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The Galaxy S10 won't have a notch, but it may have a 'hole' in its display – where should it be?

By Milen Yanachkov

Published: Nov 14, 2018, 6:50 AM

32comments

The Galaxy S10 won't have a notch, but it may have a 'hole' in its display – where should it be?

The Galaxy S10 may have a camera cutout in its display

Samsung recently unveiled four new Infinity Display models – two with a notch, one with a camera “cutout”, and the last one completely seamless. Called ‘New Infinity’, this notch-less screen didn’t get a lot of on-stage talk by Samsung, but by the looks of it, it could very well be the mobile display tech of the future.

We recently showed you what the Samsung Galaxy S10 could look like if it used the New Infinity tech and had it’s selfie camera positioned under the display panel. It would be the peak of solid-state bezel-less design and eliminate the need for unsightly notches. However, as is usually the case with emerging technologies, there is a transitional period.

According to reliable tech leaker Evan Blass, better known as @evleaks, the Samsung Galaxy S10 will not use the ‘New Infinity’ display, but rather the ‘Infinity-O’, which has a camera cutout. Considering Blass’ track record, we may, indeed, have to hold off a while more until a non-slider phone with a truly bezel-less design.

Few preliminary Galaxy S10 details:

- "Punch hole" style selfie cam cutout (sounds like Infinity-O display).
- Ultrasonic, in-display FPS
- Three rear cameras (standard/wide/tele)
- One UI over Android Pie
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 13, 2018

But that doesn’t mean the Infinity-O is all that bad. We’ve already talked about the notch at length, and it’s hardly a secret that it’s been the most controversial mobile design feature of the last year, so it’s easy to see why many people wouldn’t be thrilled about an actual hole in the display of their one-thousand-dollar-plus smartphone. However, the cutout is at least better in that it would take up less of the screen.

Besides, if Samsung keeps the front-facing camera the same size as that of the Galaxy S9, this wouldn’t be too offensive of a punch hole on the Galaxy S10’s giant screen. Heck, the Galaxy S10+ is rumored to have two front-facing cameras, which would mean a bigger cutout, and that still wouldn’t be a huge problem on the rumored 6.44” display.

If the selfie camera remains the same size as the one on the Galaxy S9, it shouldn't be too obtrusive

But this raises another question – where should the punch hole be? In one of the corners or smack-dab in the middle?

The image that Samsung showed during the announcement of the Infinity-O showed the cutout in the upper left corner of the screen. However, this is likely just done for illustration purposes, and the hole could be in a variety of different locations, such as in either corner or in the middle.

One of the more subtle changes in Samsung’s major upcoming OS redesign, dubbed One UI, is the clock in the notification bar, which is moved to the upper left corner, leaving the central area suspiciously empty. Although this can’t be considered definitive evidence that the camera cutout on the Galaxy S10 will be in the middle, user interface updates in the past have revealed upcoming hardware changes.

But anyway, if the Samsung Galaxy S10 is going to have a punch hole in its display, where should it be – in one of the corners or in the center? Vote below! Also tell us, which do you think is better – a notch or a camera cutout?