How to disable the notch on the OnePlus 6

By Harish Jonnalagadda
published

OnePlus 6 India
OnePlus 6 India

One of the more controversial design choices in the OnePlus 6 is a cutout at the top of the display, which bumps the overall screen size to 6.28 inches while retaining the same overall height as the 6.0-inch OnePlus 5T.

ASUS, OPPO, Vivo, and Huawei have already introduced devices this year that feature the notch, and it looks like this unwelcome trend is only set to continue as the year progresses.

What's particularly irksome is that the notch doesn't really add a lot of value to the OnePlus 6, as there's a chin at the bottom. The notch works on the iPhone X because it creates an all-screen front — where the bottom bar is the same width as the bezels at the top.

That, however, isn't the case on the OnePlus 6 or any of the other Android copycats we've seen so far. The OnePlus 6 has a noticeable chin at the bottom, and there's a mismatch in the width of the bezels at the top and bottom.

OnePlus 6 notch vs OnePlus 5T

While OnePlus says the notch was designed to maximize the screen real estate, the added 0.28-inch screen size doesn't amount to much in real-world usage. With the notch enabled, you get to see two extra lines of text when browsing on the OnePlus 6 (versus the 5T), and one added line in the settings pane.

There's no difference between either device while viewing videos, as most streaming services still deliver videos in 16:9 or 18:9. So it's easy to see that the notch doesn't offer any tangible gains when using the phone, but it does stick out like a sore thumb.

How to disable the notch on the OnePlus 6

Thankfully, you can easily hide it away by heading into the phone's settings. OnePlus did a much better job than Huawei when it comes to making sure that content doesn't get hidden behind the notch when you disable it.

Here's how you can disable the notch on the OnePlus 6.

  1. Open Settings from the app drawer or home screen.
  2. Scroll up to the Device sub-menu.
  3. Tap Display.

How to disable the notch on the OnePlus 6

  1. Select Notch display.
  2. Tap Hide the notch area.
  3. You'll now see black bars on both sides of the notch.

How to disable the notch on the OnePlus 6

Hiding the notch eliminates most of the annoyances associated with its inclusion in the first place. You'll still be able to see the cutout when viewing the display under harsh sunlight, but the black bars are otherwise effective in hiding the notch in everyday usage scenarios.

Harish Jonnalagadda
Harish Jonnalagadda
Senior Editor - Asia

Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia at Android Central. He leads the site's coverage of Chinese phone brands, contributing to reviews, features, and buying guides. He also writes about storage servers, audio products, and the semiconductor industry. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.

42 Comments
  • Why would anyone want to disable such a useful tool? lol
  • Lol!!!! If it weren't for the option out of the box i'd pass on the OP6 for now. I hate the notch trend, but it is an effective notch killer.
  • I also hate the notch trend and hope samsung doesn't hope on board now that it seems everyone is.
  • I really like the idea of the notch hiding feature.
    It looks just like a small bezel but with the status bar built in.
    From the pictures you just can't tell it's got a notch and the top and bottom bezel are about the same size.
    What is not to like?
  • Apps have to be designed for it I would guess. If you went to a full screen video or video app or something I would imagine the notch will be right there taking a big chunk out of it when the screen goes into immersive mode. Many apps color the status bar as well and those would need to be designed for it. I am not entirely sure though. I would never own a phone with a notch but am just guessing at some of the issues you might see.
  • I thought, extra screen is only in vertical.
    Exactly the same as every other phone in horizontal.
    The status bar has gone or moved into the bezel. It's just screen now. But the little extra screen ether side will be of no use while watching in horizontal.
    No issues with apps as far as I'm aware. And with P supporting it any issues will be temporary.
    The notch is just a bit of bezel thats been removed from each side. No big deal.
  • I have a better idea. How about we don't buy the oneplus 6 or any other phone with a notch?
    Hiding the notch takes more screen space away than on a phone with thin bezels with no notch to begin with.
    The whole concept is nothing but idiotic in my opinion.
    The space added by the notch when not hidden is useless since it leaves too little room at the top for icons and the clock (I like to add the seconds too).
  • Not tried it yet but plenty of space for icons from what I can see.
    Fake bezel is still pretty small (smaller than the 5T)
    As per review there is a few mm more usable screen due to notifications being moved up.
    I can think of a few reasons not to buy just about any phone. But this one is just plain silly.
  • You can see wrong or you're really the most basic kind of Android user there is.
    I dare you to imagine a notch here:
    https://imgur.com/10PqMdr Also, notice how the status bar doesn't use any space since it's transparent and the app can use the whole screen height.
    With full immersive mode enabled for the app, the status bar can even hide completely and it will only pop-up when I bring up the navbar. Not buying a phone because of the notch is a very good reason just like it is for other anti-features like the removal of the headphone jack on other phones.
    On my current phone, the top bezel is slightly smaller than what this oneplus 6 gets with the notch hidden. So where's the gain?
  • Point taken if you need all the notification bar you will not gain any extra screen as you would need the bar in full below the notch.
    In which case you would be in exactly the same position as if you had a full bezel and no notch.
    But you would have a choice.
  • This.
    I've also now stopped watching YouTube videos with notched phones. Tech bloggers have been way too apologistic with the notch plague, coming up with bullsh*t excuses to justify what can't be justified.
    So I'm not giving them any ad revenue. Just like I don't give money to OEMs producing phones with notches. Enough is enough.
  • You are the first person to mention this on an Android phone with a notch hide feature.
    Most others have claimed the notch is blacked out while watching content.
    From what I've seen it just looks like small a bezel.
    Identical to a full bezeled phone.
  • I so agree with this.
  • It can't be disabled, merely hidden.
  • Its fiscal thing that doesn't do anything what's to disable?
    What would you like to disable?
  • Your comment is a little difficult to understand, but I think what you're saying is exactly my point. You can't disable it, because it's physical. You can only hide it with software.
  • Agreed.
    You can disable the bottom bezel ether.
  • Kind of highlights how unnecessary the notch is in the first place. It is simply nothing more than an iPhone copy for iPhone copying's sake. This is my biggest gripe with Chinese stuff. A lot of their stuff is great but by f**k they need to get this copycat habit of theirs out of their heads!
  • I agree totally unnecessary. I quite like having some bezel especially if you put speakers in them.
    But manufacturers have been chasing screen to body % for years and moving the status bar into the bezel gives a little extra %.
    The fact that like the touch screen Apple did it too is totally irrelevant to it's function.
  • It's got nothing to do with them being Chinese. It's industry wide.
  • Actually it really is. China is notorious for counterfeiting everything possible. Look where all the fake stuff like shoes, bags, hats, jerseys and etc come from? Majority of their advances in technology has been copied and or stolen from other western and European companies. And if not counterfeiting they re own well known companies copy to mimic another companies success and this goes in all sectors from Technology, automobiles, fashion and whatever else they can.
  • Plenty of none Chinese companies will copy the Essential notch.
    As well as copying Vivo's bezel less display.
  • So who are these plenty of non Chinese companies that would copy the Essential's notch? So far from all the wannabes I ve yet to see one phone with a notch look or copy the Essential's notch design /shape. All of them have a similar design look of the iPhone X just in a smaller version.
  • Yes sorry I didn't mean the actual dimensions (as they are mainly smaller than iPhone bigger than Essential) but the concept.
    Android is supporting the notch and it's not just for Chinese manufacturers.
    My only point is the notch is looking to be quite universal.
  • OnePlus uses the stuff Oppo gives them. They probably had no choice.
  • Obviously as well as Qualcomm and Samsung.
  • So they had no choice, like leaving the 5T design alone? The design that wasn't flawed? The design that had absolutely nothing wrong with it in the 1st place? Okay.
  • Not sure how much autonomy Oneplus has but as every Oneplus phone is identical to the previous Oppo phone I doubt it's too much. If Oppo are no longer making the cases what can Oneplus do?
    Moving camera into the middle so OIS can be fitted was a good idea.
  • Yet people will still complain. Watch
  • People will complain about everything
  • Yes makes perfect sense.... Hiding valuable screen real estate. /Sarcasm
  • I don't understand what you mean.
    They have effectively moved the status bar into the bezel.
  • I know, and it's a good thing. I'm a fan of the notch....my Essential phone is perfection. 5.7in screen in the body of a 5.2in phone. I was being sarcastic.
  • Lol, and they say Americans don't get irony...
  • People need to justify their purchases.
  • Ok, so you've got the notch. You can hide it, so why have it in the first place. It serves a good purpose on the X. Why clone a very bad idea. It's not a feature, it's a compromise!
  • A notch hasn't been added bezel has been removed. It serves exactly the same purpose as on the X.
    Front facing camera, proximity sensor and speaker go into the notch.
    The status bar is removed and icons are now shown in the extra screen ether side of the notch (where the bezel would have been)
    You gain the space the status bar took as screen.
    As the extra screen is blacked out it looks just like a bezel with the status bar built in.
    Simple.
  • Just wonder, for instance how kodi will work in this case?
    Hidden and not hidden notch.. ?
  • In 3 to 6 months there will be horrible burn in with the black bar hiding the unibrow. Poor design all around.
  • Black bar can't produce burn in as it's just screen turned off.
    All other parts of the screen are unaffected or just the same as if part of the screen was not turned off.
  • However, it doesn't look like hiding the notch will allow your notifications to fill the whole top of the screen (like on a no-notch phone). #HateTheNotch
  • Correct. If you want to fill the hole top of the screen with notifications from the status bar you would have to put these below the camera, proximity sensor and mic.
    Exactly the same as every other phone. #Hate removing bezel.