Why the L-series has a large bottom bezel

**black.rhino** · 11-28-2012, 07:27 PM

I see these complaints pop up every time there is a new picture of the L-series phone: "Why does it have such a big bottom bezel?" I posted the same thing earlier on one of the articles, but here goes:

BB10 is designed for one handed use. If you take a smartphone with a minimal bezel and hold it in your hand, your thumb is likely a third to halfway up the screen. The new blackberry has a bigger bottom bezel that can rest in your hand, raising the screen and presenting the gesture area right to where your thumb naturally sits (more or less). It will minimize having to bend your thumb all the way down or slide it around awkwardly to reach the bottom of the screen to initiate a gesture.

BlackBerry uses the "running through the airport" as the person they designed the UI for. That person needs the gesture area to be where their thumb is.

This is a theory...

**Shanerredflag** · 11-28-2012, 07:52 PM

Thank you for the explanation I was thinking that's where the Nokia WiFi antenna was hiding. (kidding).

**DJM626** · 11-29-2012, 05:33 AM

Thank you for making everyone aware of that fact. I was not going to question it, as I am not hard to please when it comes to outer dimensions etc of a phone. It's what it does that draws me in

I might be back sometime in mid Feb or March, or after the phone has been out for a few weeks and ask why my "K" in blackberry seems so much lighter in color then the rest of the word blackberry, or why the blackberry logo on the back of the phone is just slightly higher in only one of the spots

**GTiLeo** · 11-29-2012, 07:01 AM

Logical the same type of thinking that BlackBerrys are built on. The smallest things to make life simpler or make things more efficient, like Kevin said inhis podcast with reene"BlackBerrys are built by engineers"

**itmccb** · 11-30-2012, 05:52 PM

Okay so what's the deal with the top bezel? :P

**Knightcrawler** · 11-30-2012, 06:15 PM

dunno what all the fuss it about. as far as im concerned, it was a design decision. It doesn't hamper my ability to use the device, and its doesn't restrict screen real estate as you still have a bigger screen then the iphone5.

Its the same reason apple took so long to to go to a bigger screen....its not just about more space, its about the over all design and usability. maybe those areas are housing internal components that cant go underneath the screen cuz of a lack of space? it could be a number of reasons, so why get worked up over it?

**Skeevecr** · 12-01-2012, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by itmccb

Okay so what's the deal with the top bezel? :P

What's wrong with it, you have a small area for gestures and then the speaker, it is not excessive and saving a tiny bit of space would remove the symmetry of the device and probably make it look a bit worse for a very marginal if any gain.

**DivideBYZero** · 12-01-2012, 11:24 AM

People get bent out of shape about the smallest of things...

**skyrocket9** · 12-01-2012, 11:34 AM

Or...

OR..

Rim designers don't care about aesthetics at all and gave a disastrous design of a phone... no need for bezels that large separating the screen.

But whatever.

**Bobert_123** · 12-01-2012, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by inthemix9

Or...

OR..

Rim designers don't care about aesthetics at all and gave a disastrous design of a phone... no need for bezels that large separating the screen.

But whatever.

You cant please everybody, I love the design of the London, but HATE the design of the S3, just as an example.

Sent from my BOLD or maybe my soon to be BB10 PlayBook

**itmccb** · 12-01-2012, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Skeevecr

What's wrong with it, you have a small area for gestures and then the speaker, it is not excessive and saving a tiny bit of space would remove the symmetry of the device and probably make it look a bit worse for a very marginal if any gain.

I'm just joking. Though what confuse me is that if the device is designed for gestures, then why is the face flat? Curving the edges makes exexuting gestures much easier without a large surface area, which isnt completely necessary as the gesture area is only a few pixels wide - literally just the edge of the screen. Though, I regarding the vertical bezels, I guess if you're going to put 4.7"+ specs in a 4.2" device, you're going to end up with either a tall or thick device and if you're going for thin, it would be best to center the screen and have two large bezels than one rediculously huge one.

**Rickster1** · 12-01-2012, 11:58 AM

Looking forward to the new devices!! This in spite of the efforts of a few to troll and bash. Just got an iphone 5 for my daughter and it wouldn't accept the Telus simcard. Defective
and had to go back. now its working well. other daughter has android device and likes it. my wife, new to her bb9900. They all like what they have yet none feel it necessary to visit other discussion boards of ios or droid or bb and bash. Seems like some people just like to be "inthemix". life is too short!!! long live bb10!! LOL

**Masahiro** · 12-01-2012, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by inthemix9

Or...

OR..

Rim designers don't care about aesthetics at all and gave a disastrous design of a phone... no need for bezels that large separating the screen.

But whatever.

I challenge you to find any full touch-screen smartphone without a large bezel at the bottom. You may have a hard time finding one because the bezel allows your thumbs to rest in a natural position on the device. It also means you don't have to bend your thumb down in an awkward position to perform a swipe gesture. Aesthetics is one thing, but ergonomics and practicality are more important (unless you're a certain company that produces an all-glass front panel that is subject to shattering).

As for the bezel at the top, it's for symmetry (just speaking from a design perspective, as it obviously houses some essential components as well).

**etumang** · 12-01-2012, 05:24 PM

I'm sure its a combination of function and design. I'd appreciate being able to operate the handset with one hand without having to strain my hand or have to worry about dropping it. I understand there are alot of people that have some gripes about the design but I personally like the clean look; its symetrical, simple and classy.

**Knightcrawler** · 12-01-2012, 11:18 PM

im definitely not an admirer of the design. I think it could've been better, but its also not horrible. It just looks like every other smartphone. The only smartphone that actually stands out in the design category is the lumia 900 series. I wish rim had gone with sharp corners and maybe a metal strip along the edge, but c'est la vie.

**DocDRM** · 12-02-2012, 01:28 AM

I am quite confident of the real reason for the larger lower bezel if anyone wants the inside scoop . . .

Allows for the muscle memory of the "one button at the bottom" crowd that will be flocking to BB10 to avoid constantly tapping commands on accident. Allows time for their constant urge to tap that button to be cured.

**Specwire** · 12-02-2012, 03:01 AM

I'll wait till I see final hardware at the local AT&T shop before having a real opinion on aesthetics.

**rcheung135** · 12-02-2012, 05:51 AM

It's pretty efficient use of the bottom bezel for swiping gestures (like the Playbook) that help with one-handed use. Like someone mentioned, most phones have this. Integrating functionality with it makes the phone pretty neat.

**fernandomagelan** · 12-09-2012, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Masahiro

I challenge you to find any full touch-screen smartphone without a large bezel at the bottom. You may have a hard time finding one because the bezel allows your thumbs to rest in a natural position on the device. It also means you don't have to bend your thumb down in an awkward position to perform a swipe gesture. Aesthetics is one thing, but ergonomics and practicality are more important (unless you're a certain company that produces an all-glass front panel that is subject to shattering).

As for the bezel at the top, it's for symmetry (just speaking from a design perspective, as it obviously houses some essential components as well).

I already showed you some devices without large bottom bezel. Have a look the thread again, so you can make sure what I m talking about.
And also, the bottom bezel is not such a pain. The issue is the TOP bezel. WHY SO LARGE?

**Masahiro** · 12-09-2012, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by fernandomagelan

I already showed you some devices without large bottom bezel. Have a look the thread again, so you can make sure what I m talking about.
And also, the bottom bezel is not such a pain. The issue is the TOP bezel. WHY SO LARGE?

If you're talking about the LG Optimus or the Sony Xperia, they both have comparable bezels on the bottom...and they don't require swiping up with your thumb.

As for the top bezel, again, it's for symmetry in terms of the design. In terms of the function, there needs to be some space above the screen for components, because there's not a lot of space behind the screen. In fact, most of the space behind the screen is taken up by the battery. If there was no space above the screen, where would they put the camera module (both front and rear) or speaker port?

**mu4e** · 12-09-2012, 07:25 PM

also, i believe apple sued samsung for the top and bottom bezels having the same dimensions.

**KermEd** · 12-09-2012, 07:42 PM

or

OR

What is asthetically pleasing to one person may not be so to another, and thus they decided to you know, have more than one design.

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