The smallest new Android phone you can buy isn’t small at all

Where are the new phones that aren't the size of a compact car?

Read the whole story

 

[drfisheye]

I wonder how Windows Phone would come out in this test. It is designed to be very thumb friendly. Knobs are at the bottom, and screens swipe to from left to the right with your thumb. Stretching your fingers to the upper left is almost never needed. I think it works much better with larger screens.

The old WP start screen was designed with this in mind; that's why the the tiles didn't start at the top of the screen. The new start screen fills the screen completely.

 

[Deleted member 250988]

lost[/url]":2utjzp07]1) To be "best new" phone, it needs powerful new CPU/GPU
2) Powerful new CPUs/GPUs needs lots of ... power
3) lots of power require large battery to last one day
4) large battery requires ... large phone



So, you can argue that it is hard to have both "best" and "small" phone, at least until they invent much better batteries.

There is one mistake in your reasoning. You are assuming that phones need to be as thin as they are today. I actually put my phone in a casing not to protect it, but to make it a bit more substantial to hold. If you doubloe the thickness of todays thinnest phones they will still be comfortable in your pocket and (my opinion) more comfortable to hold.

 

[Davidoff]

ror[/url]":ilry0bfm]the same is true for Windows Phone. if you want a 4" phone, you have to get a midrange device. I have small hands. so even a 4.3" screen is too big. My ideal device would be a Lumia 800, which measures 4", with updated specs. unfortunately it's not looking good for those who don't want comically large cellphones.

Same here. I have big hands but that doesn't mean I like large phones. One of my phones was a Lumia 800 which was fine, but like you it was difficult finding a proper replacement. After some hesitation I setled for a Lumia 820 which for me is about the upper limit as to what I would tolerate in terms of size.

Most of the time however I just carry my goold old Nokia N8 with its brillant 3.5" AMOLED screen which does more than most modern smartphones and gives me several days on a single battery charge. For me thie size of this phone is perfect. It's quite sad that not too long ago this was Nokia's flagship device while today flagship phones have screens >4.5".

 

[Munin]

I went for a Lumia 920 over an iPhone 5 due to the former's larger screen size.

One of my major uses for the phone is reading and browsing during my commute and the larger screen size makes that more comfortable. I also definitely don't want to lug a tablet around as well as my work laptop etc. Not to mention how tablets, even mini ones, are inconvenient during an occasionally cramped commute.

Anyway, that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be a few more mobiles with smaller screens but the general downvoting of anyone who even suggests that there are good reasons why mobiles will larger screens are around is also stupid.

 

[SedsAtArs]

I bought an S3 about a year ago, and it didn't take that long for me to regret my choice. Having finally found a Note II in a store that wasn't bolted down (this was just a dummy though), I found that even the Note II fit comfortably in my pocket. Next time I buy a phone, I'll look for something roughly similar in size to that.

One handed use isn't big for me. Even when I bicycle, if I really need to use my phone, I can do it two handed. The very simplest tasks I perform on it is still doable one handed (like dialing a number).
What bothers me about the race is what's been mentioned by a few people in the thread already. Thickness. I don't care if my phone is 7mm or 9mm or even 12mm. I want more battery life, not yet another mm shaved off. Please, someone, think of the children.

Of course, I can see how other people have more one-hand-centric use patterns.

I see a very few posts suggesting that people who like larger screens for their phones should just buy tablets. I don't own any tablets, and don't care to own one. At home I use my laptops, no full size tablet fits in my trouser pockets.

 

[Wheaty73]

Owner and former user of a Xperia Mini Pro. That was a brilliant phone in terms of size and it had a keyboard. Sadly languishing in Android 2.3 thanks to Sony not updating it, and in terms of performance it is now way behind the curve (2010 phone!!!). It felt great in the hand, the OS was skinned to allow easy use in a small screen (3") and it would fit in any pocket I tried it in. Great hardware keyboard too.

I recently upgraded to a Xperia P - 4", much more readable screen. The same dimensions as the iPhone 4S (give or take). Fits in my shirt/suit pocket, and in jeans (while still allowing me to sit comfortably). It can just about be used by me with one thumb, but typing with a T9 Chinese keyboard is easy enough (this is why I don't want an iPhone - can't change keyboards).

I tried a Xperia Z. Way too big, despite ticking many of my "wants" in the hardware front. It won't fit in a jeans pocket and let me sit down. It certainly won't fit in my shirt pocket or the top pocket of my suit. It bags in an inside pocket in a way the larger Nexus 7 doesn't (this fills the pocket so hangs correctly).

There is obviously a need for high spec phones in the 3.5-4.3" range, if this article and thread is an indicator. Please Ars, when reviewing phones, make a point of trying them in various pockets (not everyone wants/can wear casual clothes to work) and comment on their "fit". Maybe manufacturers will start to take note…

One problem with Android that Apple devices have licked is the aftermarket accessories. You can buy bluetooth keyboard cases for iPhones which work really well. You can't for any model of Android phone I have seen, simply because there are too many options and manufacturers don't have a flagship model out long enough for the Chinese to start knocking these things out.

Finally - my ideal phone would be a RAZR v3i updated with 3G and a decent camera. That thing was perfect and indestructible… /dreams.

 

[geoken]

drfisheye[/url]":hjkr2ebx]I wonder how Windows Phone would come out in this test. It is designed to be very thumb friendly. Knobs are at the bottom, and screens swipe to from left to the right with your thumb. Stretching your fingers to the upper left is almost never needed. I think it works much better with larger screens.

The old WP start screen was designed with this in mind; that's why the the tiles didn't start at the top of the screen. The new start screen fills the screen completely.

It's funny how many people completely missed these design choices in WP. The oversized heading in many apps were/are also frequently complained about but also aid in the never-having-to-reach-the-top thing. When I played with the Titan the benefit of these design choices was instantly obvious.

Prior to the Titan, the largest phone I had used for an extended period was one of the 4.5 inch variants of the GS2. I considered that phone completely unwieldy and was prepared to completely write off the Titan. When I tried it, the strengths of the OS design presented themselves immediately. The GS2 was unwieldy because the two most frequent areas I touch (the capacitive buttons and the notification shade) are as far away from each other as they could possibly be. The Titan brought back memories of this at first, especially when I did my quick test to see how difficult it was for me to reach across the screen. After about a minute of using it though, I remembered that WP never actually makes reach to the top of the screen and it ended up being somewhat pleasant to use (comparatively; I still preferred my Focus and I still prefer smaller devices).

 

[HisMajestyTheKing]

Phone size is limited by what can fit in my pants. Max 14" total so a phone bigger than 4.3" is too big.

 

[pavs]

Very minor complaint about the article:

phones have settled along a two-dimensional spectrum: huge, expensive, and unwieldy, or small, inexpensive, and mediocre.

A two-dimensional spectrum would typically leave you two separate choices and could be partitioned into four quadrants: small&cheap, small&expensive, large&cheap, big&expensive. The problem is, then, that the spectrum is effectively one-dimensional, everything is along the small&cheap to big&expensive axis.

 

[nikster]

Apple is waiting, biding its time.... and then.... BANG, they'll add a radio to the iPad mini. Seriously, there isn't much difference between a mini and those ridiculously huge phones.

 

[nikster]

Some thoughts on the large screens:

- First the original reason why high end phone come with huge screens is still intact: It's easy to add enough battery to drive all these features and processors and 3D accelerators. If the SGS4 was iPhone size, battery life would be 2 hours.

- Second as soon as a phone is bigger than an iPhone 5, it doesn't fit in most people's pocket. Or at the very least bigger than the N4. That means as soon as you reach that limit, you might as well make them even bigger - they need to be carried in a purse / murse / bag anyway. I think the iPhone 5 is a bit too big, really - I liked the iPhone 4 size better.

- Third, people like 'em big screens. That's why Samsung isn't bending over backwards to solve the battery issue and make smaller high end phones.

- Another possible reason: If you made a 4" phone you'd compete directly with the iPhone 5; I don't think anybody can do this right now; isn't it remarkable that with all the copycats in the industry nobody is seriously making a copy of an iPhone 4 or 5? Apple has locked this down with huge barriers in manufacturing, in the OS, in components, etc. Others can't copy it. I don't think IP (patens and marks) would deter anyone at this point. So while they could make a 4" phone it would either be way bigger than the iPhone 5, or have way shorter battery life, or both. And in that case - why would they? Easier and better to make a larger phone - the large screen is a feature, and battery is of no concern, and we can even throw in things like SD card slots.

 

[geoken]

SLee[/url]"v07b226]

geoken[/url]"v07b226]I don't understand the argument where people compare the overall size of some large phone (like the Moto x) the the overall size of the iPhone and point out how close they are.

Fitting more screen into less body doesn't help usability. Excessive top and bottom bezels have no negative impact on usability. My iPhone could have a foot of bezel on top of the screen and it wouldn't change the fact that I can easily reach any point on the screen while gripping my phone.

From the way I see the vast majority of people holding a smartphone with one hand it matters cause they use the pinky to stabilize the phone on the bottom-opposite side of the bezel with the hand gripping the bottom half of the phone.

Frankly, in this typical holding position I doubt most people can reach the whole screen of even an iPhone without straining and shifting to a different position, considerably made worse by the iPhone's massive chin.

After going from a small-screen to a big-screen, there's no contest the big-screen is far more useful that it easily makes up for minor inconveniences. In the same way a 17" LCD may be easier to move around but a 27" kills it in utility.

"Frankly, in this typical holding position I doubt most people can reach the whole screen of even an iPhone without straining and shifting to a different position"

Assuming you can grip your phone in this manner, while still having your thumb comfortably rest at the screens mid-point, it again reverts to a function of screen size. Personally, I can use that grip and have my thumb (I'm talking about the actual base of my thumb) resting at the level of the volume buttons on my iPhone 5 without straining at all. Gripping it in that manner while my thumb rests at the midpoint is effortless. You're right though, at some point an increase in bottom bezel will make this grip impossible. With that said, I also frequently grip my phone without my pinky at the bottom. This is easy with the iPhone because the phone is thin enough to get a secure hold with this grip.

I think the argument of utility is not as straight forward as your monitor example. The phone needs to satisfy many functions that are not relevant to the monitor. As the study cited in the article showed; the phones utility as an input device is improved by its smaller size. Additionally, its utility as a portable device is also obviously aided by being smaller. Both of those things are irrelevant to the desktop monitor.

Also, the display size of a phone is effectively variable because you could easily hold it closer to your face. When I went from a Nexus 4 to an HTC One to an iPhone 5 in the span of about 5 weeks, I had very little trouble adjusting back to the iPhone. I would instinctively hold it a tiny bit closer to my face and the effective size of everything I was looking at was virtually identical.

 

[nugundam93]

Cryolithic[/url]":dvb3zg7x]

ws3
Quote:
Maybe the fact that women, who fill out more of the small-hands demographic, stereotypically don’t know or care what a powerful phone is plays a role here.


Aagh! More sexism!

No idea why you were downvoted into oblivion for stating the truth.

I could say that asians tend to have small hands, and yet when I see a Note 2, it's usually in the hands of some small asian girl.

See how neither "asian" nor "girl" mattered there?

Exactly.

people do buy bigger phones for its advantage of bigger screen size and other functions. age, sex and race (and implied average body size) have nothing to do with this though.

i'm inviting you guys to look at our office in the philippines...a lot of the people here have big phones (note-sized) .

 

[dylane]

adipose[/url]":1q8zbwzc]

The Android platform used to beat the drum of consumer choice loud and often, but only a few short years after the platform’s launch, phones have settled along a two-dimensional spectrum: huge, expensive, and unwieldy, or small, inexpensive, and mediocre.

And no qwerty sliders!

I think these two go hand in hand somewhat. I had a Droid 4 for awhile (before returning it because of the non removable battery) and then moved to the Note 2. Even though the Note 2 has a much bigger screen, the useable screen size most of the time I'm using it is actually smaller than the D4 since the virtual keyboard covers up so much of the screen. Trying to fit a virtual keyboard onto a >4" device and still have screen left over to see anything seems hopeless...and most of these virtual keyboards don't even seem to have dedicated number keys!

 

[Marco Romeny]

I can't agree more! Even as a guy with fairly large hands I'm really wishing for a 4" max phone with decent specs. And I'm not too concerned about resolution either - I much rather have a fast phone with an extra battery hour or two.

 

[mr_pookie]

Screen sizes between 4 and 5 inches are here to stay. It is the sweet spot for balancing stowability, clarity and touch accuracy. Any smaller and you are zooming excessively to accurately touch links and read things. Any bigger and the phone becomes a two handed briefcase monster.

Phones can't get much thinner for now because of the hardware limitations. But we could reduce the bezel to near zero. We could create flip-split screens with a minimal seam at the cost of stowed thickness. Flexible screens could make phones thinner (by a little bit) by reducing the need for a rigid (thick) case.

In the short term I'd say that optimizing screens for touch is the key more so than bending over backwards to reduce the package. Don't make people reach to the ends of the earth to press a button. A "big" phone with one handed operation should be the developers goal. Reconfigure (throw out or at least give an alternative to) the qwerty keyboard for one thumb operation. Utilize the backside of the phone for cursor or touch operations. There is more that can be done to make the screen "feel" smaller.

We can have it all, but we've got to develop the technology for the perfectly packaged phone. Until then we've got to make reasonable compromises.

On a side note and less seriously.... We can make smaller phones today if people got rid of their ridiculous protective cases. You would think everybody on earth works on a battlefield or oil rig with the military grade skins they put on their crappy-old phones. Have a little tiny bit of respect for your phone and you don't need it.

 

[reno79]

I have a Galaxy S3 which I can happily use single handed and reach all four corners with my thumb, and regularly do. I actually find it more comfortable to type with both thumbs so a bigger screen for me makes this much easier.

I had a Note II for a few days and loved it, the only thing that let it down was the res. If the Note III is the same physical size as the Note II with 1080p screen and smaller bezels, I think that will be my next phone.

On a side note, I recently had cause to use a Desire S (3.7" screen) and could not use it without hitting the wrong part of the screen constantly unless I was really focusing and in prolonged email/text usage I got cramps in the thumb joints. I don't have large hands (I'm only 5'7", less than average height) or particalarly fat fingers, but the days of 4" phones I think are seriously numbered.

 

[WereCatf]

I find myself making mistakes ALL THE GOD DAMN TIME when I'm trying to type something on a touchscreen, and this is on the 5.3" Galaxy Note. On a smaller phone I make even more errors and it takes me several times longer to type out a message. As such that's one very important reason for why I choose phones with large screens.

The second reason why I choose phones with large screens is that I have poor eyesight and the larger the screen and higher the resolution the less I have to strain myself trying to figure out what's displayed on the screen.

One-handed use, on the other hand, is almost wholly irrelevant to me. I mean, sure, back in the days it was easy to type out a quick message to someone as you could hold the phone in one hand and operate something or do something with the other, but alas, the buttons were also actually physical buttons -- now you still have to keep your eyes on the screen in order to operate the phone and as such the whole point with one-handed use has lost a lot of its weight; you can't just type a message with one hand and keep the eyes on whatever you're doing with the other hand anymore. And well, the two reasons I outlined above simply trump the small ease-of-use afforded by one-handed operation.

 

[Wheaty73]

mr_pookie[/url]":3iky90v9]Screen sizes between 4 and 5 inches are here to stay. It is the sweet spot for balancing stowability, clarity and touch accuracy. Any smaller and you are zooming excessively to accurately touch links and read things. Any bigger and the phone becomes a two handed briefcase monster.

I use the double-tap-to-zoom on my MBP in Safari all the time, and that has a much bigger screen. Even on my Nexus 7 I tend to double-tap the screen to zoom on text. Not because my eyes are poor (they are, but that is why we invented glasses) but I find it helps me focus.

mr_pookie[/url]":3iky90v9]
On a side note and less seriously.... We can make smaller phones today if people got rid of their ridiculous protective cases. You would think everybody on earth works on a battlefield or oil rig with the military grade skins they put on their crappy-old phones. Have a little tiny bit of respect for your phone and you don't need it.

I know a lot of iPhone users that love their cases - remember the nineties / 00's when removable cases for phones were in? There is a huge market in making your phone unique to you.

 

[WereCatf]

reno79[/url]":3cyq4n2o]I had a Note II for a few days and loved it, the only thing that let it down was the res. If the Note III is the same physical size as the Note II with 1080p screen and smaller bezels, I think that will be my next phone.

You didn't mention if the S Pen was important to you, but the just-announced HTC One Mega offers a high-quality display, small bezels and large, physical size. Also, the Optimus G Pro is apparently of rather good quality. Maybe you could look into one of those if the S Pen isn't a requirement for you?

 

[Psykhe]

nikster[/url]":2k620335]Some thoughts on the large screens:

- First the original reason why high end phone come with huge screens is still intact: It's easy to add enough battery to drive all these features and processors and 3D accelerators. If the SGS4 was iPhone size, battery life would be 2 hours.

Again, the biggest battery hog by a large margin is the screen, not the CPU.

Also, noone asks for a 4" 1080p display. If the screen dpi stays around the same a phone with a 30% smaller screen area will also need to calculate 30% less display data.

 

[Stormspace]

I'd be happy if they just made the phones a bit thicker to accommodate a battery that lasts longer than a day, one in which we can leave the GPS radio on all day long. That's one thing about the iPhone I like, with everything turned on, the battery will last all day, sometimes a day an a half if the use is light. My Android phones and devices rarely last more than 16 hours.

 

[Taracta]

Sankyou[/url]":erzwdbe2]I put my work Nexus 7 in my pocket today. Pulled it out and acted like it was my phone. The big phone thing has gotten so ridiculous that 2 of the 3 people I was talking to believed me. Good times...

I so wish that the new Nexus 7 LTE is a Phone! I would jump on it immediately!

 

[caseyjohnston]

taswyn[/url]":21x06eer]

Cryolithic[/url]":21x06eer]

ws3
Quote:
Maybe the fact that women, who fill out more of the small-hands demographic, stereotypically don’t know or care what a powerful phone is plays a role here.


Aagh! More sexism!

No idea why you were downvoted into oblivion for stating the truth.

I could say that asians tend to have small hands, and yet when I see a Note 2, it's usually in the hands of some small asian girl.

See how neither "asian" nor "girl" mattered there?

Exactly.

(a) clearly neither of you "got" the sarcasm inherent in Casey's remark.

(b) obviously neither of you read the linked article to make any sort of connection there.

Hence the downvotes.

"Stereotypically" is the operative word there.

 

[caseyjohnston]

pavs[/url]":31ze1xxw]Very minor complaint about the article:

phones have settled along a two-dimensional spectrum: huge, expensive, and unwieldy, or small, inexpensive, and mediocre.

A two-dimensional spectrum would typically leave you two separate choices and could be partitioned into four quadrants: small&cheap, small&expensive, large&cheap, big&expensive. The problem is, then, that the spectrum is effectively one-dimensional, everything is along the small&cheap to big&expensive axis.

I think what I was trying to say was there is a two dimensional spectrum (large to small, high-quality to low-quality) and now phones plot along a line rather than scattering across the space. But I take your point, will make the necessary changes. Thanks!

 

[geoken]

reno79[/url]":1wg0ssqi]I have a Galaxy S3 which I can happily use single handed and reach all four corners with my thumb, and regularly do. I actually find it more comfortable to type with both thumbs so a bigger screen for me makes this much easier.

Are you actually gripping the phone or just resting it in your fingers. In other words, the position you're holding the phone in, could you securely hold it like that while the phone is perpendicular to the floor or in a situation where someone could potentially bump your arm/shoulder?

 

[kansanian]

I'm glad there are others who think the give phone trend is a bit crazy. Options are good, but if Apple can do it, others should be able to. Hopefully the Droid mini and moto x prove to be decent. Not happy that they're taking away sd slots and removable battery, but they look good otherwise.

 

[Thorzdad]

I'd just be happy if I could find a simple, durable phone. I really don't need a handheld computer requiring an additional data plan.

 

[DeerSteak]

I want a non-humongous screen because I'm just going to stick it in a case, and I don't want the case to be ginormous. I'm using an HTC One S right now and it's in an Otterbox Commuter case. It felt positively small compared to my wife's SGS3 but then I hermetically sealed it and it's quite the bulge in my (non-skinny, normally-cut, fat-person-friendly) jeans.

 

[spartak]

I'm quite happy with my 4" Sony Xperia P. To my knowledge the last small high-end android smartphone released, perhaps some exotic model aside. It's fluid and snappy, has a physical shutter and fantastic camera, excellent screen and build quality, a true pleasure to use.

I wouldnt call any of the 4.3" options like Razr M, One Mini or S4 mini small, those are well in the midsize department, and for me personally not comfortable anymore to use onehanded.

Honoustly, save for the mediocre battery life I wouldnt know what to want from another phone. So if this phone dies I'll probably try to buy a replacement from the 2nd hand market. It's sad that Sony never made a successor to this phone.

 

[daarong]

I wasn't sure how switching to the Note 2 would go... 5.6" screen, people jokingly call my phone the "pocket tablet"... and it's true. It has the luxurious space of a tablet, but importantly - fits in (mens') pockets. But after being on the Note 2 for a few months, I really can't imagine going back. When I handle my wife's HTC One I cringe at how cramped it is!!

Until they come up with folding or otherwise compacting screens... I say bring on the giant phones!

 

[DeerSteak]

Thorzdad[/url]":3onwmqry]I'd just be happy if I could find a simple, durable phone. I really don't need a handheld computer requiring an additional data plan.

My dad's got some sort of Verizon-branded Samsung flip-phone thing with a rugged exterior and it's supposed to survive a half hour in the lake. They're out there. Kind of rare, but you CAN find them.

 

[Workaround]

As a member of the "very-large-handed dude demographic" I love the current trend. Everything else in this world is made for you normals, let us freaks have our phones .

In all seriousness though, this is one reason iPhone users stay so faithful - a lot of them love the flagship in the smaller form factor.

 

[GhostRed]

I thought that when I went from a Nexus S 4G to an iPhone 5 the screen would feel smaller, but it really doesn't, and technically they're both 4in screens, but the Nexus was a wider phone making it feel bigger.

I've used the Samsung Note and Note II, and think they make really awesome tablets, but using them as a phone seems awkward.

I guess if you're a 7ft basketball player with huge hands, the Note would be ideal, but at 6'1" with average hands it's just not ergonomically right.

My personal feeling is that you should have a phone that does the things your tablet does, but is conveniently enough-sized that you don't have to compromise comfort, and a tablet for the things that require a bigger screen.

I think manufacturers are trying to pack a tablet into a phone, unfortunately this isn't the House of Leaves, so it just won't work; you can't have your cake and eat it, too. But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake. And the science gets done.

 

[Deleted member 174040]

Thorzdad[/url]":hnhn6ohe]I'd just be happy if I could find a simple, durable phone.

This more than anything is why I'm moving onto the iPhone. It's impressive how many (even the tech reporters here at Ars) are still productively using their 4's and 4s's (and even 3GS's!) this long after their release.

 

[onix]

Sony Xperia SX SO-05D -- http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?id ... hone2=4775

Maybe if more people went out and bought this phone, someone would take notice. And maybe Sony would cater to the broader market outside of Japan.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=1881803

 

[Alex Alegado]

nibb[/url]":2xngcz1v]You are not supposed to read for long periods of time with a phone. Its for small and fast tasks, communication, be on the road or carry data around, its supposed to be portable and you should be able to use it with one hand as well.

Where did this rule come from?

 

[spartak]

geoken[/url]":3nxare09]I don't understand the argument where people compare the overall size of some large phone (like the Moto x) the the overall size of the iPhone and point out how close they are.

Fitting more screen into less body doesn't help usability. Excessive top and bottom bezels have no negative impact on usability. My iPhone could have a foot of bezel on top of the screen and it wouldn't change the fact that I can easily reach any point on the screen while gripping my phone. Conversely, if Apple found a way to make the front face of the phone 100% screen, it would be unusable despite maintaining the exact same overall dimensions because I would no longer be able to reach the top and bottom of the screen without adjusting my hand position.

indeed, some people don't seem to understand we arent talking about phone size, but screen size.

 

[Kasoroth]

mr_pookie[/url]":76lulbix]
Screen sizes between 4 and 5 inches are here to stay. It is the sweet spot for balancing stowability, clarity and touch accuracy. Any smaller and you are zooming excessively to accurately touch links and read things. Any bigger and the phone becomes a two handed briefcase monster.

On a side note and less seriously.... We can make smaller phones today if people got rid of their ridiculous protective cases. You would think everybody on earth works on a battlefield or oil rig with the military grade skins they put on their crappy-old phones. Have a little tiny bit of respect for your phone and you don't need it.

SedsAtArs[/url]":76lulbix]
Having finally found a Note II in a store that wasn't bolted down (this was just a dummy though), I found that even the Note II fit comfortably in my pocket. Next time I buy a phone, I'll look for something roughly similar in size to that.

What bothers me about the race is what's been mentioned by a few people in the thread already. Thickness. I don't care if my phone is 7mm or 9mm or even 12mm. I want more battery life, not yet another mm shaved off. Please, someone, think of the children.

I see a very few posts suggesting that people who like larger screens for their phones should just buy tablets. I don't own any tablets, and don't care to own one. At home I use my laptops, no full size tablet fits in my trouser pockets.

This basically sums up my preferences. Phone calls are a small minority of what I use my "phone" for. My ideal "phone" is essentially "as close to a tablet as possible while still being comfortable pocketable". The Galaxy S4 seems like a pretty good size to me, though I would prefer it to be slightly thicker with even more battery life (or a slide out physical keyboard). The battery is generally sufficient for my daily use, but being able to get through two days if I forget to charge it would be nice.

I don't have any case on it (nor have I used a case on any previous phones), and generally prefer two handed use regardless of phone size simply because it seems more secure and less prone to dropping. Trying to hold and manipulate a phone with a single hand just seems like asking for trouble to me. Two handed use reduces the need for a case, which allows for more thickness without losing pocketability.

While I do have a 10" tablet (Transformer Infinity), it serves a totally different role than my phone. It's more like a netbook with really great battery life and a detachable touchscreen. It's something I might bring with me if I anticipate a specific need for it, but it's not something that I just carry with me wherever I go. I have a 17" laptop for going somewhere where I can plug in to AC and need essentially a portable workstation, and the Transformer for when I need more than the phone but can't rely on AC power being available.

 

[MilanKraft]

The phones shown in the article photos are maybe some of the dumbest / laziest designs I've ever seen in the world of tech gadgetry. Instead of doing the hard work to shrink things down and make the devices fit within a pragmatic range of sizes of the typical user's hand-size, pockets, etc... they mailed it in and produced these monstrosities.

Has anyone ever encountered someone on the street with one of these face-sized gadgets on their ear? <L> It's so bad it's even a step down from being a Glasshole or having one of those Motorola "ear mobiles" stuck to your head 24/7.

I can't believe whoever the product managers and lead designers were, looked at the finished product and thought "yah this is OK... people can use this sized device as a phone."