Top 5 Best Slider Smartphones for a Notch-Free Real Full Display Experience

Call it what you must, a notched display with its ugly cut-out is not a full view or full screen device. A new generation of smartphones that adopt the trusty old slider mechanism from the 90s seek to remove the notch once and for all.

Slide In, Slide Out

These slider smartphones has a retractable body. The back plate and display slides in opposite directions to reveal the front facing cameras, sensors and speaker. These are the components that would otherwise be housed in the notch. Having the slider means the front of the phone is now free from any gubbins allowing for real full screen display. That same display can also now be covered with a single sheet of glass with no cut-outs, not even for the ear piece.

We would take a full panoramic display without the ugly notch any day even if it means injecting some old school designs such as sliding mechanism or magnetic tracks reminiscence of the old Nokia and Blackberry phones with their retractable keyboards.

Keep the Fingerprint Sensor In Front But Under the Screen

To top that, some manufacturers use in-display fingerprint scanners in their phone. This allows the fingerprint sensor to be kept in front but cleverly the screen. Again, this approach means nothing gets in the way of the full screen experience. When needed, the screen will show where your finger should go to unlock it. You have to admit, since Apple has done away with the fingerprint sensor altogether in the iPhone X, XS, XS Max and XR, we do miss the ability to unlock the device without looking at it.

Top 5 Best Slider Form Factor Smartphones: Notch-less all screen phones we’ve all be waiting for

From manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo, Lenovo and Vivo comes smartphones that uses clever slider form factor or pop-up mechanism to maximise the screen to body ration and to make sure that nothing gets in the way of the viewing experience with a notch-less design. Here’s a quick look at the line-up [screen-to-body ratio]

• Honor Magic 2 – 6.39-inch AMOLED display with Slider Mechanism [91.5%]
• Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 – 6.39-inch AMOLED display with Slider Mechanism [93.4%]
• Lenovo Z5 Pro – 6.39-inch AMOLED display with Slider Mechanism [95.06%]
• Oppo Find X – 6.4-inch AMOLED display with Slider Mechanism [93.8%]
• Vivo Nex – 6.59-inch AMOLED display with Pop-up camera [91.24%]

For comparison the iPhone XS records 84.4%, the iPhone XS Max registers 82.9% while the iPhone XR has a 79.0% screen to body ratio. These are no where near the 90 to mid 90 range achieve by real full display phones above.

Honor Magic 2

Honor Magic 2 is next on our list with a full 6.39-inch AMOLED FullView display, totally zero notch and zero bezel safe for the small chin bezel. That small chin bezel has caused it to have a lower 91.5% screen to body ratio but still higher than phones with a notched display. It does this using the slider form factor and optical in-display fingerprint sensor. The slider hides the speaker, sensors and selfie camera. The sliding action is achieved using 5 sliding tracks for smooth, durable and stable retractable motion.

This reveals a 16MP AI-Triple Camera setup with 2 additional 2MP optic sensors for that all important selfies, 3D Bionic Sensor and IR Face Unlock. On the rear, it houses a triple camera arrangement with 16MP RGB, 24MP monochrome and 16MP ultra wide angle optical sensors. The lenses are grouped vertically headed by the LED flash. At the heart of the phone is the Kirin 980 7nm AI chipset with 6GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB storage.

• Kirin 980 7nm AI chipset
• 6GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB storage
• 6.39-inch FullView AMOLED 2.5D bezel-less display
• Triple 16MP+24MP+16MP Rear camera and Triple 16MP+2MP+2MP Front camera

Search Honor Magic 2 on Amazon

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Xiaomi Mi MIX 3

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 uses a magnetic slider mechanism that retracts to reveal its front facing camera. When concealed, you get a notch-less, near zero bezel display measuring 6.39-inch AMOLED display at 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution. The screen to body ratio is a huge 93.4% closer to that of Oppo Find X.

For the front facing camera, Xiaomi uses a dual camera setup pairing a 24MP sensor with a 2MP secondary camera for real-time optical blurring. On the rear you also get a dual camera setup this time with a pair of 12MP for an ultra light sensitive AI camera, LED flash and Fingerprint sensor.

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Chipset
• 6GB RAM and 128GB storage
• 6.39-inch Full Screen AMOLED Display 2340 x 1080 FHD+, 403 PPI 19.5:9 aspect ratio
• Dual 24MP + 2MP front camera with real time video background blurring, Dual 12MP + 12MP rear camera with Ultra light-sensitive AI.

Search Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 on Amazon

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Lenovo Z5 Pro

The Lenovo Z5 Pro is yet another slider form factor phone hiding a dual camera setup behind its sliding screen. The screen also measures 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display similar to Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 with a screen resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels 403PPI 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The Lenovo Z5 Pro is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset with 6GB of RAM memory and 64GB or 128GB storage.

For the main camera, it uses a pair of 16MP and 24MP sensors while for the front, Lenovo uses 16MP and 8MP pair. Unlike on the Oppo Find X, Lenovo has incorporated an under display fingerprint sensor. A faster version, the Lenovo Z5 Pro GT version launched in December 2018 features the chart topping Snapdragon 855 chipset. The Lenovo Z5 Pro GT will feature the same camera setup for both front and back, 6.39 Super AMOLED display and slider form factor.

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset
• 6GB RAM memory and 64GB or 128GB storage
• 6.39-inch Super AMOLED 2340 x 1080 pixels 403PPI 19.5:9 aspect ratio display
• Dual 16MP + 24MP dual rear camera and Dual 16MP + 8MP front camera

Search Lenovo Z5 Pro on Amazon

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Oppo Find X

Oppo Find X is yet another phone with a slider form factor but with a difference. It has a full panoramic arc screen. The display measures 6.4-inch AMOLED display with 2340 x 1080 pixel 19.5:9 aspect ratio and curved side bezels akin to that found on Samsung Galaxy S series. It has an even higher screen to body ratio compared to Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 at 93.8%.

The front facing 25MP AI enhanced selfie camera and 3D Face Recognition system are hidden beneath the display. To use it simply slide the screen down. On the rear you get a dual camera setup combining a 20MP with 16MP sensor. Powered by Snapdragon 845 chipset, it comes with 8GB RAM memory and 256GB or 512GB (Lamborghini Edtion) storage. Just like Apple on the iPhone X and onward, Oppo has forgo the traditional fingerprint sensor in favour of face recognition.

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset
• 6.4-inch AMOLED 2340 x 1080 Pixel resolution
• 8GB RAM and 256GB or 512GB storage
• Dual 20MP + 16MP rear sensor, Single 25MP front sensor

Search Oppo Find X on Amazon

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Vivo Nex

Not quite a slider profile or form factor but the Vivo Nex comes with a pop-up camera. Like other phones above, the camera is hidden behind the screen. It elevates mechanically in 1 second and retracts automatically when you are done with it using micro drive stepping motor system. Together with in-display fingerprint sensor, Vivo Nex is a real full display smartphone.

The display is the biggest FullView screen in our line-up measuring 6.59-inch Super AMOLED with Full HD+ resolution 1080 x 2316 pixels giving it a high screen to body ratio of 91.24% . That single front facing camera uses an 8MP sensor. A dual camera setup comprising of a 12MP and 5MP sensor is your main shooter. Powered by Snapdragon 845 with 8GB RAM memory and 128GB storage, the phone will take on anything you throw at it.

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset
• 8GB RAM memory and 128GB storage
• 6.59-inch Super AMOLED display FullHD+ 2316 x 1080 pixels 19.3:9 aspect ratio
• Dual main camera 12MP + 5MP and Single front camera 8MP

Search Vivo Nex on Amazon

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This article is an adaptation of our original article published on our sister site Colour My Learning.