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

[Kram Sacul]

Actually 3 column mode on my 4.3" 820 is pretty comfortable. I was surprised they pulled it off so well because the screenshots looked like a joke at first. I wouldn't use 3 column on anything smaller though like the 620.

5" is just too big to use one handed. 4.5 - 4.7" should be the max for any smart phone. Anything bigger and you really have to wonder what you're tying to compensate for.

 

[EMitchell]

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

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.

The iPhone6 is indeed longer, but it's both narrower and thinner. I think this would allow better one-hand operation.

 

[qwertyaa]

Yes, but I will never buy phone with display size over 4,5. Even over 4,3. I don't like Apple products. I hope to make a WP phone with 4,3 display and PureView technology and I will buy it. The only reason I use L1020 is the camera. Even at the moment it's difficult to me to write this text. I even use Swype and it's awful. HTC 8x size was prefect one. I still have this phone (8x) and it's not to bad, but the camera couldn't even compare with L1020.

please vote
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[DCTF]

I guess the more we see 1440p phones at the current ~5-inch standard, the more likely it is that you'll see a 1080p compromise with a smaller screen. A lot of people seem to want it.

All I can say is that I can't imagine going back to a smaller phone. I used to think the 920 was going to be too big until I owned one, and now it's just normal to me.

 

[anon(123856)]

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.

I think the 4.00" form factor is dead unfortunately. I really like my 830 but it is a bit larger than I would prefer. My 822 was about the perfect size for me.

 

[natan man]

I have L820 with 4.3" and it's the best size for me. But to work with one hand 4" it's the best, if you you have good eyes and small fingers.

 

[white_Shadoww]

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

A same spec'd Lumia would be very very good. I mean just add OIS.

 

[white_Shadoww]

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.

It's very annoying that people describe a phone's music quality is good based on how loud it is. Agree with one handed usability.

 

[white_Shadoww]

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

I have specs for some small phones in my mind.

1. 6 series, maybe 650.
As the original 620 was a small phone with quality, I think MS should go the same way. Maybe 645.

Screen - 4 inch 540x960 with ClearBlack
Processor - Snapdragon 400
RAM - 1GB
Memory - 8GB
Camera - 6.7MP Carl Zeiss, same as 720 with 1080p video recording, 1 HAAC chip for audio recording.

(Trust me, 540x960 qHD is really good at 4 inches screen size. Plus the less resolution would mean better graphics performance with the Adreno 305, so it's a win win, best of both worlds, graphics performance and clarity.)

2. 7 series, maybe 735.

Screen - 4.3 inches, 720p with ClearBlack
Processor - Snapdragon 610
RAM - 1GB
Memory - 8GB
Camera - 8MP with OIS, 2 HAAC chips for audio recording.

Personally I don't trust the big.LITTLE, so I think 610 would be better than 615.

 

[Kodiak12]

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

Screen - 4 inch 540x960 with ClearBlack
Processor - Snapdragon 400
RAM - 1GB
Memory - 8GB
Camera - 6.7MP Carl Zeiss, same as 720 with 1080p video recording, 1 HAAC chip for audio recording.

Add a 1800mah battery if it'll fit and I'd spring for something like this.

Again, 4" is easy on the thumb for most. I started with a 3.5" iPhone and had no problems with that. (4" even seemed kind of big after that). I've held 5" phones and they just seem unwieldy to me. Can't imagine dragging a 6" around with me.

There are really a lot of choices even in the 4" range. The problem is they're getting long in the tooth or they sacrifice something big just to keep it in the budget category. (No LED flash, No front camera, dismal display quality, lack of LTE, etc). Sadly though, nothing other than more budget 4" phones seem to be coming even by 3rd parties and even those are getting rarer.

 

[white_Shadoww]

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

Add a 1800mah battery if it'll fit and I'd spring for something like this.

Again, 4" is easy on the thumb for most. I started with a 3.5" iPhone and had no problems with that. (4" even seemed kind of big after that). I've held 5" phones and they just seem unwieldy to me. Can't imagine dragging a 6" around with me.

There are really a lot of choices even in the 4" range. The problem is they're getting long in the tooth or they sacrifice something big just to keep it in the budget category. (No LED flash, No front camera, dismal display quality, lack of LTE, etc). Sadly though, nothing other than more budget 4" phones seem to be coming even by 3rd parties and even those are getting rarer.

You have the same problem as I have.
I have used 920 for almost a year and half, and it got stolen recently, so I am forced to use my old Xperia U, which is only 3.5 inches in screen size. Although I used 920 for this much time, i didn't really get used to it, but thanks to WP 8.1, all the commands being in the lower portion of screen, the phone was still usable. It doesn't seem to be the case with Windows 10. And now that I am using the small Xperia, I realised how good the form factor is. I can carry it in loose night pants, I can use my phone with only one hand, absolutely not worrying about what occupies the other hand. It's just so easy to use, that I am now confused of which phone to buy. For 4 inches, only the choice is 435, 532 or 540, all of which have very very low end specs. Even 640 is 5 inches. There's just no phone I can buy as of now, and there won't ever be, I think, because everyone is following stupid Samsung about screen size.

 

[Lu520]

For operating 4" phone enough and correct fit but if we consider the entertainement part people concerns(4.5 to 5") phones are perfect for them for greater video and gaming quality.

 

[white_Shadoww]

For operating 4" phone enough and correct fit but if we consider the entertainement part people concerns(4.5 to 5") phones are perfect for them for greater video and gaming quality.

That's why there are different models, to suit needs of different people. Usually I don't do much gaming on my phone besides normal games like Angry Birds and almost never watch any movie on my phone when I have a laptop. So my phone use is only music, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, calling, texting, web browsing and that's it. There maybe people like me.

 

[Jack Just1]

The best size is 4.3"

I personally think that 4.3" is the best size , no too large not too small . I also believe that that is the reason why many people dont buy the new lumia phones .All Microsoft is doing is throwing in everything in a bulky big slab. Of course i am not saying that 5" or 6" are the worst i am just saying that there are different kinds of people and lumia phones are just going for a single type of people.People who buy the new lumia phones belong to a category like ones who always travel in cars middle age people and girls who like flashy colors.:angry:

 

[manus31]

I personally cant see myself going back to les than 4 inch now.My 640 is 5 inch but I must say I prefer 4.5 inch of a 630.Anything bigger than 5 inch is too big in my opinion.

 

[Kodiak12]

I personally cant see myself going back to les than 4 inch now.My 640 is 5 inch but I must say I prefer 4.5 inch of a 630.Anything bigger than 5 inch is too big in my opinion.

Right now I am on a cheap and surprisingly reliable 635 waiting for what MS unveils in the fall. (But I have no delusions about a 4" display). 4.5" isn't bad and quite doable thus far but that's using WP8. With Win10 I'll probably need two hands and a foot to deal with some of the iOS silliness MS has adopted.

I will say this... if 5" is the new entry level form factor that gets me out of the "budget" category I may as well look into 5.7" - 6.0" options. I give up.

 

[jfa1]

screen size is very subjective. But right the trend in the US is for larger screen size I went from the 920 (now using as a test bed for W10P TP to the 1520. I use it sometimes one handed but mostly with two hands just like I used the 920. I personally don't want anything smaller than the 920's 4.5 and I'll be thinking seriously about the CityMan and Talkman models when they arrive or the 640 XL. It would be really nice if they changed the current 640XL specs to the rumored China specs for that device..

 

[rkarolak]

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.

A 720p screen looks good on a 4" phone, however. You don't need as many pixels to achieve the same amount of dpi. Phones like the Z1 Compact are good examples of this. Since they don't need the 1080p resolution it helps cut down on resource usage.

Some people like not needing two hands to operate a phone. Those are the people who "give a crap." It's subjective. I'm fine with my Lumia 1020's screen size, but I do sometimes miss the compact size and ease of controlling the entire phone with thumb from my 4s. It's convenient. However, I realize that small-phones are now in the minority.

 

[Ma Rio]

A 720p screen looks good on a 4" phone, however. You don't need as many pixels to achieve the same amount of dpi. Phones like the Z1 Compact are good examples of this. Since they don't need the 1080p resolution it helps cut down on resource usage.

Some people like not needing two hands to operate a phone. Those are the people who "give a crap." It's subjective. I'm fine with my Lumia 1020's screen size, but I do sometimes miss the compact size and ease of controlling the entire phone with thumb from my 4s. It's convenient. However, I realize that small-phones are now in the minority.

The PPI is a lie. Atleast that's what I think.
My previous phone was the Nokia N8, and it had the crappiest resolution on the crappiest screen (actually the technology was good, but it was only 360x640 on a 3.5''). And you know what? It worked out great for me. OFC, when you compare it to the fullHD screens, you can see the difference - but it's nothing to drool about. IMO the bigger problem is the resolution which allows you to have more content on your screen and make it sharper. So, once again, IMO, PPI isn't important (that much).

Also, since we already talked about that, I think the "switch" from 1h usage to 2h is easy if you're willing to accept change. As I just said, I've gone directly from 3.5'' to 6'' without a problem.

 

[Kodiak12]

As I just said, I've gone directly from 3.5'' to 6'' without a problem.

I applaud your ability to adapt. When I got my 520 the sales dude showed me the 830. I asked if wheels and a trailer hitch came with it.

But I do know someone with an iPhone 6+. He says he seldom uses his laptop now because the large screen pretty much handles everything he needs these days. (as far as consumption goes). No point in even getting a tablet he claims.