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Don't Super-Size My Smartphone!
New submitter Steve Max writes "Editor Paul Ockenden wonders, 'Has anyone else noticed what's been happening to top-end smartphones recently? They've started to get big – really big. But do people really want that at the expense of carrying around such a huge, heavy lump of tech in their pocket?' The trend for bigger and bigger screens is clear, but is it what consumers want? Is it what you want?"
I carried a Palm III and then a Handspring Visor for decade. I thought the size was the biggest negative. Now phones are even larger in height and width but a little thinner in most cases. Good grief. Which is why I looked around and got a tiny import Android phone with a puny 2.3" screen, just to carry something small for a change.
If I wanted to carry a tablet around I'd buy a frickin tablet. And that might be an option to consider if a tablet could replace both my laptop and phone but they currently can't. Even if you buy a tablet with a cell link they never seem to allow them to make a call or send a SMS text, but with a BT earpiece or a good speakerphone implementation a tablet could serve as a phone, it is just an arbitrary 'product differentiation' decision that disallows the option. Meanwhile tablets with keyboards are getting close to the lower bound of laptop territory. So someday I might be able to replace two devices with one... but not today.
Democrat delenda est
...they wouldn't buy them.
My wife got an HP Veer specifically because it's smaller than a credit card. Most of her clothing doesn't have pockets big enough to fit an iPhone, so she got a dead-end phone with an antiquated OS because she's not going to carry a giant phone around. Her friends all think it's fantastic.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
It's not about consumer habits. It's just that all the people who designed "bigger and better" SUVs for the auto industry got fired during the recession, so now they've started new careers making gadgets.
Everything is better with chainsaws.
I personally like the larger screen devices that are going on the market. Being a male of above average height and hand size, these kinds of phones are just as easy for me to carry, and offer a better visual experience (after all why have such a powerful smartphone if you are limited to 3.5" of screen space). Surely the larger phones aren't for everyone, and to that end there are still smaller screened phones you can buy, no one is making you buy a large screen phone. Choice is good!
Just look at the sales numbers for things like Galaxy Note, Galaxy S3, and HTC One X.
Huge screens = huge sales.
Personally, I'm salivating over the Gaaxy Note 2, which should have an even bigger screen than the original.
They are small computers with phones built in. Anymore, people use Bluetooth headsets to talk, so hold a big thing up isn't a big deal. And when they text, which people do far more than talk anymore, on average, people want big screens and keyboards. Same goes for web browsing, pictures, etc. So, the trend is to provide a smaller portable computer and communication (and tracking, depending on who you listen to) device.
The focus has shifted.
Nobodies Prefect
Tidbits for Techs Technology Blog
I want the biggest screen that fits comfortable in my pocket. Thin and light would be good, too.
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
It's that easy. Why do people keep making prescriptions that would affect absolutely everyone, just because they personally don't like something?
If you want a small phone, buy one, period.
Anything else is just saying that your taste and your desires are more important than anybody else's. That's just not true and sure sign of pure arrogance.
I had an Android phone, and now I have an iPhone - but if the rumored 7.85" iPad comes out, I'm seriously thinking about carrying that and a small dumb phone instead.
I've seen the big phones, and their screens seem like the worst of both worlds... still too small to really be useful, but big enough where the size starts to be something you have to think about. Given that I hardly ever make phone calls, I think what I'd really like is a smallish tablet that happens to have phone hardware built-in - but it would have to have the ability to vibrate/ring/alarm to really replace a phone for me. Such a device would fit in the cargo pants I usually wear or in the coat pocket I've got handy 9 months out of the year.
#DeleteChrome
As somebody that sold the Motorola "book" cell phones back in the early 90's, I find it funny calling these tiny things "huge and heavy".
When technology writers happen upon a slow news day, it seems the first thing that comes to mind is to cry about something meaningless. Often times, it's a trend driven by consumer demand that they don't particularly like, that they're not at all obligated to take part in. Seriously, what's next, somebody crying that that the packaging for some tablet device isn't aesthetically pleasing enough?
Similes are like metaphors
It's not really as simple as "appearance vs function". Size is part of the function of any portable device. If the phone is big enough that you have to make concessions to accomodate it, then that's a problem. There is always give and take between portability and usability. As photographers like to say, the best camera for the shot is the one you have with you. And my dislike of holsters is not simply due to my (non-existant) fashion sense.
IME, more often than not, with typical attire, men with large smartphones carry them on belt clips, and women carry them in purses (many of which have dedicated compartments for them.) That's actually not that uncommon even with smaller phones.
Wherefore art thou, Zoolander phone?
The phones are getting bigger, because customers seem to be attracted to bigger screens. But once the screens become too big, the devices also get too big, at which point people start to want smaller phones again. After all, the main reason to carry it with you is because it's a portable communications device; all that computing power is great, but only if the devices remain small.
Therefore, the only solution is to not have such big screens on the phones and instead use external display devices. The possibility of using e.g mini HDMI connectors to couple them to larger monitors is one solution, but I think a much better one would be to connect them to head-mounted displays (HMDs). Then it would once again not be a problem for the phones themselves to have smaller displays, allowing them to be used primarily as input devices.
I bought a Mophie JuicePack, so I essentially did that.
-- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
I'd be satisfied with a phone that doesn't drop calls.
The screen on my Galaxy Nexus is the perfect size for me. Still fits in my pocket, and my thumb can reach the entire screen while the phone is held comfortably in my hand. It's a bit of a stretch to reach the pull-down notification bar, but it's still within reach. I think any larger screen would be too big to use one handed.
My girlfriend, on the other hand, can't use my Nexus one handed, her thumb is not long enough to reach the top of the screen, and it's even a bit of a stretch to reach over to the left-side of the screen. So she's much happier with the 3.1" screen on her phone.
My Nexus is still large enough for us to both comfortably watch a movie on an airplane. A bigger screen might be nice for that, but not if I need to carry it in my pocket or use it one handed while standing in the bus.
I like big phones
...and I can not lie,
You other brothers can't deny,
When Tim Cook walks in with a white plastic case,
And puts a round corner in your face --
You get sprung!
Here is an EE Times article on the same subject. The article and commenters agree people using mass transit (mostly outside the US) want to minimize carried weight and prefer a single device with a large screen instead of two devices (pad and phone). If you are already carrying a day pack, the size is less of a problem than weight from two batteries.
(emphasis mine) If I may paraphrase the question: "Has anyone noticed that if you select among the most expensive phones which have the most expensive components, probably because they have the largest screens, that this tiny subset of the market happens to have the largest screens?"
Yes and no. Some people do, some people don't.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Thank you! As I was scrolling down I had that tune in my head.
Waiting for an amusing sig.
20 years ago you would have had the perfect market.
Everyone should think the way I do, and if you don't you're overly influenced by marketing trends. If you would just listen to me, then all the manufacturers would give me exactly what I want. We don't need choice as long as everyone realizes I'm right.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
...or an awesome one that knew he didn't mean prefect in that context.
Come on, people over 500 messages and no:
'Is that a Galaxy in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?'
I'm kinda disappointed.