Can anyone confirm what is driving this larger screen war? I know when LTE was rolling out manufacturers needed space for larger batteries but couldn't make the phones thicker due to market backlash so bigger screens began to trend. Now I can't help but think it is completely consumer driven but if that is so what are the larger screens enabling users to do? Is it the resolution? The multitasking? This just doesn't look like a valuable tradeoff for less portability and 1 handed use.
- few people yell loudly about wanting a big phone
- manufacturer makes a big phone which can have better hardware due to easier heating and larger battery
- the big phone sells well because it's the only decent phone manufacturer made that quarter
- manufacturer builds a bigger phone ;)
I know a lot of people whose smartphones have become their primary computing devices. A big phone offers much better battery life, much more usability across countless apps, and it makes watching videos a tremendously better experience.
I think it is a real possibility that many folks legitimately like bigger phones.
Keep in mind that the Nexus 5 is still around and is still a perfectly viable phone. It will also receive the Android L update. It's not like the Nexus 5 is being killed and replaced with a 6" phone. Rather, a 6" phone is being added to the lineup.
There's also the 2014 Moto X, which is effectively a Nexus but with a 5.2" screen.
Exactly - I don't know many personally who like the big phones, but you are exactly right that they sell anyways because nowadays there are few other options.
I realize this is probably only the case for me, but I've been looking for a 6-7" phone for reading comics on. A tablet is nice, but I find it a hassle to carry around in my bag. A 6-7" phone will fit in my pocket and I can easily pull it out in an elevator or waiting in line somewhere and read a page of my comic.
I've been wanting 6" for years; it's the sweet spot where it's large enough to watch videos comfortably but small enough to fit in a pocket. A better question is why it took so long to get here.
> Can anyone confirm what is driving this larger screen war?
A lot of people use them as portable web and game devices first, phones second - the big screen is more of an advantage when you think about it that way around as it saves people carrying around both a phone and a tablet. Many people (like myself and presumably you) don't think that way around, and want a smartphone in a smaller form, but I think we are less likely than that other market segment to buy a new phone every year which is skewing the market away from our preferred direction.
I need to replace my Lumia 920 (after many drops I've finally manage to crack part of the screen, and the flash stopped working a short while ago) and the size thing is annoying. The 920 itself is already bigger than I'd prefer and all the current models with the really good camera are even bigger (you can still get the 925, I might have to go with that unless someone can recommend a ~4.5"-or-smaller device, Android or Windows, with camera capabilities similar or better?).
Seriously though. Why wouldn't you want as large a screen as fits comfortably in your pocket?
For touch devices screen size is important even beyond having more context for what you are doing. Since it is also your interface you get larger buttons to press, thereby increasing the speed of your interaction. [0] This is especially important because your screen is also your keyboard, so every little bit counts.
It's a portable computer. The "phone" in smartphone is an anachronism of a bygone era, and actually seeing people using one as a phone is rare now.
People browse. View media. Post pictures. Read Facebook posts. They do things where the attributes that make a small smartphone good for one handed use conspire against usability with two hands (browsing Reddit on a 4" screen iPhone, for instance, is an exercise in precision. Many downvotes were accidentally dished out on HN courtesy of small screens). If 95% of your use is as a landscape portable computer, that 5% use of "one handed through a parking lot" should rightly suffer.
Of course some people really do prefer smaller devices, and those options need to stay around (the Nexus 5, for instance, is still a premiere Nexus device). But a lot of people really do like "phablets".
> The "phone" in smartphone is an anachronism of a bygone era, and actually seeing people using one as a phone is rare now.
That's absolutely not true. I can assure you people actually buy phones to phone.Or they would be buying ipod touch en masse without phone/data plans.
> browsing Reddit on a 4" screen iPhone, for instance, is an exercise in precision. Many downvotes were accidentally dished out on HN courtesy of small screens
Well,it's HN business to make its interface usable on my 320*480 (yes,I have a 3.5" screen phone).If HN doesnt,then HN doesnt care about smartphone users...
> If 95% of your use is as a landscape portable computer, that 5% use of "one handed through a parking lot" should rightly suffer.
... No it just means they didnt go mobile-first which is a mistake today. HN layout isnt even responsive. Responsive == Future proof. It's a simple as that.
