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Smartphone Screen Real Estate: How Big Is Big Enough?
MojoKid writes "Aside from the terrible nickname (it sounds like a term for the spoiled offspring of fabulous people), phablets are somewhat controversial because they seem to be the epitome of inflated phone sizes. A lot of people wanted bigger, and this is 'bigger' to the extreme. A larger screen on a smartphone is attractive for obvious reasons, but surely there's a limit. So how big is too big? If you're not into parsing out the particulars of form factors and use cases, here's a really easy way to figure out if your phone or phablet is too big: Can you hold the device in one hand and 1) unlock the phone, 2) type out a text message with your thumb, and 3) adjust the volume with the rocker without using your other hand? If not, you might need a smaller phone."
..and it fits perfectly in my breast shirt pocket. I don't put phones in trouser/pants pockets ever since I broke a screen of one by doing so.
I love the Note as its large display makes a great GPS device when in its car holder.
The main thing I want in a smartphone now is enormous battery life as well as the features. I do miss the days when you could charge your phone once a week, but not so much I'm willing to go back to having a basic phone.
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I've played with the device quite a bit (I'm planning to buy one) and I think the Galaxy Note II would be about the limit for devices that need to fit into trouser pockets and can be held to the ear without looking like a clown.
Unless future fashion changes to accommodate "handsets" and handsets become more about the functions other than voice calls.
You are saying we need to put a grip like a hand gun on it in the bottom right (or left) corner so you can hold it. Swipe an arch with your thumb and have all the text in a semi arch keyboard near the corner. Then we can have a 20" screen for our phone?
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
The criteria presuppose that you *want* to be able to use your phone with only one hand. I am mal-coordinated enough that I can only use my phone with two hands, no matter how big or small it is, so surely the criteria for me are: 1) does it fit in my pocket? 2) can I hold it up to my ear and make a telephone call comfortably? 3) can I hold it in one hand and use it with the other comfortably? 4) is the screen large enough that it can display what I want to see at a reasonable resolution?
Can you hold the device in one hand and 1) unlock the phone, 2) type out a text message with your thumb, and 3) adjust the volume with the rocker without using your other hand? If not, you might need a smaller phone.
None of the above points are arguments for/against screens of any size. All of those "problems" can be solved without even thinking about the size of the screen on a device.
1) unlocking schemes for phones can take on any number of different forms, not all requiring you to swipe from edge to edge to unlock.
2) usability of the virtual keyboard has nothing to do with screen size, but a matter of placing it in the correct location on the screen
3) adjusting the volume on a phone has nothing to do with screen size, and everything to do with placement of the rocker button.
... whatever
I grew up when a Trimline, so I expect a phone to take up a certain amount of space on my face when I'm talking. Given that "candy bar" phones are shrinking like nobody's business lately, phablets are where my comfort zone exists nowadays. I kinda want to have the pickup at least somewhere where my mouth is, and I'm not an alien being, so my mouth isn't behind my ear, and hinges break, so no clamshells for me. I've found that the 7" phablets are a nice fit on the face, if a bit wide for my taste.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you
Those are some of the dumbest, most arbitrary reasons to tell someone their phone is too large - is he/she being paid by Apple? I want a phone with a screen large enough for me to read web pages comfortably and not need a tablet. I would be fine with a 7 inch phone - not everyone has the hand size and lifting strength of a teenage girl.
"Too big" is when not enough people will want to buy it to make it worthwhile to produce.
Anything else is just subjective.
To me, a 9.7" tablet is too big, but iPad's continued sales prove that this is merely my subjective (minority) opinion.
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The number ONE question should have been:
Can you comfortably phone someone or receive phone call without resorting to earplug?
But the iPhone 4 is just the right size for me. The 5 feels already too long. I'm worried that if Apple jumps on the 'my phone is bigger than your phone' bandwagon I'll be left with no replacement, as all the Android small phones are el cheapo versions with slow hardware.
Btw, I'm male, and I don't have particularly small hands. I can reach around a 4-4.3" screen with one hand, I just don't want one.
I apologize for the lack of a signature.
My preference is still the iphone up through version 4. After that it gets bothersome to carry and use. I'm still reluctant to get a 5 with it's 1/2" longer screen. The old dimensions were just about perfect.
I have a company-issued Galaxy SII. It sits unused on my kitchen counter, calls forwarded to my iphone. I can't stand the SII's size -- and it's really not that much larger than an old iphone - maybe 1/2" all around. I think it's excessively large. I used it almost exclusively for a month and gave up on it. This time any "cool" value of being "different" (android vs. ios, anyone else vs. apple) was destroyed by the way the phone feels in my hand and pocket. Sorry. It just doesn't work for me, and I honestly feel it's the extra size.
It's not like I have tiny hands or anything -- and I'm sure everyone's different -- but I don't want a big phone. I'm sure there are others who think the same thing.
As for the satnav argument presented before, meh and double meh. Why should I put up with the compromises of even a large phone when I have a perfectly good top-shelf TomTom with humongous screen and a speaker that makes itself extremely intelligible at 65% volume even with the music going fairly loudly? That's something neither of my phones can do. For every job, a proper tool, yes?
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
How about another metric:
Can you dial a useful number without looking at your phone?
On a trusty old nokia 3310 (or similar) I could unlock, dial the last used, dial the top number in my phone book, dial emergency services and various other tasks without looking. There are few circumstances where this could be very useful (or save your life).
I dont think i could do it on any smart phone.
I think that 15.6" with a fold out keyboard should just about do it.
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#4 Can you buy a bluetooth headpiece and pair it with your phablet?
If so then the first 3 arguments are moot. I think most people who are buying them recognize that in most cases the "ablet" portion is more important for them than the "ph" portion but don't want to have a phone and a tablet.
The Nexus 4 is my first touch-screen phone and I wouldn't want anything larger. I can just stretch my thumb across the whole screen while holding it with one hand; any larger and I would either need to use two hands or be prone to dropping it.
What if phones came in a range of shapes and sizes so you could choose the size that suited you.
If only we lived in such a world...
NB: Samsung links for illustrative purposes only - different sized phones are available from other manufacturers - I believe Apple will sell you a rather fine phone if you believe that there is Only One True Phone Size. Odd, because Apple offer every other product line they do in a range of form factors...
Seriously folks - the right size of phone depends on your personal priorities. If you're a heavy voice/txt user then maybe a smaller, thumb-friendly phone is for you. If you only send the occasional voice call or txt, but want web, email, navigation, games in your pocket then phablets are more attractive. The Galaxy Note II is about the minimum size to be useful with a stylus and/or split screen multitasking - but maybe you don't want to use those (Samsung's split-screen multitasking is impressive, but I admit that the only reason I ever use it is to show people how impressive it is...)
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
There are phones of every size from 2" to 8" (and even 10" with a bit of hacking).
Some people call a lot, some don't
Some people text a lot, some don't
Some people read a lot on their phones, some don't. And some have good eyesight, others not.
Some people spend a lot of time in transit, some don't
Some people have big hands, some don't
There's a right size for every customer and use case.
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Last Xmas I gave myself a Galaxy Note 2, upgrading from an aging HD2. I'm a big screen whore so it was a no brainer.
Yes, at first it's cumbersome and unwieldy and I took a couple weeks of daily usage to get used to it. All reviews pointed this out, so I knew what I was getting into.
Now I can operate it one-handed (ok, I have big NBA-player hands) and it fits in any pocket if I remove the rubbery cover I got at DX.
Any S3 or iPhone 5 is tiny by comparsion. I just don't see mysef going back to small screens.
Don't perpetuate that name. Yuck.
ph***ets
That is a big assumption on my usage. I do not typically use my Galaxy SIII one handed - I typically use it with both hands. What do I typically use my smartphone for?
I text far more often now to communicate with family, but since I can't get a phone with an integrated keyboard and I have yet to custom build a case that holds a small bluetooth keyboard, I need a bigger screen - because I need buttons that fit the size of my short stubby fingers AND I have having only one or two lines of text displayed when typing.
However, I far more often use my phone for internet browsing, reading Slashdot and Reddit, reading email, watching Netflix or Youtube videos on the go, checking weather, and as an alarm clock. My type of usage is becoming more common.
(Oh, as to using Netflix on a phone I often get "why would you want to watch Netflix on such a tiny screen" to which I say "that's why I want a larger screen" - and then they say "why would anyone want a larger screen on a phone" and I say "because I mainly use it to watch Netflix and browse the web on the go or when on vacation." My coworkers mocked me getting a 3.8" smartphone as being "huge" - and yet within the year they all had 4" screens and didn't see a problem with it.)
Next, all three aspects are not a function of the size of the smartphone but design decisions. You can place the volume rocker, the unlock, and make a one handed virtual thumb-board for texting on even the largest of devices - but you have to break the traditional model and move the stuff around. Why are the volume and power buttons towards the top of smartphones when people more often hold them towards the bottom? Why do virtual keyboards mimic physical ones rather than coming up with a novel and more functional layout for one handed usage? They don't have to be designed that way - there was an active choice.
As to the Galaxy Note II (my next phone when I can afford it) - that uses a wacom pen input. As a long time user of what use to be called Tablet PCs but now are called either slates or convertable tablet PCs (as a coworker who now works at Microsoft insisted on since a tablet means an iPad styled device only to him and his Microsoft cohorts *rolls eyes*), I love a pen interface. What is more natural than writing a to-do list or taking a note with a pen? That is definitely not a one-handed activity, and thus there is no need to keep it to a size that is one-handed.
Finally, the pocket issue. How many times do I have to hear this one? First it was we all needed Razrs or at least flip phones because the candybar form factor was too bulky for a pocket. Then physical keyboards or extended batteries made a phone too big for a pocket and too thick to hold in a hand... but nothing felt better then sliding out a keyboard and using my Galaxy S (and the SIII is so thin that a slide out keyboard really wouldn't have been that horrible to add). Now its the large screen makes them too big for all but cargo pants. I don't buy it - I have plenty of space in the pockets of my slacks or jeans with my SIII in a case - even with the "larger screen" (something I was told by coworkers would be too "unpocketable" but was a non-issue). I've looked at the Note II and it will fit fine also. Even if it didn't, then I could get pants with larger pockets - and I don't mean cargo pants. Again, a non-issue.
CONCLUSION: With all that said about it being a design choice and preference - if a person finds a "phablet" like the Note II to be too big for them - that's fine. Just recognize it as a choice. I am saddened that those who want small flip phones and
Keep in mind that for many people a smartphone will be their only computer. Personally (like many slashdotters) I have a dual monitored desktop, a 15" laptop, an iPad, an e-ink bookreader, and an iPhone. So I can pick the exact screen size I want to match my needs exactly; thus I want my smart phone to stay fairly small. But if I only had one screen and it were to be my smart phone I would want that screen to be bordering on the absurd. I wouldn't want to hold an iPad mini to my ear but pretty close. Plus get a bluetooth headset and you won't look like a dumbass with this brick up against your ear.
So it makes total sense for people to get huge smartphones. People blah blah about the post PC era, which for joe non-technical is rapidly approaching. This post PC world will probably make larger screens quite logical.
One other market is the Baby Boomer: With failing eyesight the bigger the better when it comes to screen/font sizes. "Oh I don't have the coolest phone? Don't care because I can read the screen."
I don't see any end in sight. I figure in two or three years we'll see people walking around with 27" phones on their shoulders.
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last year and sold it.
For a full two months I just used my iPad 2 and Google Voice on speaker for phone calls (my longtime number was ported to my Google Voice account ages ago, so I didn't have to switch numbers or anything).
I *strongly* considered just sticking to the iPad for phoning and being done with it.
In the end, I decided to get a dedicated device, but screen size is a big deal for me—the iPhones are just too small. I was trying to decide between an iPad Mini and a Galaxy Note II as my primary phone.
Finally decided on the Note.
But I can totally see how for some people an iPad might be a perfectly acceptable phone.
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