What's your favorite notch alternative? (Poll of the Week)

Last week’s poll summary: Last week, we asked you to choose your favorite phone from #phonepocalypse. Out of over 2,200 votes on the website, 31 percent of voters said the OnePlus 6T was their favorite phone of October 2018. The HUAWEI Mate 20/Pro came in second with 28 percent of the votes, while the Pixel 3 and 3 XL came in third with 19 percent.

Despite what every company seems to think, not everyone is crazy about smartphone notches. They leave less room for notifications in the status bar and make phones feel non-symmetrical. So, some phone makers are trying to get creative with figuring out how to remove as much top bezel as possible while not including a big ol’ notch at the top of the screen.

First, let’s talk Samsung. All of Samsung’s recent flagship phones simply have a slightly bigger bezel on the top of the display to house the front-facing camera and earpiece. No fancy sliding mechanisms, no over engineering.

Next up is my favorite, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3. This phone features a slider mechanism similar to what we’ve seen on other devices, but it’s operated manually instead of automatically. Just pull down on the screen to expose the front-facing camera on the rear mechanism, and face unlock will kick in right away. I don’t know what it is, but that quick snapping motion is really cool to me.

Then we have devices like the OPPO Find X and vivo Nex. These phones have sliding mechanisms too, but they automatically activate when you wake the phone. It’s a novel idea, and certainly the most futuristic-looking method we’ve seen.

We want to know your favorite. Do you prefer Samsung’s bigger bezels, Xiaomi’s manual slider, or OPPO/Vivo’s automatic slide-out cameras? Or do you prefer display notches? Let us know by casting your vote in the poll, and speak up in the comments if you have anything to add.