I remember when big phones used to be called “phablets” and that was considered a bad thing that only certain power user types would want…
And then the same marketing that hit cars came to phones when companies realized that “bigger than the last model” was an easy way to have a number that they could point to that got bigger to imply this one was somehow better. That and human brains are wired to like bright colors so store displays of PHONE WITH BIG BRIGHT COLOR SCREEN made people want it despite it being objectively less easy to use than a more reasonably sized device.
Once users have given up on comfortable single-handed use, the only limiting factor is pocket size.
For me, that means once it passes about 65mm in width, I might as well jump to ~80mm in width, which is huge even by today’s standards. 70mm wide phones are just the worst of both worlds to me.
I want a small phone, but there hasn’t been a serious option in over 10 years. The Xperia Z3 Compact was the last good “small” Android phone that was actually small enough to justify its existence. That was 2014.
Edit: Also, I suspect with bezels being so small now, the frame would need to be even smaller to avoid accidental edge presses with one-handed operation.
I remember when big phones used to be called “phablets” and that was considered a bad thing that only certain power user types would want…
And then the same marketing that hit cars came to phones when companies realized that “bigger than the last model” was an easy way to have a number that they could point to that got bigger to imply this one was somehow better. That and human brains are wired to like bright colors so store displays of PHONE WITH BIG BRIGHT COLOR SCREEN made people want it despite it being objectively less easy to use than a more reasonably sized device.
-Sent from my iPhone 13 mini
I’m very happy that phones got bigger. I got big hands, so a tiny phone like we had a decade ago sucked to use.
Once users have given up on comfortable single-handed use, the only limiting factor is pocket size.
For me, that means once it passes about 65mm in width, I might as well jump to ~80mm in width, which is huge even by today’s standards. 70mm wide phones are just the worst of both worlds to me.
I want a small phone, but there hasn’t been a serious option in over 10 years. The Xperia Z3 Compact was the last good “small” Android phone that was actually small enough to justify its existence. That was 2014.
Edit: Also, I suspect with bezels being so small now, the frame would need to be even smaller to avoid accidental edge presses with one-handed operation.