Slider Phones With Touch Screen

(Pocket-lint) - As mobile phones continue to advance, the demand for more screen and less bezel is dominating design. Manufacturers proudly present greater screen-to-body figures at their press conferences. But there's a problem: where to put the cameras, sensors and fingerprint scanners in such devices?

We've all seen the notch - yes, the at-first dreaded notch; that black-out dip to the top of many current flagship phones, from the Apple iPhone XS to the Huawei Mate 20 Pro - but, if the second-half of 2018 was anything to go by, commencing with Oppo's reveal of the Find X, then the slider phone is the future.

Xiaomi seems to think so too, following the announcement of its the Mi Mix 3 flagship at a media-only conference in Beijing, China, on 25 October 2018. And Honor followed that a week later with its 31 October event in the same city, showing that slider phone momentum is certainly gathering.

But is the slider phone really the future, or just a short-lived fad that will be outlived by the even newer hole-punch camera solution? We take a look at the current devices trying to present an alternative future.

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Xiaomi Mi Mix 3

Full slider phone design
Uses magnets and manual motion

Rather than investing in a motorised mechanical design, Xiaomi's Mi Mix 3 functions using a magnetic system – it's a case of manually sliding the phone up to display the front-facing cameras. It's said to be good for 300,000 cycles, which is three times that of its mechanical competitors, like the Oppo Find X.

The Xiaomi devices boasts a 93.4 per cent screen-to-body ratio, cementing the Mi Mix's position as the device with the some of the least bezel available. The Lenovo Z5 Pro and GT, which we look at further down the page, claims 95 per cent.

Interestingly, the Mi Mix 3 offers customisable app launching when sliding it open. So it doesn't have to just be for that selfie – it could be to answer a call, like a traditional flip phone, or to load a game. Although we do worry that pulling it out of a pocket will see it constantly slide open – which is something mechanical devices avoid.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 review

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Honor Magic 2

Six cameras - three front, three rear - in full slider phone design
Uses 'five rail butterfly-style' mechanism for manual motion
6.39in AMOLED display, in-screen fingerprint scanner

Hot on the heels of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3, Honor had been teasing its Magic 2 since the launch of the Honor Play in August 2018, then going on to reveal the handset in full at a Beijing launch event on 31 October 2018.

The Magic 2 certainly isn't holding back on specs: it's got the same 6.39in AMOLED screen and in-screen fingerprint scanner as the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, but without the notch thanks to the slider design.

A flick down on the screen reveals its trio of front-facing cameras, which join the three on the rear to total six. That's Honor's big push: portrait modes, including bokeh blurred background and lighting effects, both front and back.

Honor Magic 2 review

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Lenovo Z5 Pro

Full slider phone design
In-screen fingerprint scanner
China only release

It's not all about Xiaomi and Honor, though, as Lenovo quietly launched its own equivalent slider phone – the Z5 Pro. It's not made a big song and dance about the device for the simple fact it's only available in China. We got to see it at the company's Beijing HQ in late November 2018.

Design is a familiar tale to its competition, opting for an almost bezel-free front and non-mechanical sliding mechanism to reveal the front cameras. The fingerprint scanner is embedded under the screen to keep the design neat and tidy – although this phone is certainly far thicker than its Xiaomi and Honor competitors, with a more plasticky feel to it. The spec is also a little lighter, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 under the hood.

Interestingly, the Lenovo offers the highest screen-to-body ratio of any current slider, with hardly any of the black stuff towards the edges. That sounds like a vision of the future, but with a China-only release it's not destined for the wider world to witness.

Lenovo Z5 Pro in pictures: Beating back the bezel

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The Slider Phone Is 2019's Answer To The Notch Does It Make Sense image 3

Lenovo Z5 Pro GT

Qualcomm SD855 processor, 12GB RAM
Full slider phone design
In-screen fingerprint scanner
China only release

The big brother of the 'normal' Z5 Pro, the GT turbocharges things on the power front. Its design is identical, but in addition to a carbon fibre-like rear finish and red accenting, under the hood there's Qualcomm's top-spec (for 2019) Snapdragon 855 processor, paired with a whopping 12GB RAM.

Again, however, the GT isn't destined for release outside of China. So although we've played with the phone - behind closed doors at Mobile World Congress 2019 - its Chinese operating system setup means it's not easily usable for we Brits.

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Oppo Find X

Full-width mechanical pop-up cameras

We thought the Oppo Find X was the device to make smartphones interesting again in 2018. There's nothing else out there that's like it, with a mechanical pop-up mechanism the full width of the phone that reveals the cameras.

It launched properly in the UK with a £799 price tag - which is pretty good going, seeing as the Europe model is priced €999! We can see why it costs a few quid, too, given the amount of tech on board here.

Oppo Find X review

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Vivo NEX S

Pop-up camera

Ok, so it's not a slider phone per se, but this was the first device to change the pace. Initially shown as the Vivo Apex concept at IFA 2017 (Europe's largest tech show), the device quickly turned into the Vivo NEX S, a device with a mechanical pop-up camera built into its top edge.

Not having a full-on slider phone design means it retails for less than the Oppo, although its equivalent price depends on direct conversion from the Chinese model (which isn't quite accurate due to exchange rates, import export and tax).

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There's also a Vivo NEX Dual Display, which has a screen both front and back, to eliminate the need for a sliding mechanism.

Vivo NEX S review

Conclusion

Whether it's notches, pop-up cameras, dual screens, folding displays, or a combination of some or all that will dominate future phones remains to be seen. But we know this: the Chinese makers are thinking outside of the box and making phones exciting again. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3, Honor Magic 2 and Lenovo Z5 Pro GT, in particular, create a convincing image of the flip phone reimagined.

But herein lies the problem with the very idea of the slider phone: it's an exciting fix for what's likely to be a temporary problem. The integration of mechanical components in many devices may cause issues later down the line, while other advancing technologies - from the Galaxy S10's hole-punch camera, to the Vivo NEX Dual Display double screebs, or the Huawei Mate X folding phone - will ultimately see the slider phone go the way of the flip phone: into a happy nostalgic place.

Writing by Mike Lowe. Originally published on

25 October 2018.