Here’s why Google’s Nexus 6P has a huge black bar

Ever wondered why the Nexus 6P has a black bar? We stated at the time that it was ugly, regardless of the reason. It just doesn’t look good, particularly when you have a white phone. Everything is white, and then, there’s a big black bar at the top of the back of the device that makes the white Nexus 6P look like a razor. It’s somewhat acceptable for the black Nexus 6P, but the white one? Even the aluminum looks somewhat better for the black bar than the white one. It just hits us as something out of a “throw-and-go” philosophy – something unplanned, “at-the-last-minute,” tacky, as though someone forgot about fashion and design when making it.

Well, we now know why the Nexus 6P has a huge black bar. Google has gone on to tell us exactly what the black bar is and why it’s there. In short, the black bar of the Nexus 6P is a glass window that is made of Corning’s Gorilla Glass 4. Gorilla Glass 4 is the most durable display technology for most worldwide smartphones, having appeared on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, and the Galaxy Note5.

So what lies behind this black glass window? It’s all the stuff that you need for a good smartphone such as the Nexus 6P to function. According to the source, “because the 6P is predominantly made of aluminum, which acts as a reflector to various radio and other wireless signals in the device, there needs to be a place for antennas to send out their various signals.” The black glass window contains Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G/4G LTE connectivity, along with laser autofocus, NFC, and the back camera and dual LED flash on the Nexus 6P.

Metal and antennas don’t mix; usually, metal is a drawback for any smartphone, as it tends to affect Wi-Fi connectivity, data, and antenna performance. In fact, HTC’s metal One M9, as has been the case with the One M7 and One M8 before it, have all performed poorly when it comes to antenna signals and internet connectivity. With Google going all in with the Nexus 6P being the first fully metal smartphone from the search engine giant, Google would face the same problems. The black glass window, then, serves a significant purpose.

Now that you know, you can look at the aluminum (no, it’s not “alu-minium”) Nexus 6P and its black glass “razor” bar with pride. If it stands out, at least it can’t be said that the Nexus 6P doesn’t serve a purpose.

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