Sony 'might' have a truly bezel-less phone at IFA 2017

It’s IFA rumor time folks. Following the story that Sharp will be the first manufacturer to market with a truly bezelless device, we’re now hearing (admittedly from Weibo) that Sony might have a bezel-less phone in preparation for an IFA unveiling. You heard that right: Sony. With no bezels. Am I dreaming? Probably, but perhaps not.

While I know it’s pretty easy to make up just about anything and slap it on Weibo, this story actually has legs. Hear me out: display-maker JDI, a joint venture comprised of Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi, has already announced that it has gone into full-on mass production of its Full Active QHD display. That means the tech is already there, and Sony is the obvious first choice to put it into a mobile product.

This would require two things. Firstly, Sony would need to say its fond farewell to bezels, something it has been reticent to do for, like, ever. But it’s time. We all know this. Tearful departure complete, Sony would then need to have a product ready to go in time for IFA in early September. Which it clearly does: Sony has already announced its press conference will be held on August 31, the day before IFA officially kicks off. So there’s that.

Whether you take all this as the stars aligning or just wishful thinking, the Weibo post claims this new Sony device will have a 6-inch LCD panel with the 18:9 Univisium aspect ratio we’ve already seen on the LG G6 and (sort of on) the Galaxy S8. My head is spinning just thinking about it: Sony could literally go from being the company renowned for atrophied design and a pathological love of large bezels to one of the first companies to shed bezels entirely.

This is one Weibo rumor I desperately hope comes true, even if it’s just as likely to be connect-the-dots rumor-mongering instead. Even if the phone comes out vastly overpriced and six months too late in the US it would still mean Sony is trying again, and that’s definitely something worth getting behind. We’ll be following this story closely, so stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Do you want a truly bezel-less phone? Did you ever think Sony would be making one?