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Poll: Would you rather have an alert slider or a customizable side button?

Which one is more useful to you?
By
October 12, 2021
OnePlus 7 Pro Alert Slider Close Up

OnePlus and Apple both swear by alert switches, allowing users to quickly switch their phones from silent to loud and vice-versa. We’ve also seen some brands occasionally offer a customizable side button, such as Samsung and Nokia.

What if you had to choose between an alert slider and a customizable side key? Which one would you take? Well, you can answer that question by taking our poll below.

Would you rather have an alert slider or customizable side key?

1262 votes

Alert sliders mean you don’t have to visit the notification shade to switch to silent, saving you a little time in the process. And it’s become a trademark of OnePlus in the Android world, with few if any other major OEMs offering this option.

Meanwhile, customizable side keys allow you to quickly launch an app or perform a function (e.g. camera shutter, flashlight etc). This button isn’t very common in the Android space either, but we have seen Samsung make its Bixby key customizable on earlier phones. We’ve also seen the Nokia XR20 launch earlier this year with a customizable shortcut key too.

So give us your choice via the poll above, and leave a comment if you’d like to elaborate on your decision.