Device mode approximates a phone. Bezel becomes the device.
Chrome DevTools’ device mode — the phone icon in DevTools — is a fine developer instrument, and for a quick width check it is exactly right. Bezel is different: accurate, maintained profiles for 90+ real devices, wrapped in a real frame you can screenshot and record, several screens side by side, with the whole environment spoofed in one place. Here is the honest breakdown.
The built-in device mode is genuinely useful.
It is free, it is already in your browser, and for a quick width check while you code it is exactly the right tool. It can emulate touch, set a pixel ratio, and send a device User-Agent. If that is all you need, keep using it. This page is about where it stops, and what you reach for when a quick resize is not enough.
Bezel picks up there. It keeps accurate profiles for 90+ real devices so you are not typing dimensions by hand, wraps each one in a photorealistic frame you can screenshot and record, shows several devices at once and in sync, and gathers geolocation, timezone, language, network and dark mode into a single panel. It also isolates each device’s client-side storage, so a layout one device cached does not bleed into the next. If you want the mechanics, here is exactly how it works.
An honest feature comparison
No straw men. Where the toolbar can do it, we say so.
| Capability | Browser device mode | Bezel |
|---|---|---|
| Real device profiles, kept current | A short list you often edit by hand | 90+ devices with verified specs, kept current |
| Correct pixel density per device | You set it yourself each time | Exact out of the box, fractional DPR included |
| Touch input emulation | Yes | Yes |
| User-Agent & client hints | For its built-in presets | For every profile, kept current |
| Photorealistic device frame | — | Yes |
| Screenshot with the device frame | — | Yes |
| Several devices side by side, in sync | — | Yes |
| Screen recording (WebM / MP4 / GIF) | — | Yes |
| Geolocation, timezone, language, network, dark mode | Scattered across panels | One panel |
| Custom request headers per device | — | Yes |
| Localhost & pages behind a login | Yes | Yes |
| Client-ready presentation mode | — | Yes |
| Cost | Free | Free; Pro for compare, record, spoof |
Comparison reflects Chromium’s device mode as of 2026. Bezel’s compare, recording and environment spoofing are Pro features; framing, emulation, inspect, measure and screenshots are free.
Three moments the toolbar cannot cover
- You need to show someone. A framed screenshot or a short recording of the real device, ready for a pull request, a landing page, an app store or a client. A plain viewport screenshot from device mode is not that.
- You need to compare. Phone, tablet and foldable open at once, live and in sync, so you catch the breakpoint that only breaks between two sizes.
- You need the whole environment. Geolocation, timezone, language, network conditions and dark mode set together, plus custom headers per device for auth tokens, feature flags and staging gates.
Works with whatever you build. Bezel frames the rendered page, so it does not care how the page was made. React, Vue, a static site or plain HTML all behave the same inside a real device.