The move towards gigantic-sized phones - will that change?

[tbessie]

Hey folks...

I've been looking to upgrade my Nexus One for awhile now, and still haven't found something that quite fits the bill.

One thing I've noticed is how the current crop of high-spec phones coming out are now HUGE. Thin, yes, but quite tall/wide. Smaller than, say, a Galaxy Note, but quite a bit bigger than my ol' Nexus One.

I guess the companies making the phones have felt that making them thinner but with bigger screens is preferable to any thickness. Personally, I want a SMALLER screen, so it fits nicely in my hand or pocket or phone holster on my backpack strap. I don't want a big huge thing to carry around, even if it IS thin.

Does anyone out there think that trend will peter out, and they'll once again have phones about the size of the Nexus One, without such an emphasis being put on screen size and thinness, but rather on portability?

- Tim

[Mi An]

I think what you are actually seeing is not phones getting bigger, but phones getting more diverse, and I hope that does not change. One size definitely does not fit all.

There's also a new breed of tiny phones in addition to the superphone trend. 3" and smaller, see a few listed here: tiny budget VZW Android models

The new HTC One V is 3.7", like the Nexus One.

[questionfear]

I think what you are actually seeing is not phones getting bigger, but phones getting more diverse, and I hope that does not change. One size definitely does not fit all.

There's also a new breed of tiny phones in addition to the superphone trend. 3" and smaller, see a few listed here: tiny budget VZW Android models

The new HTC One V is 3.7", like the Nexus One.

Aside from the One V, most of the smaller Android phones are relatively underpowered. Mrs. QF went shopping last weekend for a new phone to replace her HTC Incredible, and we could not find anything worthwhile for her in Android that was small enough for her tastes. A big part of that is that we were buying on contract, and if we're buying a phone for 2 years, it needs to be the best. I don't like being in a situation where a phone HAS to be replaced in 2 years, I vastly prefer to buy the nicest phone possible if I am re-upping a contract for it.

We ended up getting her an iPhone because she simply did not want a huge Android device, and there was nothing else around the same size as her (rapidly dying) Incredible.

It also doesn't help that we could get her a 16GB iPhone for $100 less than most of the Android "superphones". Most of them offered the same storage as the 32GB iPhone so they matched the mid-tier on price, but Mrs QF didn't even know her phone had an SD card for the first year she used it. 32GB would be overkill, so combine higher prices with a too-big phone, and she was all over the iPhone.

HTC, Moto, and Samsung could easily fight back by offering tiers of their superphones-$199 with a 16gb SD card, $299 for a bundled 32gb card, etc.

Anyhow, very long winded way of saying I agree with the OP.

[Varjak]

I think there will be plenty of 'smaller' screen Android options. I doubt they will ever have the top-tier spec; but they will be amply powerful. After all, you probably don't need the most memory and fasted processor in a 3.5 inch screen phone either. I guess someone might dot that however if they feel the need to compete with Apple in that size segment. Personally, I always thought a screen smaller than 4 inches in a touchscreen device wasn't optimal anyway. I didn't want to go below the 4-incher in my LifeDrive; and it's taken a while (too long in my book) to get larger screens.

[tbessie]

...
Anyhow, very long winded way of saying I agree with the OP.

Yeah - my main point was that it was the high-spec Android phones.

I know there are quite a few smaller Android phones out there, but they're always in the budget/low-spec categories. When the manufacturers have to fit a certain amount of hardware into the device to make it a high-spec device, they can go tall/wide/thin or they can go thicker but not as tall/wide, and they seem to be choosing tall/wide/thin over thicker... 'thin' seems to've been the choice of status-conscious consumers since the Razr first came out. The fact that it doesn't take up a different amount of space in your pocket, volume-wise, doesn't seem to come into it. Personally, I'd rather it take up less width/height, and fit in my hand better, than be thin.

But "People Like Thin" for some reason. :-/

- Tim

[tbessie]

I think there will be plenty of 'smaller' screen Android options. I doubt they will ever have the top-tier spec; but they will be amply powerful. After all, you probably don't need the most memory and fasted processor in a 3.5 inch screen phone either. I guess someone might dot that however if they feel the need to compete with Apple in that size segment. Personally, I always thought a screen smaller than 4 inches in a touchscreen device wasn't optimal anyway. I didn't want to go below the 4-incher in my LifeDrive; and it's taken a while (too long in my book) to get larger screens.

Well, *I* would like the top-tier specs in a more compact package, personally, but we all know we're all weirdo-consumers here and don't fit a lot of the common demographics for device-buyers out there.

I agree that a smaller screen is tough when it's finger/thumb-controlled - I'm always making mistakes with Swype because I'm not starting words close enough to the desired character, for example. But I just don't want all that screen area if it makes the phone over a certain size when compared to my hand, and these larger phones are just that.

- Tim

[Mi An]

Tech reviews were brutal to big-boned phones like my TP2 -- often ignoring the world class keyboard and tilt that size provided. On top of that, consumer satisfaction is often tied to battery life. Add to that LTE's poor battery performance, and yeah, the highest end phones are likely to stay big.

That said, don't write off the low end of the spectrum. Today's 1ghz chipset is better than yesterday's. An xperia mini at 3 inches has internal specs very similar to the high-end lumia 900, just clocked a little bit lower.

[weegie]

I agree, it appears high end devices will only be the biggest, this means 4.65" plus from now on which is too big for me, a 16:10 4.3" is my ideal compromise although I could reasonably happily use 4", I find the 3.5 iPhone screen a little small although it has one of the better keyboards I've tried.

Personally I don't like the trend towards bigger and bigger, nor the higher and higher resolution obsession which just negates all the chip improvements.

[Varjak]

Well, *I* would like the top-tier specs in a more compact package, personally, but we all know we're all weirdo-consumers here and don't fit a lot of the common demographics for device-buyers out there.

I agree that a smaller screen is tough when it's finger/thumb-controlled - I'm always making mistakes with Swype because I'm not starting words close enough to the desired character, for example. But I just don't want all that screen area if it makes the phone over a certain size when compared to my hand, and these larger phones are just that.

- Tim

My point is that the smaller-screened phones might have specs just a touch under what you may view as the cutting-edge/top-tier. If the bleeding edge is what your want, you're right, it won't likely be in the smaller screen phones. That's true of just about any technology by the way. You typically don't get the biggest, most powerful engine in a lower-tier car or in lower-tier powered devices like snow blowers, tractors, etc. Same with stereos and just about anything else you can name. But I think the small difference would likely be unnoticeable.

[raspabalsa]

My point is that the smaller-screened phones might have specs just a touch under what you may view as the cutting-edge/top-tier.

Yes, that's how I see it too. Considering the current race towards ever-larger screens, I don't think manufacturers will release small-sized devices with the most powerful available specs when they could add a huge screen to the same powerful hardware. However, they're still improving the smaller phones: the newer Galaxy Mini 2 and Ace 2 are much more powerful than the original models. Both will get dual-core CPUs, and the Mini 2 finally gets an internal drive. With these improved specs, they're good options for those who want better performance without compromising portability, or those who (like me) think a 4"+ device against one's ear looks more than a little foolish . I'm actually considering getting a Mini 2 in the near future to replace mi Mini.