10 Biggest Gadget Design Fails

A average number of companies that take our product reassessment secern me that they take our unfavorable judgment to heart to better their wares . That ’s flattering to pick up , but I do n’t retrieve the message is getting to the right multitude . How do I have a go at it ? troupe continue to direct us novel laptop , pad and smartphones that march the same annoying design flaw over and over . Consider this list a polite but emphatic intercession .

Laptop Mag ’s Mark Spoonauerhas a few gripeswith the means widget are designed . What are the most annoying ones ? Keep reading .

Port Flaps and Covers

envisage if your car ’s door had a protective cover song around the keyhole . Why ? Exactly . I can translate if you ’re targeting the armed services , airfield worker or outdoor adventurers who need a equipment that can withstand water supply splashes and dust violent storm . But otherwise there ’s no need to incubate up that microUSB port – or any other port – with a tizzy . It just gets in the way .

Every time I see a covered port , I instantly take degree off the reexamination . The only pardonable exception is covering slot hoi polloi seldom , if ever , access , like SIM cards .

Let’s Play ‘Find the Power Button’

If it hold you more than 5 seconds to bump the power button on a laptop computer or other gadget , the couturier have miscarry . I ’ve see too many notebook with the clit on the front , which is not only unintuitive , but make water it too easy to accidentally turn off your system when it ’s sit in your circuit . Motorola localize the power button for itsDroid Xyboard 8.2 tableton its back , which amazed me because everyone guy theoriginal Xoom slatefor this very issue .

And here ’s a note to makers of smartphones with larger - than - life screens . ensure you put the power push on the right instead of up top so we do n’t stretch out our fingers out of our socket .

Fingerprint Magnets

There ’s nothing that look bum than a tablet , laptop or phone that smear up with fingerprint within a few minutes of picking it up . Typically , an overly glossy fictile surface is to blame . metallic element designs tend to do better , but not all are create equal .

I ’m actually encouraged by some of the latest unibody credit card designs , which not only resist fingerprint , but look thoroughly forward-looking . TheNokia Lumia 900is a good example . I ’m also a sports fan of soft - jot finale , found on devices like theDell XPS 15 . As for the screen , in force designs employ an oleophobic coat to guard off fingermark , such as theiPad .

Dim or Disappearing Buttons

I ’m emphatically not a fan of phone whose button literally go away after a few irregular , like the Back and Menu buttons on theSony Xperia Ionalso annoys me , because its four silver card push button are not only small , but also very dim . ply a backlight underneath the buttons does n’t numerate ; you need to backlight the buttons themselves .

Creaky, Catch-prone Laptop Hinges

There ’s nothing you do more often than vacate the hat on your laptop , so you better check that that this operation is smooth . Unfortunately , I ’ve seen a fair number of thin Ultrabooks whose lids either creak when scuttle – or sorry – literally catch on the bottom part of the clamshell on the style up . Both the HP Envy 4 t and 6z parade this distressing blueprint fault in our examination .

Awkward Webcam Placement

If you put your company ’s logo across the bottom of the gimmick so that it ’s legible in landscape modality , but then you put the front - facing camera off to the left , that ’s a job . That ’s exactly what Lenovo did with the IdeaPad S2109 . It ’s as if the designer could n’t decide how the machine should be held , which is strange because Google ’s Android package is optimized for the landscape orientation .

Archos ’ 70b suffers from the same issue , though it ’s more forgivable on a 7 - inch gimmick that will be used in portrait musical mode at least some of the time .

Short or Fat Power Chargers

Here ’s an area of design that does n’t get enough tending . I detest superpower brick for laptops that take up so much room that you ca n’t plug away anything else into the same outlet . For instance , theAsus UX32VDcomes with a orthogonal power arranger that takes up enough room to hog three spots on a world power cartoon strip .

Just as speculative , the electric cord on this laptop is too brusk , which means you ’ll have to seat closely to the bulwark if you ’re modest on juice . Plenty of tablets and smartphones also amount with power cable system that are too short . For case , it ’s hard for me to plug the iPad in behind the couch without feeling like I ’ll by chance disconnect the slate while using it .

Bad Speaker Placement

It might surprise some of you laptop computer makers to know that people in reality utilise these thing in their lick . I know , it ’s whacky . And when that happens , the speakers you put on the bottom of the car get muffle . Put them up top or underneath the keyboard if you ’re trying to make it superthin .

Meanwhile , a lot of tablets place their speakers on the back edge , exactly where it ’s all too easy to block the sound with your fingers . Better - designed slates feature front - firing loudspeaker , like theSamsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 .

Function Key Combos

I can count the number of people I know who actually habituate Function keys on Windows laptop with one finger . So why do laptop makers continue to draw mass to perform plaguey key combinations to do something as mere as line up the loudness or luminance ? Apple has been doing this the right room for years , but some other microcomputer companies have finally experience the message . Kudos to HP and Dell for including direct action distinguish on some of their machines . Acer , ASUS , Sony and Lenovo are still behind the times .

Faux Metal Jackets

take care , I understand the desire to make your brassy design look premium , but do n’t attempt to fool customers into believing that your gadget is metal when it ’s not . The back of theLG Viper for Sprint , for instance , has a back that ’s plastic , but it ’s painted to take care like brushed metallic element .

I ’ve seen plenty of tablets and laptop computer that do this , too . Some notebooks have real alloy on the hat and simulated alloy on the inside to create a unified aesthetical , but to me , it ’s put on advertising .