Would you rather have front-firing stereo speakers or super-slim bezels all around?

It is the age of the bezel-less smartphone! One by one, manufacturers are introducing “all-screen” flagships with a tiny frame all around and… only slight imperfections. There are still some challenges in the way — like where will the selfie camera sit, or where do we put the speaker and earpiece?

Google went full-on defiant with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL and chose to have phones that feature a bit of a “chin” and “forehead” but gave its customers full-fledged, front-firing stereo speakers. Presumably, this makes for a better, more immersive viewing or gaming experience.

Manufacturers that choose to do away with their phones’ bottom bezel stick to a different scenario — the bottom-firing speaker is treated as a “woofer”, with pronounced bass and mids, while the earpiece is more of a tweeter, with the thinner details coming out. When holding such a phone, a slight imbalance in audio can be perceived.