I'm a fan of consumer choice. When Samsung pushed the envelope of big phones I rejoiced. I have big hands and my eyes sometimes want something bigger to look at. The iPhone set the standard in 2007 with a 3.5 inch diagonal screen. In 2010 the iPhone 4 was arguably the best design of their 3.5" models. In 2012 Samsung released their Galaxy S3 at 4.8" diagonal. It was huge. In 2011 they released the Note, the biggest phone on the market, with a 5.3" diagonal. I love the big screen, but it's ridiculous that big should preclude small.
In 2014 Apple caved and the iPhone 6 was big. The 6 Plus was even bigger. Samsung's latest S8 and S8+ are their biggest yet. But why have both these companies stopped making small phones? If they make the regular and a plus size, how about a mini? Especially Samsung who makes an "active" version of their flagship phone, and the "J" cheaper versions.
Not everyone has big hands and wants to watch movies on their phones, therfore not everyone wants big phones. I've seen advertisements for bras that were designed with pockets to fit those cute little iPhones. How many women in the world are or would prefer to walk around with neither purse nor pockets? Answer: a lot. But they should have a phone with them. (You should especially agree with that statement if you make a living making or selling phones.) How many people have small or medium sized hands? Answer: a lot. When you double the size of the phone, you make it harder for most women to carry it directly on their body, and even uncomfortable to use. Come on Apple and Samsung (and every other manufacturer) add an iPhone 8 Mini and Galaxy S8 Mini as part of your standard product line from now on.
As an example, here's a photo of my hand and my wife's:
And while we're on the topic of size, let's point out that both iOS and Android still look the same on 3.5" screens and on 6" screens. The standard method of handling this is just to display at higher resolution. Can the operating systems please catch up and scale better, with an option to make everything on the home screen smaller? Namely, fit more icons and use smaller fonts, and in the case of Android, make sure the widgets scale proportionally too? Because while some of us buy big phones because our eyes are getting older and we need bigger text, none the less for the rest of us big icons and big text is what we do for toddlers and children. Big kids and grown ups can read small print. Now, I'm a fan of consumer choice, so make sure there is an option for scaling, don't just change the default.
In 2014 Apple caved and the iPhone 6 was big. The 6 Plus was even bigger. Samsung's latest S8 and S8+ are their biggest yet. But why have both these companies stopped making small phones? If they make the regular and a plus size, how about a mini? Especially Samsung who makes an "active" version of their flagship phone, and the "J" cheaper versions.
Not everyone has big hands and wants to watch movies on their phones, therfore not everyone wants big phones. I've seen advertisements for bras that were designed with pockets to fit those cute little iPhones. How many women in the world are or would prefer to walk around with neither purse nor pockets? Answer: a lot. But they should have a phone with them. (You should especially agree with that statement if you make a living making or selling phones.) How many people have small or medium sized hands? Answer: a lot. When you double the size of the phone, you make it harder for most women to carry it directly on their body, and even uncomfortable to use. Come on Apple and Samsung (and every other manufacturer) add an iPhone 8 Mini and Galaxy S8 Mini as part of your standard product line from now on.
As an example, here's a photo of my hand and my wife's:
And while we're on the topic of size, let's point out that both iOS and Android still look the same on 3.5" screens and on 6" screens. The standard method of handling this is just to display at higher resolution. Can the operating systems please catch up and scale better, with an option to make everything on the home screen smaller? Namely, fit more icons and use smaller fonts, and in the case of Android, make sure the widgets scale proportionally too? Because while some of us buy big phones because our eyes are getting older and we need bigger text, none the less for the rest of us big icons and big text is what we do for toddlers and children. Big kids and grown ups can read small print. Now, I'm a fan of consumer choice, so make sure there is an option for scaling, don't just change the default.