For me its the ‘Knock Code’ that LG had on their phones (I really wish LG still made at least the V series phones)
Basically there was a four-square area and you set up a sequence of where you would tap to unlock the phone. That set of squares was only shown when you set up the code
Then, to unlock your phone, you would tap those areas in the sequence you set up (even with the screen off).
Fingerprint readers are nice, but I really do miss the knock code
Edit: did find this article with a way to do the knock code, but if done wrong, could brick your phone I guess.
Plus, article is from 2014. When I looked at XDA’s info on it (they also being the developers) it looks like development on it is over, but individual modules may or may not still be supported by their devs
And you’d have even more screen space if the notch was filled in and people didn’t screech like howler monkies because their phone has a tiny bezel.
Samsung handles it nice where you can hide the cutout on a per app basis, and doing so doesn’t move the status bar down but keeps it where it is. With the amoled display it looks like a normal status bar with the notch or pinhole camera not being obvious.
I’m not sure why some phones don’t give that option, since if you do they shift down the status bar below the notch instead of just turning it black. Such a simple software solution.