Sunday debate: Are phones getting too big?

30 September 2018
With each release, smartphones are getting bigger and bigger by the year. Is that good or bad?

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  • S
  • Silver
  • g30
  • 01 Oct 2018

I personally find iPhone SE the best size for a smartphone. The maximum they should go is nothing more than 143mm in form-factor! That's it...

    shortkey, 01 Oct 2018>girl power >brofist You should SISFISTIt's a known phrase. But I did mean sisfist. XD

      nothing-, 01 Oct 2018Oh, good to hear that..hmm, my apologies for stating that. ... moreYep, I know, don't need to mention. e_e'

        • H
        • Heos
        • hfB
        • 01 Oct 2018

        And after the 5.5 inches PLUS have become the "standard" there comes "the FOLDABLE screens" and the phones start to shrink....

          Kiyasuriin, 01 Oct 2018I am a lady, and my range is the same as yours. -_- Just b... moreOh, good to hear that..hmm, my apologies for stating that. I thought ladies only want something big when it comes to....., well you probably know what I mean haha.

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            • Omeg1
            • 0U9
            • 01 Oct 2018

            You forgot about the nokia 8 sirocco when talking about compact phones.

              I agree with chip. How many phones I had In last 5 year's they almost are same dimension but screen grew for like almost 1 inch. Screens are growing in expenses of bezels not other way around, so there is no reason to complain really, you getting more screen estate in pretty much same footprint a d with tall screen aspects I don't see issues of using a phone with one hand even I have avarage palm size

                • s
                • shortkey
                • psc
                • 01 Oct 2018

                The ideal smartphone right here:
                under 62 mm body width, under 124 mm body length
                16:9 display aspect ratio, NO FULLSCREEN display, I want at least some chin and forehead so I don't have to reach my thumb too low/high
                480p display (seriously, at that size, 720p is an overkill and an unnecessary battery drain)
                2+ GB of RAM
                I don't know a thing about chipsets and graphic cards; just make it fast enough
                power button on the right side or on top, volume buttons on the right side (duck off, samsung)
                PHYSICAL buttons below the screen - back-home-recents - in that order, left-to-right (again, duck off, samsung)
                microUSB charging port on the bottom with USB3.0
                3.5 mm jack on the top
                an extra programmable physical button on the left side (like CAT S31 has)
                removable battery
                two physical SIM card slots
                microSD card slot accessible without removing the battery+16+ GB of internal user data storage
                a good enough single camera to snap emergency photos
                a loud earpiece speaker (I swear I'm not deaf, but I'm having trouble hearing people with certain phones)
                a loud reproductor on the upper back (so it's not too close to the microphone to avoid echo)
                a powerful LED light to use as a flashlight
                at least 2000 mAh battery (even if it makes the phone a bit bulkier)
                doesn't have to be watertight, but dustproof would be nice
                GPS+GLONASS+GALILEO+whatever positioning system you can cram into it
                2G+3G+4G+LTE support (+5G support to be futureproof)
                5 GHz Wi-Fi antenna
                Android OS with guaranteed updates
                pricetag under USD 350
                It is perfectly possible and plausible to manufacture a smartphone with these specs.

                APPARENTLY gsmarena has problem with comments that contain the "less-than" character

                  • G
                  • GP
                  • fCM
                  • 01 Oct 2018

                  Some manufacturers releasing one new phone every month.... Not much difference specification wise.... what's common is 6.0 to 6.4 screens ( physical dimensions being same ) .... If you get a phone with slightly smaller dimensions it's hd screen with quad core older processor and 2-3 GB ram . Inferior camera and low battery capacity..... Results of survey here says near 65% prefers compact while around 35% would prefer bigger screens. Why the companies coming out with 10-15 models ( including sister concerns) each year can't give one single relatively ( if not absolutely) compact phone with the most recent hardware and software optimisation ?

                    • s
                    • shortkey
                    • psc
                    • 01 Oct 2018

                    The ideal smartphone right here:

                      • s
                      • shortkey
                      • psc
                      • 01 Oct 2018

                      Kiyasuriin, 01 Oct 2018My sight is perfect. I love it a bit to the bigger sized be... more>girl power
                      >brofist

                      You should SISFIST

                        • s
                        • shortkey
                        • psc
                        • 01 Oct 2018

                        The ideal smartphone right here:

                          I find my s8 bit too small for my hand, so no.
                          They are getting expensive though.

                            EskeRahn, 01 Oct 2018The long answer for your question I have put here https://e... moreI would think that the top part of the key could be made in a transparent material. Then painted, with either the letter/symbol being left, or the other way around, with only the letter/symbol printed. There only has to be a small channel for the light to pass through the mechanics. And with an oled panel, it would be possible to control the screen behind the keyboard, so only a single pixel or just a couple are used as light source for each key, thus not draining too much battery (the light of those pixels would be offset to the remaining display, possibly with user control over the key backlight in the notification field).

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 6ku
                              • 01 Oct 2018

                              Exactly they are getting so big that its very hard to find a flagship phones for smaller hands. The only flagship phone which i find comfortable to hold and which is perfect for me is sony xperia xz2 but unfortunately in kuwait we dont find any sort of sony phones accessories like cases or not evn screen guard. We have only samsung, iphone and huawei market here in kuwait and unfortunately samsung’s have only j2,j3 in smaller size which i think no one wants to buy. I seriously miss smaller phones.

                                MsZero, 01 Oct 2018Yes, same here, I'm a lady but I'm more on the phablet size... moreMy sight is perfect. I love it a bit to the bigger sized because it's comfy to watch anime and read mangas on my phone. as well as it's just feeling good to game on a bigger screen.
                                (I hate TOO large screens though. My max size for the phablet sized is 5.8 in 16:9)
                                ALSO: GIRL POWER! //brofists.

                                  Jon.SWE, 01 Oct 2018How do you like typing on the keyboard cover? I've heard a... moreThe long answer for your question I have put in my blog a week ago - the link is earlier in this blog, and a repeat does not seem to go past moderation... but you know my profile name and it is a dk domain....

                                  On the lacking backlight, well it would intuitively be obvious to use the display, but the way they react capacitively with the screen is via a 'large' field for each key on one site of a print plate, and a corresponding classic click contact on the other. And this is not easy to make transparent.... Remember that the whole thing is NOT powered.
                                  To ses the parts, follow the first link in the above, where I have taken one for a S6 Edge apart. Contacts, conductor and a tiny magnet is ALL there is on the keyboard-part, and then the case part has another small magnet and a rfid or nfc chip/circuit.

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                                    • dko3tgk
                                    • bHu
                                    • 01 Oct 2018

                                    AnonD-673279, 01 Oct 2018I recently upgraded from my Sony Xperia ZL which i kept for... moreI agree. My Xperia ZL was a perfect sized phone. 5.1 inch screen. Very small bezels. I think it was 140mm in height. Carrying a surfboard in your pocket is not easy and higher risk for breaking.
                                    The ZL was the same size as the Xperia compacts but with less bezel. and a 5" screen.
                                    Don't believe the manufacturers when they say that a screen larger than 5" needs a larger body. You can fit a 5.5" screen in a Z Compact sized body sub-150mm height. Just make that screen 18:9 and get rid of the bezels.
                                    These big phones feel like I'm carrying around a woman's clutch purse.
                                    I want to use my phone one handed again. I'm in the market for a top spec internals, sub 150mm height phone. With headphone jack, and hopefully SD slot. I may have to go Galaxy S10 or LG V40 as these are the only phones not gigantic and still keep 3.5 headphone. Oh and that work on US T-mobile all frequencies. Many Chinese makers do not.

                                      • S
                                      • S6 User
                                      • mqx
                                      • 01 Oct 2018

                                      StormyParis, 01 Oct 2018Why is there no "Phones are too small" choice ? That's what... moreIndeed there's a danger of phones becoming too tall, and there was a poll at the start of June '18 on aspect ratios:
                                      https://m.gsmarena.com/sunday_debate_classic_169_screen_ratio_vs_tall_screen_ratio-news-31429.php
                                      You can see my lengthy answer in the comments section at the bottom of p.6. ;)

                                        The problem isn't that phones are getting too big. The problem is that almost nobody is making small phones anymore.

                                        Obviously there's still demand for small phones, so then why is nobody catering to those customers? It's a lost opportunity, really!

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