The Galaxy S23 Ultra might be the last of its kind and may have marked the end of an era that lasted no less than nine years. If you know your Samsung history, you may have already put the puzzle pieces together. I am, of course, referring to the curved display era.
The “curved-around-the-edges” display era began ten years ago when Samsung announced the Galaxy Note Edge in September 2014. The Note Edge was the first Samsung smartphone to use flexible display technology, not to enable a foldable form factor (that would come later) but to wrap the image around one of the phone's edges. The “Edge” moniker was born.
Samsung later implemented the Edge design to other high-end devices. It helped the company stand out, but that time is over. Samsung stopped using the “Edge” brand years ago, after the Galaxy S7 Edge, but the curved display design remained.
Nevertheless, over the past few years, Samsung has slowly phased out the curved display design design. Now, we've come to a point where only one device with a — slightly — curved display remains on the market, i.e., the Galaxy S23 Ultra. And it might be the very last.
In the end, it's all for the best
The Galaxy S23 Ultra won't be available for much longer, of course. Its replacement, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, with its flat display, is already out. Galaxy S23 Ultra stocks are dwindling, and once the 2023 model is off the shelves, it will be gone for good. And right now, Samsung shows no intentions of bringing the curved display back.
All that being said, I don't regret how things turned out for Samsung phones. I believe the Edge display was needed when Samsung had to stand out through bold designs, and the technology was the precursor for Samsung's foldable phones. Valuable lessons were learned.
However, the benefits of a flat screen have become more and more obvious over time. Flat phones are better suited for input devices like the S Pen and are less susceptible to breaking and cracking when dropped.
In retrospect, it's surprising how many customers were willing to sacrifice durability for the sake of the eye-catching Edge design. Nevertheless, today, we live in a different Android smartphone era. In time, we lost bold exterior designs but gained consistency, optimization, and durability. And, personally, that's a trade-off I'm more than happy to accept.
All in all, the Edge display may never return. And if it won't, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will enter the history books as Samsung's last phone to feature a curved display design. Nevertheless, the writing was on the wall before the S23 Ultra even existed, so it was not the cause of the curved display's demise but a consequence of past decisions and plans.
