Apple iPhone X screen-to-body ratio compared

Calling the new breed of phones “bezel-less” is a bit of a misnomer – they do have a bezel, just much smaller than traditional phones. Still, it’s how they’ve come to be known and now even Apple makes one. But screen to body numbers get thrown around and some of them are not quite accurate.

Things like rounded corners and display cutouts make things yet more complicated, but we took the time to calculate the actual numbers, accounting for all the deviations from the classic rectangular screen.

So here it is. The Apple iPhone X measures among the best. However, even the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, the sequel to the phone that started this craze (though not the first bezel-less phone) isn’t on top. That honor falls to the LG V30.

If you’re wondering how the Mi Mix 2 fell from the top, it’s about proportion. The original had a 6.4” screen, this one has a 5.99” screen. So while the bezels have about the same thickness, they are measured against a smaller screen.

Also note that the official images of the Mix 2 are quite misleading – they show a phone with an 88.8% screen to body ratio, a 7.5% exaggeration by Xiaomi.

We have to say that the usable area on the iPhone X is slightly less than the 81.49% number suggests – the two “horns” on top are only good for notifications but not content. We’ll compare the Super Retina Display’s surface area to a traditional 16:9 screen in the next article.

PS. in case you're wondering why the Galaxy S8/Note8 were not included, it's because the curved sides of their screens make such measurements quite difficult.