The inefficient use of space on WP8 Hardware

[trumpet116]

The Lumia 920 and HTC 8X are, unfortunately, much too large for the screen sizes they have. I played around in Word and was able to illustrate this, and shrunk bezels to a reasonable level and was able to drastically decrease the size of the phones while keeping the same screen size even without going as extreme as the bezels (or lack thereof) on something like the Droid Razr M.
Why is this, and does anyone agree?

 

[thed]

Unfortunately, there's hardware inside the phone that you can't just arbitrarily shrink down. Components are packed pretty tightly into the phone. I'm guessing if they could do something like this then they would have.

 

[invertme]

Making phones too thin makes them not feel good in the hand.

 

[AngryNil]

Unfortunately, there's hardware inside the phone that you can't just arbitrarily shrink down. Components are packed pretty tightly into the phone. I'm guessing if they could do something like this then they would have.

Exactly. If these devices could be shrunken down, they wouldn't be 10-11mm thick.

The Lumia 920 has a large bottom bezel to supposedly prevent accidental presses of the buttons, and just my opinion - the way you have shrunk down the bezel on both devices looks ugly.

 

[rockstarzzz]

Plus it is intentionally kept away so that the soft keys aren't pressed by mistake all the time. Have a look at how badly they are arranged in HTC Titan. There is no space left and I always end up pressing search button by mistake. This new design pulls them further away from the scrolling area and hence a peaceful experience.

 

[trumpet116]

Unfortunately, there's hardware inside the phone that you can't just arbitrarily shrink down. Components are packed pretty tightly into the phone. I'm guessing if they could do something like this then they would have.

I understand this, but Motorola pulled it off (if you haven't seen it, look up the Razr M, it's pretty cool-looking and super small for a 4.3 inch screen), and made the device thinner than either of these with a battery sized right in between them.
Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely buying one of these, and I love Windows Phone, but I want to know why these devices are so much larger than they need to be.

 

[rockstarzzz]

Because of the soft-touch buttons!

 

[bauerbach]

One things for sure, there is no dead space inside these devices.

even if its nothing big a bigger battery, its getting used.

 

[Villain]

personally I would hate having no bezel... would cause accidental screen input. absolutely would hate.

 

[thed]

I understand this, but Motorola pulled it off (if you haven't seen it, look up the Razr M, it's pretty cool-looking and super small for a 4.3 inch screen), and made the device thinner than either of these with a battery sized right in between them.
Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely buying one of these, and I love Windows Phone, but I want to know why these devices are so much larger than they need to be.

Well the 8X at least has tapered edges so in terms of total volume it may not be that big. I think HTC was going for a good feel in the hand, rather than just a smaller size. I believe that the 920 is the same way. The 920 also has capacitor plates for wireless charging that take up extra space.

 

[aventador779]

I'm on the side where I wish the 8X had a bigger screen...

 

[a5cent]

In addition to what has already been mentioned (volume required to fit all components), ruggedness is another issue that must also be considered. Should you ever drop your phone in a way so that it hits the ground on one of its four edges or corners (instead of front or back), a thicker bezel makes it easier for the case to absorb more of the impact force before transferring the remainder to the screen. Having the edges "bulge out", as opposed to simply being "flat" also help stiffen the case against impact, although this too increases the bezel size.

Reducing the bezel size usually necessitates using different materials (composite aluminum instead of PC), but that also has drawbacks (cost, reduction of signal quality, etc.).

It's all about choices. Unfortunately, it seems there isn't a device currently available (Lumia Razor M) that caters to the set of tradeoffs you would prefer.

 

[power5]

I'm sorry but is this the device you are saying has very small bezels?

vs

Both have large chin areas probably for the same reason. To not activate the capacitive buttons.

Sure the Razor has smaller side bezel but top and bottom are no different.

 

[tk-093]

RAZR M has big bottom bezel and low res screen.

 

[AngryNil]

I understand this, but Motorola pulled it off (if you haven't seen it, look up the Razr M, it's pretty cool-looking and super small for a 4.3 inch screen), and made the device thinner than either of these with a battery sized right in between them.

I think in general, unibody devices aren't going to be super thin. The Razr M uses a SAMOLED panel, which is thinner than LCD. It's also a bad panel - qHD and PenTile. I'd argue there's no breakout feature in it, and that's probably why Motorola could keep it thin - just a bunch of standard components packaged up.

 

[Gaichuke]

The 920 also has capacitor plates for wireless charging that take up extra space.

That is incorrect. The wireless charging coil is only 0.57 mm thick and does not take much space at all.

You can see it here (the white thin slip in the middle).