Wide Phone Phobia?

GotNoRice

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jul 11, 2001
Messages
11,955
Why are phone manufacturers so afraid to bring an actual big-screen phone to the market? There seems to be a general belief that beyond a certain width, a phone won't easily fit into people's pockets anymore, and people won't want to buy them. Does anyone here actually agree with that logic?

I got a Note 2 back in 2012 and it was an amazing phone for me over the years. It was one of the first phones on the market with a 5.5" screen. I never imagined that phones would have such a difficult time getting past that size, a few inching up to 5.7", 5.8" etc but no more. I would have thought that by now most phones would be in the 6"-7" range. Time after time I passed up the chance to upgrade my Note 2 because using a phone for so long and then upgrading to a phone with basically the same size screen is fucking lame.

A few days ago my Note 2 finally up and died for no apparent reason. I went and picked up a Galaxy S8+. I was very excited to see a phone with a 6.2" screen but a bit less excited when I realized the clunky BS they did in order to make that screen size work. It has the lame edge screen so that they can mostly get rid of the bezel. They also went with a cringe-worthy non-standard aspect ratio of IIRC 18.5:9 instead of 16:9. As a result, even with a 6.2" screen, the phone is no more wide than any other phone, only slightly longer. First thing the saleswomen says to me while I am looking at the cases is to be careful because some of the cases might make the phone too big to fit in my pocket :rolleyes:

In most cases I have no problems fitting an 8" tablet in my pocket, so what am I missing here? I can understand why mainstream phones don't have massive screens, but out of all the phones that are specifically marketed as having bigger screens, surely there is a market for one that actually has a big screen? No?
 
When you start creeping over 6 inches it becomes a tablet. There are many 7" tablets that you are more than welcome to tether to your phone and use when you are out. The market for phones around this size likely isn't worth the added manufacturing.
 
When you start creeping over 6 inches it becomes a tablet.

Says who? Average screen sizes have slowly creeped up over the years. Even a regular S8 phone has a 5.8" screen now. And honestly, even 7" tablets look tiny these days, so what makes 6" a magical number?

There are many 7" tablets that you are more than welcome to tether to your phone and use when you are out.

This would be one of those things that sounds good in theory, but in practice you are never going to have the tablet with you when you need it. That is part of the advantage of a big screen phone - it's always right there with you in your pocket.
 
For pocket-ability, wider (and shorter) is actually better. But one-handed (thumb) users don't like wide screens.
 
Must be they don't sell as well so they stopped making them. Must be you're in the minority. Economics dude.
 
I do hate big screen phones. I'm currently using a Samsung J7. Before that, an iPhone 3GS. It's a big jump and I still hate the big size.
Unfortunately, nobody makes a good phone with small screen anymore. Any mid spec phone will have >5" screen.
 
For pocket-ability, wider (and shorter) is actually better. But one-handed (thumb) users don't like wide screens.

This. I actually prefer my GS8 over the GS6 because it's taller rather than wider so I don't have to stretch my thumb over as far. My OnePlus One was already beyond the limits of my thumb.
 
I do hate big screen phones. I'm currently using a Samsung J7. Before that, an iPhone 3GS. It's a big jump and I still hate the big size.
Unfortunately, nobody makes a good phone with small screen anymore. Any mid spec phone will have >5" screen.

iPhone SE? Even a year later, it's still surprisingly powerful for a 4-inch phone.

To the OP: those tablet-sized phones have actually had some sway in countries like China and India, where a smartphone is frequently a person's only computing device. But they don't get much traction in places like North America or Europe, where most people have access to at least a PC. Also, not all pockets are created equal: yeah, an average-sized man's khakis might have room for a small tablet, but what if you're wearing typical jeans, or you're short/slim, or you're a woman (women frequently get tiny pockets or none at all)? The number of people who could pocket a 7- or 8-inch phone on a regular basis is rather small.
 
Back
Top