The Mate RS doesn't have a notch because Porsche Design hated the idea

Porsche Design’s Director, Christian Schwamkrug has revealed the reason the Porsche Design HUAWEI Mate RS doesn’t have a notch: the company is against it from a design point of view. The lack of a notch is probably the biggest design difference between the Mate RS and the HUAWEI P20 Pro that it is based on.

While HUAWEI gives users the option to “turn off” the notch, it was not enough for Mr. Schwamkrug. Speaking in an interview with Digital Trends, Christian Schwamkrug, the company’s design director, said:

“When I saw the notch for the time, I nearly couldn’t believe it. It’s disturbing, from a design philosophy.”

Not relenting, Schwamkrug added:

“A picture is either rectangular or square, with a border line, and a clear frame format. I like symmetry. I didn’t want to have the notch, I think it’s a compromise.”

Schwamkrug’s views resonate with many users. In a survey we ran, respondents complained that the notch destroys the symmetry of the screen and that it can get in the way if you are watching videos or playing games.

However, our review of the P20 Pro was a bit more forgiving. Nirave and Kris complimented the design of the device and said that the notch “just doesn’t matter.”

The notch isn’t the only place where the Mate RS differs from the P20 Pro. On the Porsche Design phone, the three cameras and the fingerprint sensors on the back of the phone are aligned in the center. The Porsche Design Mate RS also features an in-display fingerprint sensor, as well as an option for 512 GB of storage.

The Mate RS is a limited edition and with a starting price of 1,695 Euros (~$2,028) it costs significantly more than the P20 Pro. With that in mind, you’d have to really hate the notch to choose the Mate RS over the P20 Pro.

Next up: Google moved the clock in Android P because of the notch