Light and dark bezels -- your take?

[Mivo]

Just yesterday I picked up an iPad Air 2, and I went for the silver model. I actually didn't pay attention to the bezel color (purchased it online) and "assumed" that, like the iPad 2, the silver model would have a black inside. Well, it does not, it is Apple white. So much for spontaneous purchases with essentially no research!

So when it arrived, my first thought was, "This goes back." All my tablets and e-readers have had black bezels. But since it's already here and I won't get it to the post office before Monday anyway (over here, anything purchased online can be returned within 14 days, seller pays for return shipping too), I have been using it a little ("I don't like you, but you're new and shiny, so I play with you anyway"), just to see how I'd feel about it.

A few hours in, I'm starting to wonder if the white-ish bezel (looks better in person than in photos) isn't actually easier on my eyes, no matter what I believed was logical (black bezels becoming "invisible" to the eye, less distraction, etc). The colors don't "pop" as much as on my black tablets, but especially when looking at web pages with light background, which make the majority of sites I visit, and e-books with a daytime color scheme, it "feels" more comfortable, though less spectacular. I'm generally not hot on reading on backlit devices, and now I wonder if the black bezels are part of the reason. However, I may be rationalizing here because I'm lazy and I don't want to send it back and wait a week for my money.

Anyway, I was curious what your experiences are with dark and light bezels, especially if you have used both. I speculate that a medium grey would probably be the best, but those don't seem common, at least not for tablets. Is it all just preference and what you're used to, or are there any more objective aspects?

[fjtorres]

On tablets it doesn't much matter: the light output of the screen overwhelms any bezel contrast effects. Especially on the larger models.
On eink, though, the low screen contrast compared to the bezel will be more noticeable.

They really are different creatures.

As to the bezel contrast effects, they are real but taste dependent.
Some people wrap light ropes around their TV screens to minimize it or go to hacker route to copy the old Philips Ambilight tech, while most people don't care or don't watch TV in dark rooms.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambilight

Me, I prefer flat black on my mobile devices strictly as a matter of taste.

[tubemonkey]

Dark; and if it isn't dark, I'll skin it dark.

[DrNefario]

I definitely prefer a black bezel on my TV, since it blends in with the unused parts of the screen if I'm watching something with an aspect ratio other than 16:9. I guess the same would apply occasionally to a tablet if you use it to watch TV or movies, but the main uses of a tablet will probably have light backgrounds, which will blend better with a light background, maybe. The black ones will always look better when they're off, though.

So, for me, TV: black, tablet: not too bothered, eink: no real preference; grey, if anything.

It so happens that all my current devices are black or dark grey, and none of them bother me at all.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I definitely prefer a black bezel on my TV, since it blends in with the unused parts of the screen if I'm watching something with an aspect ratio other than 16:9. I guess the same would apply occasionally to a tablet if you use it to watch TV or movies, but the main uses of a tablet will probably have light backgrounds, which will blend better with a light background, maybe. The black ones will always look better when they're off, though.

I share this opinion. My iPad is black because I use it for video content and photos. I think the colors look better. I do love the Apple white color. My iPad Mini is white because I use it for reading, and I like the way the white border blends in with the page background so it's less distracting. I have had both white and black iPhones, and I like the white one best.

I am less opinionated on eink. I have had both white and black. I usually end up with a decal skin on it. I am more sensitive to how shiny/reflective the bezel is on eink readers rather than color. I prefer matte to glossy finish.

[tomsem]

I prefer black. I thought I was going to get white/ivory/gold, but when I actually went to buy, I found I preferred something more understated and that would blend more with photos/video (and I like to read white on black a lot of the time). I find iOS7/8 is far too white as is is. Wish there was a 'night' theme, and a way to knock down the white brightness of web pages and so forth. Well there is 'reversed color' mode but that's too weird.

[burnafterreading]

same as interior design - the eye gets drawn to contrast. if your main content page is going to be light-coloured (like an eink page), then a white(ish) bezel will make the device look larger and the text won't feel boxed in, and the text will be the thing that stands proud. if you read mostly against a dark background (like i do on my tablets), then a black bezel is better.

[howyoudoin]

I prefer black bezels for both e-readers and tablets, preferably matte finished. A matte bezel is not available on tablets, but my cover covers up that portion anyway.

[Ripplinger]

Matte black for me on tablets and ereaders. I'd prefer it also on my TVs, but matte black finishes are very hard to find.

When I was first considering an ereader and I looked at the Nooks in a B&N store, they had that annoying shiny white bezel (they might still have it). Even though the text didn't have that shiny reflection, while trying to read I found myself constantly trying to tilt the reader to minimize the reflection from the bezel. Shiny just makes the white even worse to me on all devices.

[mrscoach]

I have both white and black bezels and hardly ever notice either color, whether the screen is dark or light.

[Jessica Lares]

I have both. I feel like the white bezel cheapens the device because you can see the edges sticking out of both the iPhones and the iPods, so they look a lot more thicker.

But otherwise I have no problem reading on it.

[crich70]

To bezel or not to bezel that is the question! I've never noticed any sign of anything interfering with my viewing text etc. on any of my Kindle devices.

[radius]

No opinion on tablets, but for ereaders I like the light bezel.

I have a silver Sony PRS-505 along with black PRS-T3 and Kindle PW2. I find that on the 505 I can get away with using smaller page margins without feeling like I am crowding the page edge. On the black devices I get uncomfortable if the text is right up against the edge of the screen. I think I somehow interpret the bezels of the device as page margin somehow.

[pidgeon92]

If I have a choice, I'll always choose black, but I've had both and don't really notice the bezel.

[theducks]

Dark and with Buttons to turn pages.
Some of us are touch challenged (as well as liking to read one handed. The other hand is keeping the cat out of the field of view )