buttons.

I have always preferred it if the home button and navigation buttons are outside of the screen, as well as rectangular screens without notches or rounded corners, like it was until the Galaxy S7 and Note 5 (also Note 7, but that got scrapped).

Navigation buttons​

With out-of-screen navigation buttons (recent tasks, home screen, go back), I always know that if I tap or press on this physical location on my smartphone, it will do the exact same thing. It is not ambiguous. If I touch the lower right corner of my smartphone, I know it goes back. I don't have to put energy into thinking whether it does it or not. No app can hide it.

The handling of on-screen navigation buttons might be inconsistent across apps. Some apps might hide them and add an extra step to accessing them, some apps might not hide them so they use less than the available screen space. This is especially bad for video players.

This was a problem affecting ES File Explorer's built-in media player back when it was popular, in its pre-adware days.

Notches are hostile to third-party operating systems.​

Also, I have always wondered how third-party operating systems are supposed to handle odd non-rectangular screen shapes with notches. Non-rectangular screens and especially notches are certainly hostile to third-party operating systems because those operating systems are unaware where the "blind spots" of the screen are. The top status bar might extend outside the border radius of the rounded screen, and might be covered by a notch or on-screen front camera.

Notches also limit the screen space of the status bar at the top. Perhaps it should have more than one row. If a modification that enables a multi-row status bar exists, I am not aware of it yet.

Virtual navigation buttons​

I understand the benefit of virtual on-screen keys, the customizability. However, with modifications, even a smartphone with dedicated out-of-screen navigation buttons can simulate virtual on-screen navigation buttons. So smartphones with out-of-screen navigation buttons offers users both possibilities.

Bezels​

Bezels with the size of the Galaxy S7, Note 5, and earlier never bothered me.

In fact, they provide a spot where I can put my thumb for more comfortable holding when watching a video or browsing a gallery in horizontal orientation.

At Unpacked 2017 Episode 1 (Galaxy S8), Justin Denison asked the audience "when was the last time you appreciated bezels" or similar. If only he applied this logic to replaceable batteries: "when was the last time slim design mattered more to you than being able to replace the shortest-lived part of your smartphone?".

Curved edges​

Curved edges do not interfere with third-party operating systems, but…

Let TechAltar explain the rest.


(In case embedding does not work: 2014 called. It wants its curved screens back.)

[I hereby release this text under Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution ShareAlike.]