Are high/mid range phones with 4" display dead?

[Kodiak12]

I really like the form factor of 4" devices. 4.5" is doable and what I have now but I really miss my broken Lumia 520.

 

[Ma Rio]

Yup, the times have passed. Flagships are in the range of 5-6 inches now. Which I personally like. Can't wait for a new phablet flagship.
#1520MasterRace

EDIT1: Fun fact: I just checked a few days ago, and the Lumia 1520 is bigger than the 500€ bill (which is huge).

 

[qwertyaa]

The prefect size is 4,00-4,3 inches. No more or less. I have Lumia 1020 and the phone is really huge in my pocket. I do care for excellent photo quality. I have also HTC 8x, which is very good phone, but camera is far worse than Lumia's. But it stands perfect in my hand. Other choice is Lumia 720, but it has only 512 RAM. And of course Apple iPhone 5/5s, which have super good cameras and 3rd party keyboards. But i don't like iOS. Almost everybody has iPhone or Galaxy. I want to be different. Maybe i will get 8x and sell my Lumia 1020, and buy some good standalone camera.
Please vote:
https://windowsphone.uservoice.com/...redictive-text-and-swype-for-bulgarian-langua

 

[RumoredNow]

5" is the new 4"

 

[Josip Zeljko]

The prefect size is 4,00-4,3 inches. No more or less. I have Lumia 1020 and the phone is really huge in my pocket. I do care for excellent photo quality. I have also HTC 8x, which is very good phone, but camera is far worse than Lumia's. But it stands perfect in my hand. Other choice is Lumia 720, but it has only 512 RAM. And of course Apple iPhone 5/5s, which have super good cameras and 3rd party keyboards. But i don't like iOS. Almost everybody has iPhone or Galaxy. I want to be different. Maybe i will get 8x and sell my Lumia 1020, and buy some good standalone camera.
Please vote:
https://windowsphone.uservoice.com/...redictive-text-and-swype-for-bulgarian-langua

Sounds like the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is a perfect fit for you (if you could bare using android)

 

[EMitchell]

I wish it weren't the case. My 520 was the perfect size phone, fit well in my pocket, easy to use. I loved it after my 900 and 920. But I upgraded to the 830 for better quality. The iPhone 6 seems to me to be just right: high quality, thin, nice size. Too bad about the OS. Windows can be loaded on Macbooks, I wonder if we'll reach a point that we can load a phone OS on generic HW.

 

[3earnhardt3]

Nope, small phones with high specs will come back, just like any other "fashion" item. The biggest problem I have with small phones is the battery size. I used to run an HTC Trophy with the extended battery (with its huge back cover). Got great battery life, but it was 3/4" thick!!!

 

[Kram Sacul]

Pretty much. Music had the loudness wars and sound quality went down the toilet. Phones have the size wars and one handed use and pocketability went out the window. Even Apple which stood by their easy to use with one hand philosophy finally gave up and followed Samsung down the same misguided road. I miss the days where people had a choice between big and small. Now it's between big and too big.

 

[qwertyaa]

Re: Are high/mid range phones with 4" display dead?

I wish it weren't the case. My 520 was the perfect size phone, fit well in my pocket, easy to use. I loved it after my 900 and 920. But I upgraded to the 830 for better quality. The iPhone 6 seems to me to be just right: high quality, thin, nice size. Too bad about the OS. Windows can be loaded on Macbooks, I wonder if we'll reach a point that we can load a phone OS on generic HW.

IPhone 6 is 4.7". My Lumia 1020 is exactly 4.5". It's too big. I want to use the phone with only one hand. I tried for a less than a week hTC 8x. It has 4.3 inch display which is very nice.



To user, who recommended me Xperia Z3 compact. I don't like Android anymore. WP is super OS. I don't care about apps. I don't have Instagram, Snapchats, Tweeter and other ugly American things. Only ugly FB, but i don't use it.



The only Android which is worthy is Xiaomi Mi-2S. Perfect size.

About iPhone 5/5s. It's nothing special about this device. I think the people , who give money for iPhone are crazy.

 

[Altin Selimi]

Phones should be between 3.8-4.3 inches. Period.

 

[someone2639]

Phones should be between 3.8-4.3 inches. Period.

We should stay with 1" screens and a keyboard! Plus a flashlight.

 

[Ma Rio]

This is how things go.
If you wan't a flagship, you'll have to take a 5'' phone. And that's final.
You can't find a 4'' 1080p display, so don't even bother talkin' about that.
And the technology is going forward, take that in mind, so nobody's going to settle anymore with a 720p display.
If you wan't a 4'' phone, you can find it easy, but it will be bad. Really bad.
My suggestion, get used to bigger phones. And who in the world gives a crap about one hand usage? (except handicaped people with one hand or smth like that)
I have a 1520, and I mostly use it with 2 hands. Problem? Not at all.

 

[jomarr]

Pretty much. Music had the loudness wars and sound quality went down the toilet. Phones have the size wars and one handed use and pocketability went out the window. Even Apple which stood by their easy to use with one hand philosophy finally gave up and followed Samsung down the same misguided road. I miss the days where people had a choice between big and small. Now it's between big and too big.

Hopefully with the new chips, sound quality will improve. Going back to my 1520 from the One M7, I made huge adjustments. The 1520 is pretty good in that department but the M7 is just on another level. Great detail and sound stage. Hopefully Microsoft ups its game on the sound quality department come the Win10 phones.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App for Android!

 

[jomarr]

This is how things go.
If you wan't a flagship, you'll have to take a 5'' phone. And that's final.
You can't find a 4'' 1080p display, so don't even bother talkin' about that.
And the technology is going forward, take that in mind, so nobody's going to settle anymore with a 720p display.
If you wan't a 4'' phone, you can find it easy, but it will be bad. Really bad.
My suggestion, get used to bigger phones. And who in the world gives a crap about one hand usage? (except handicaped people with one hand or smth like that)
I have a 1520, and I mostly use it with 2 hands. Problem? Not at all.

4 inch mid range phones could work. Honestly, it's nice to have options and while I have a mammoth of a phone (1520), I hate carrying a secondary phone that's around 4.5 inches and above. I have a Lumia 630 as a secondary phone and the moment my sis gets a micro sim I'm going to hand it to her and get her N8. Or just get a blackberry or an older iPhone.

Big phones are nice but carrying two big ones is just a burden. Like I said before in another thread, if Microsoft makes a dual Sim flagship I'll be the first in line. But since that's highly unlikely, I'm sticking with a secondary phone 4 inches or under.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App for Android!

 

[Kodiak12]

The biggest problem I have with small phones is the battery size.

^This.

When my 520 died I went to a cheap lumia 635 temporarily until I see what new offerings MS brings forth. Can't say I miss the puny 1400mAh battery in that thing.

I'm really not hating the 4.5" on the 635 but I do think 4.3" is the sweet spot for one handed thumb-flicking. (At least for me).

 

[mhc48]

I love the camera, flash and other features of my 930, but I've been testing WP10 on my old 635 and every time I pick it up, miss the size, lightness and way it fits so well in my hand. And I can use it one handedly so well. If I let it slide down a bit, I can even get to and use the hamburger menu with my thumb.

 

[WinampLlama]

I found my old Palm Pre a few days ago and was shocked by how small it was. I think 4.7" is the perfect size but I have bigger hands

 

[Kram Sacul]

Hopefully with the new chips, sound quality will improve. Going back to my 1520 from the One M7, I made huge adjustments. The 1520 is pretty good in that department but the M7 is just on another level. Great detail and sound stage. Hopefully Microsoft ups its game on the sound quality department come the Win10 phones.

I think you misunderstood.

Loudness war - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CDs got louder and louder to ridiculous levels. The same thing with phones and bumping up the screen size. Not too long ago 4.3" was considered large. Now it's tiny. Hopefully people sooner rather will demand for smartphones to be pocketable again and not wannabe tablets.

 

[steve_w_7]

Size is subjective. However, In my opinion, 5" is the sweet spot - especially with the Windows Phone OS. To really take advantage of all the tile sizes and the third column, I think 4.7" is the smallest you would want to go.

 

[The Extreme G]

Hey qwertyaa,

The 1020 is big because of its overall footprint. The are some (non windows) phones out there with 5in screen with the same or lesser footprint of the 1020. I know this because I have a 920 and a Nexus 5. The Nexus is thinner, has less bezel, slightly narrower, and weighs less than the 920.

920 = 4.5in
Nexus 5 = 5in

Maybe the new Windows 10 phones can make the magic happen.