Why are 99% of phones so comically large?

Markus Antonius

I had to buy a 2017 phone in order to get anything even remotely close to the size that I want (a 5.7" moto g) and even this is like a caricatured clown phone. Why are 99% of phones so ridiculously huge? With the exception of Iphone and google pixel and the folding phones everything seems to be 6.5"+!

Why?? Is it because they are all buying components from the same supplier? Is it market research/profit margin? Surely a company that releases a slightly smaller phone would hit a huge market for those who want it.

NIMAN

Cos p0rN looks better on a big screen?

Size of components that increasingly powerful and app capacious phones have to hold plus demand for larger screens for doing everything from composing excel sheets to watching movies. One would think there is still a fair market for neater phones though.

I remember the days when analogue phones started out huge with big antenna, then a couple of years after going digital it was the coolest thing to own the tiniest phone out there, and some were minuscule and got rather pathetic WAP services.

28064212

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2019&fDisplayInchesMin=3.5&fDisplayInchesMax=5.5&sFormFactors=1 - There's a hundred phones released after 2019 with a display size under 5.5"

Markus Antonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118138473#Comment_118138473

Yes but women would prefer a good 4 inches with more than 5 mins charge

Markus Antonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118138507#Comment_118138507

But this is the problem, the bigger they make the screens the bigger the components they need to output the higher resolutions required. It's a compounding problem every year. One of the students at work came in recently and honest to god, his phone was bigger than his head.

Atlantic Dawn

It's the only way to go if you want to do more than text people and make calls/

Markus Antonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118138809#Comment_118138809

About 8-9 years ago, Sony Ericsson made a small smart phone about half the size of an iphone, especially to give all the functions people wanted but in a size that you could use with one hand. It was the business. If they made one again I would buy it in a second.

passatman86

One of my favourite big phone memories has been around about 20 years

https://youtu.be/30DcHyi-hZE

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217061/why-are-99-of-phones-so-comically-large

You mean like this?

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/06/30/apple-ends-iphone-12-mini-production/

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/27/most-people-dont-really-want-a-smaller-iphone/?Bibblio_source=true

kowloon

I'm having the opposite problem right now. I have **** eyesight so I use a Samsung S6 tablet as a phone. Has a 10.4" screen so I can read texts and use Whatsapp and the like. I have to change device to use a blood glucose sensor and it flat out prohibits any device not on the manufacturer's compatibility list from running the app. I'm going to find screen sizes around "6.5 or less hard to work with.

https://www.dexcom.com/en-IE/compatibility/dexcom-g6-app

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118327219#Comment_118327219

Find a stand alone glucose sensor that doesn't need an app?

kowloon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118327255#Comment_118327255

The sensor is just a probe that sticks into your skin with a little sealed transmitter. The advantage is it continuously reads your blood glucose and warns you before things go south and you go low or have a seizure. But you need something to read the sensor and display the data. It lets you have much tighter control than a separate meter that you have to use blood test strips with.

I'll find a suitable device, but I wish larger phones/phablets were more mainstream. The likes of the Fold Z 3 would be ideal as it has the larger screen size covered, but it's not priced as a mainstream phone and the folding screen is still a bit rough. Give it a few years and I'm sure I'll have something like that.

I think a folding device would solve the problem the OP is having while also allowing plenty of screen space for people need to be able to get the most out of the device.

jimmycrackcorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118327219#Comment_118327219

Would it not be easier to wear glasses?

kowloon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118329130#Comment_118329130

I do, but there's a limit to what they can do for me.

Strumms

A big screen is paramount really..phones now are mini tablets. Users demand a similar media as well as overall functionality...

when it became all about tiny phones I had a Motorola V something i can’t remember the exact phone name but it was too small. One of those flip jobs, It was a novelty... “ wow cool it’s tiny “ you’d hear... battery was ****, you kept hitting the button adjacent to the one you were trying to press ...got an SII after that which was excellent...a big slim phone with great screen, camera and apps....

Donald Trump

Is that you Zoolander?

riclad

Because people use phones to watch YouTube videos, tik Tok, Instagram, browse the Web, you can still buy 4 or 5 inch phones if you like, Also for millions of people the only Internet device the have is a phone, a 6.5 phone is 150 euro why would you buy a small phone if you want to browse the Web use YouTube etc some people play games on phones

Almost anyone can afford to spend 150 euro on a phone why buy a small phone?

Most people buy TVs at least 40 to 50 inch screen why not they are so cheap

notAMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118414308#Comment_118414308

This is pure consumerism.

You buy a 50 inch tv, now you need a massive house to put it in. Where does it go after it’s lifespan with you? Landfill in Southeast Asia?

With every purchase you make of a “thing”, that thing has a lifecycle. Created, stored, maintained, through to its destruction. waste management, environmental impact all through its life. The bigger it is, the larger the impact.

kowloon

I ended up getting a 6.8" phone that was compatible with the glucose monitoring system. I'll see if its as usable as my 10.7" tablet

B.A._Baracus

To answer your question op, screen size is dependant on what people want to use it for.

To give an example, in the early to mid 2000s small phones were all the rage. The smaller the better it seemed at one point. But most people didn't use their phone for Internet (wap sucked) and there was no watching movies or YouTube on it.

Now it's all about YouTube, movies (Netflix etc) apps etc. People want and need a bigger screen.

Markus Antonius

I think the "market data" that people want bigger phones is a load of BS. It's the manufacturers dictating what the market wants purely for manufacturability and thus profitability. The dead giveaway is the complete lack of choice (with the exception of Apple) Nearly every popular new phone release is the exact same size regardless of who manufactures it. 5 years ago they were all 5.8" phones. 3 years ago - 6.2" and now they are 6.8".

If the manufacturers wanted to get ahead of the rest then why not just release 7, 7.5", 8" phones right now?

Any phone that you have to remove from your pocket to sit down is too big.

I do like the look of the foldables but thy are just too expensive at the moment

Royale with Cheese

I think it's odd there's so few decent options with Android under 6 inches while the fairly small iPhone lineup has the mini and the SE. My mother was looking for a new phone and I found it very hard to recommend anything to her as all the good options are 6.5"+. She's always used Android and has no interest in switching, otherwise I'd be recommending an iPhone to her.

My wife uses an iPhone SE and has always found my phones comically large, if she ever wants to get something better she always has the option of getting the 13 or 12 mini. She's only ever used iPhone and I've half heartedly suggested switching to Android to her in the past as there are far more options in the budget/mid level range, but the physical size of everything on Android would definitely put her off.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118139046#Comment_118139046

It was terrible. I still keep it to remind me how bad it was

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417255#Comment_118417255

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?fDisplayInchesMax=5.8

heres a list of over 7000 different phones with screen sizes 5.8" or less

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?fDisplayInchesMin=5.9

heres a list of over 1770 different phones with screen sizes 5.9" or more

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118414318#Comment_118414318

Oddly enough as display technology has moved from CRT to CFL to LED the power usage of TV's has remained constant because they get replaced by much bigger ones. And they are a lot lighter and thinner too so less materials and easier to wall mount.

Richer Sounds offer a 6 year warranty because any half decent TV should easily last that long. And thanks to smart sticks you can upgrade the features of any TV so you don't have to worry about them becoming obsolete. It's likely you can cast from an ap on your phone to your TV already.

Spanish Eyes

I'm another one who hates big phones, but I am stubborn and a Philistine I suppose. Have an IPhone 8 64GB. It is perfect for me. I know it is not the latest la di da millions of data and whatnot, but I like it, and hope that by the time I need to replace it something of similar size or an affordable flip type will be available.

I use it for Netflix, YouTube, Audible, and the usual apps like Whatsapp etc. Never had an issue touch feckin wood. But I am boring so it suits my needs to a T.

I wish they would incorporate a fold out stand for phones though. That would be ace.

dotsman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417325#Comment_118417325

I'm not sure why you think the good options are 6.5"+?

Take the S21, it's only 6.2 while the S21 Fe is 6.4.

The Pixel is 6.4", while the Pixel 4a is only 5.8".

Royale with Cheese

The Pixel 4a is what I recommended initially, she ended up keeping her phone for the time being though. Google were charging full price for it after a full year on the market too and didn't discount it at all for Black Friday. Not exactly great value either.

6.2/6.5... no difference. It's not a small phone either way.

Markus Antonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118417356#Comment_118417356

Most of those are watches or 10+ year old/discontinued phones...

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217061/why-are-99-of-phones-so-comically-large

I had to get a new phone in Oct and had the same issue.I said it to the girl in Vodafone and she sighed but politely explained to me then every second customer asks her the same thing.

Still not used to this massive phone and would consider buying a 2017 Samsung or something similar (which is what I replaced)

bbbbb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118138564#Comment_118138564

only the iphone mini (12 & 13) have 5G, so effectively you’re looking at “mid-range” in terms of android?

riclad

The Internet 3g is easier to use on a large phone people take selfies, phones are cheap, you always have your phone with u, before phones people would read a book or a newspaper while on a bus. I think apple should make a 5 inch phone some people would buy it, some people want a phone they can put in a Jeans pocket large phones are popular whether u like them or not, like reality TV or soap operas

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217061/why-are-99-of-phones-so-comically-large

I still carry a 2010 Samsung Wave (3.3" display) which runs Bada OS, for calls and texts, and have an S10 for other things.

riclad

There's loads of phones that are 6.2 inch on sale, if people did not buy a large phone company's would go back to 4 or 5 inch phones, when phones were 4 inch they only thing you could do with them was txt,talk, or play games like snake, if you want to worry about the environment worry about bitcoin, and nfts that use up megawatts of power for no good purpose. The power system in Texas is not ready for cold or extreme weather, people are moving there just to mine bitcoin because of low taxs lack of regulation. Even if you live in a flat a 50 inch TV does not take up much space if its mounted on the wall

Markus Antonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118419242#Comment_118419242

But I don't care about the environment and I own lots of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and it has plenty good purpose hence why it's about 300% more valuable now than when I bought it.

kowloon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118419296#Comment_118419296

Making your own brand of tiny phone could be the next step in further building your business empire.

riclad

The problem I have with big phones is they take a long time to charge , my phone is 6.2 inches I can fast charge it in 65 minutes. I'd like to buy a Nokia 1.4 but reviews say it takes 4 hours to charge. That's way too long . I think alot of people look at insta social media while at work so a big phone is handy for watching tik Tok YouTube etc I understand someone with small hands may not want a 6.5 inch phone i just use a phone until it stops working or the battery does not last long . yes bitcoin maybe a good investment but its really bad for the environment

cnocbui

A significant proportion of bitcoin mining is done using renewables. Over 90% of all bitcoins have already been mined, using far less energy than for current ones. The Chinese wanted to ban bitcoin so they claimed it took too much energy and was bad for the environment, when some of the big mining operations were sited at the foot of that edifice of environmental destruction, the Yangtze Three Gorges dam, because the electricity from that renewable source was almost free. Others were sited near vast solar farms that are described as stranded power, because they are in such remote locations relative to the areas of consumption and the infrastructure between is insufficient to convey all their output. Again, because the electricity was nearly free and in this case was going to waste

You mentioned Texas -lol!

"Texas company uses Bitcoin mines powered by renewables to stabilize the grid" https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/news/texas-company-uses-bitcoin-mines-powered-by-renewables-to-stabilize-the-grid/

The global power consumption of bitcoin mining is less than the potential power of all the waste gas blown off by the oil and gas industry, which in 2019 was 900 Twh of gas flared. Bitcoin mining consumes something like 129 Twh, 39% of which is from renewables and increasing all the time due to the bad press.

" Gas Flaring Powers Bitcoin Mining For Wesco

16 March 2021, 17:31 GMT+0000

The EZ Smartgrid Flaring Mitigation System has reduced Wesco Inc.’s gas flaring to 0 mcf a day.

The system converts otherwise wasted natural gas into electricity to power BTC mining.

Despite its large carbon footprint, some crypto firms are working towards greater sustainability."

Then there's nuclear:

"In July, micro-nuclear reactor company Oklo and bitcoin mining company Compass Mining announced a 20-year commercial partnership in which Oklo will eventually power a portion of Compass’ mining activities with carbon-free nuclear energy.

Earlier in July, Akron, Ohio-based energy company Energy Harbor Corp. announced it will provide nuclear power to Standard Power’s new Bitcoin blockchain mining center in Coshocton, Ohio beginning in December 2021.

kowloon

Building energy capacity and maintaining it isn't free, renewable or not. Cryptobros with a conscience can keep telling themselves it's not bad for the environment, it'll always be the use of energy that could better be used for something productive. The wasteful practices of the oil and gas industry don't make it okay to waste energy elsewhere. Both are problems.

But all of that is off-topic, so I'll finish there.

Because they're an ultra portable touch screen computer, media consumption devices and high resolution cameras that we happen to call phones, even though making calls is just a secondary application these days.

The concept of a "phone" these days has nothing to do with the telephone. They just evolved through the sales channels of old cell phones.

That's also effectively why Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Siemens etc all failed to make a mark in the smartphone sector - they are telephone companies in the traditional sense and grew handset businesses on the back of their network equipment relationships with telcos. When smartphones arrived, the product became a computer and silicon valley naturally had a massive advantage.

Markus Antonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118421008#Comment_118421008

A laptop can also be considered ultra portable.

Portability was the number 1 reason for the very existence of mobile phones. Now portability has been bumped further down the priority list than it should have.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118421498#Comment_118421498

In your opinion, but the market would say otherwise. Apple, for example, initially refused to make a larger format iPhone and Samsung and other android device makers ate its lunch. People wanted bigger screens and didn’t necessarily want to carry a tablet.

There are smaller smartphones and they don’t sell very well.

Folding screens may become more common, but so far I’m not seeing a huge rush to them.