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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  • n5C
  • 01 Oct 2018

yep! 5.5" in s9 factor( NO NOTCH) or ideally like vivo nex as i never use selfie camera.
back to 130mm max ;)

    When I see people with and iPhone SE I just can't understand how they can read in that screen because I need glasses and I can't read small text, I also love to watch movies and series on my phone (especially now that my laptop died).

    But then again, those people are not me, they might just use their phone to chat and call people. I barely call but I do a lot of puzzle games and watch tons of videos, also record a lot of videos too. So, my needs are different than theirs, and theirs are different than mine. Both physically (sight) and in preference (use and activities).

    We should have both options. Smartphones for the compact market and phablets for the bigger market.

      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 here https://eskerahn.dk/wordpress/?p=2395

      And 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.

        Kiyasuriin, 01 Oct 2018I am a lady, and my range is the same as yours. -_- Just b... moreYes, same here, I'm a lady but I'm more on the phablet size since I watch a lot of videos, but most of all I like them because I have bad sight xD, and even with my glasses on I prefer bigger text.

        I must agree that these type of girls are not that common but we are here!

        And just like you, I do agree that everyone has different needs so we should have both options. Compact size and bigger size! :D

          ipolit.matveich, 01 Oct 2018For girls it is easier to carry big phones in their bags. G... moreUnderstandable. Really.

            EskeRahn, 01 Oct 2018Stay tuned, a landscape keyboard slider phone/phablet shoul... moreHow do you like typing on the keyboard cover?
            I've heard a lot of bad things about it.
            If they had stayed with it, perfected it, I think it could have been an interesting concept.
            But no backlight on the keys (they could have solved that by having the display shine through the keys, if they designed them to be transparent in one way or another).
            They should have added a few extra keys to the design, for extra letters, and/or symbols, that way they could have cheaply adopted it for different markets.

            But it would be cheaper to IP rate a keyboard like that. Or of less importance, as it could be made cheaply, so if it was damaged it would still not be that expensive to replace.

              I do little on my phone, besides talking in it, listening to music, and use it for casting.
              If there was a phone that better suited me, I would use it more.
              I want to be able to have one free hand and still use my phone, because any scenario that the phone would be my go-to device, is when I need a free hand, like on the commute, or when walking, or when lying on the sofa, petting one of my cats.

              I would like a physical keyboard on my mobile. But I could probably accept having to use two hands for that. With a touch enabled keyboard, perhaps the blackberry formfactor could work, if it was possible to use it a pointer device, with support for clicking, scrolling and zooming without the need of two hand operation.

                Jon.SWE, 01 Oct 2018I want a compact phone with keyboard too... and with nordic... moreStay tuned, a landscape keyboard slider phone/phablet should be announced in October.
                What we know is that it will be less than a Moto Z series device with a mod, and should be flagship speced, Expect 845 or perhaps even 855 chipset, depending on when it is actually going to be available...

                But don't expect it to be as compact as the Xperia Pro - and I doubt that we will get the option of æøå/æåö printed on the keys - though with a little luck we will be able to remap. I have several times over the last 1½ year mentioned the wish for two keys between "L" and "Enter" plus one right of "P" for handling national letters, to the guy behind. But no info on the layout (number of rows) yet - but I keep my fingers crossed...

                For use while waiting I have bought a Samsung S8 with a snap-on QWERTY keyboard (not offered for an S9).
                It is not exactly "compact" BUT actually it IS one hand operable, to a very large extend. INCLUDING the hardware keyboard!

                PS
                The Moto Mod keyboard is cancelled, and only a few prototypes exists and was ever delivered, the rest of us was offered a refund or a transfer as partially prepay for the new qwerty slider. (The Moto Mod should have had backlight)

                  Kiyasuriin, 01 Oct 2018I am a lady, and my range is the same as yours. -_- Just b... moreFor girls it is easier to carry big phones in their bags. Girls are using their phones for browsing social medias, chatting with other girls, making selfies for Instagram and putting hearts of other girls selfies.
                  Me personally need a phone for answering calls from other people (I call very rare someone), reading some websites when I lay in my bed and answering when my wife is sending me messages in Facebook messenger. For such activities I don't need big phone. I have 2 phones - 6 inch Redmi 5 plus which I hate because it is big and 4.5 inch Samsung A3 which I also hate, because it is very slow - only 1.5 GB RAM and it is given to me from my work, which I hate too, even more than big phones. If there was on the world a phone with 3 GB RAM, 5 inch or smaller display for a decent price, I would buy it. The only such device is Redmi 4x, but I don't like it.

                    Completely agree with Chip!

                      ipolit.matveich, 01 Oct 2018I agree with Walter C. Dornez - the problem is not the phon... moreI'm not sure, though. A lot of people that want more compact phones have other tools, like tablets or computers. It i still possible to browse the net on a compact phone, and google cna still track position and so on, so they could still use the data to target the user when they are on their other devices.

                      If I could have a compact good speced phone with a physical keyboard. I would use it more than my current phone, for things besides calling and listening to music. Thus google would get more data from me, when I'm out and about, and thus get more data to target me with the best ads.
                      When I can't use my phone when walking or standing on my commutes, they get no useable data from me at all...

                        EskeRahn, 01 Oct 2018Indeed, at makes a lot of sense if you are a small brand th... moreI want a compact phone with keyboard too... and with nordic letters... Black berry didn't even put comma and period on the keyboard of their newest phones so we are moving in the opposite direction even on the very few keyboard options there are.

                        I want that compact side slider.... If they could offer the keyboard like a moto-mod, so that it would be optional, even better... they need to make the keys backlit, the moto-mod keyboard don't have that.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • LEi
                          • 01 Oct 2018

                          I'm not a fan of small phones, but even I gotta admit that the lack of variety in the current market is kinda silly.
                          Giving people more options isn't a bad thing.

                            No. They've been too big for years.

                              Too bad there wasn't an actual debate.
                              Chip says that the aspect ratio has changed what we are able to tell about the size, by looking at the diagonal.
                              He completely misses that while that is true, taller screens still make it harder to reach.

                              In the day of huge bezel phones, 4-4.3" where the proper one-hand phones for most people. The fact that the S line hasn't grown a lot in the last years is of little importance, when they were already too big.

                              Since bezels on phones, never really were shock absorbing, a case might be needed even on a compact phone. So with todays minimal bezels, a 5" 16:9 equivalent phone, would perhaps be too big for one hand use, even with a quite slim shock-absorbing case/bumper.


                              I don't need a flagship, especially not know when qualcomm are sting to put the AI and Image processor in their lower end chips.
                              But it used to be that only flagship CPUs were good enough, for a long time even they were kinda sluggish.
                              I think the gamers that want a compact phone are a limited audience.
                              But people still want decent specifications, like a good screen with high enough DPI (720p screens can be fine on a sub 5" phone, but not when they are pentile matrix or similar), fingeprint reader, good camera set-up, and that probably means more than one. Enough storage, and enough ram. And a good enough speaker, stereo in the best of worlds, but typically that meant lower quality sound from each speaker.
                              With the right chipset, and with a smaller screen, the phone would get further on each mah of the battery, so it would not need as large of capacity as large screened flagships.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • Le1
                                • 01 Oct 2018

                                Yes, I think the phones are getting bigger and the number of phones which have small size is decreasing. For me, this isn't a problem because I like phones with bigger screens but it might be for people who like smaller phones.

                                  nothing-, 01 Oct 2018For me, 6.5 inches is the limit and 5 inches is the smalles... moreI am a lady, and my range is the same as yours. -_-
                                  Just because we are physically smaller don't assume we prefer small form. ^^; I know quite a lot of girls that use Phablets (many of them: iPhone of the plus model, ugh)

                                    Sony used to do new compacts once a year, hence the Z1, Z3, Z5. Then they hiccuped a bit. But we wouldn't normally expect a new one till April 2019. The XZ3 isn't really much of an improvement over the XZ2, so an XZ4 Compact would be the obvious next step.

                                      • S
                                      • Swap27
                                      • YTF
                                      • 01 Oct 2018

                                      Well done gsmarena, This issue needed attention. It is my humble opinion there need to be atleast some phones with sub 5 inch display. I dont think sony can call a 5 inch phone as compact. Iphone SE would perhaps be the last pocket rocket we see. There are many consumers who want a small phone with decent specs.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • vjw
                                        • 01 Oct 2018

                                        I miss being able to take photos with one hand on my Galaxy A3. Useful if I'm holding the object and I need to take a photo of it. Now using a phone with a 5.5-inch screen and it's so huge that my finger cannot press to focus anywhere I like.

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