Too Big, Too Small...Just Right | Screen Sizes for new Phones

[andrelamont]

I remember when the Samsung Galaxy 3 came out with its massive 4.8" screen and I thought it was too big, and was one of the people who said a 4.3" screen was the sweetspot as my samsung (original) focus had a 4" screen. So when I finally held the Lumia 900 came out w/its 4.3" I thought it was the perfect screen size and wondered how could anyone hold a 4.8" screen?

Fast forward today, and I think differently. I now realize that the overall footprint (physical size) of the phone is a better indicator of what screen size is right. For example, look at the sizes of three phones listed below


Nokia 900
4.3" screen
128 ? 69 ? 12 mm
(5.03" ? 2.7" ? 0.45")

Samsung Galaxy III
4.8" screen
136.6 ? 70.6 ? 8.6 mm
(5.38" ? 2.78" ? 0.34")

HTC Titan II
4.7" screen
132 x 71 x 9.9 mm
(5.18" x 2.78" 0.39")



Can I realisticly now say that a 4.8 screen is too big and a 4.3 lumia is just right? Nope, they have the same footprint! A mere 6mm in height and I shout 4.8 screen is too big? I sound foolish

I understand now, that OEMs vary the bezel size ( material surrounding the screen ) and that plays a big role in how large a phone feels in your hand.

Maybe one day when edge-to-edge screens are normal I could do fair apples to apples comparison w/screen sizes, as of right now the overall physical phone size is far more important


Here are the raw screen dimension of several popular screen sizes. Assuming a 16:9 screen rations with square pixels
4.0"
88.6mm by 49.8mm
(3.49" x 1.96")

4.3"
95.2mm by 53.6mm
(3.75" x 2.11")

4.5"
99.6mm by 55.9mm
(3.92" x 2.2")

4.8"
106.2mm by 59.7mm
(4.18" x 2.35")

 

[alrutani]

Its all about bezel size, enough said.

 

[Winterfang]

I've being trying to say this but my English wasn't good enough.

The huge bezel was one of the reasons I skipped the 800 and waited for the "ace", Not really because it looked bad ( it does, you can land a helicopter in that chin) but because it was just a Windows Phone badly crammed into the N9 body.

I think the design of the 920 doesn't look coherent and is a little Frankensteinish.

 

[poiman]

I've being trying to say this but my English wasn't good enough.

The huge bezel was one of the reasons I skipped the 800 and waited for the "ace", Not really because it looked bad ( it does, you can land a helicopter in that chin) but because it was just a Windows Phone badly crammed into the N9 body.

I think the design of the 920 doesn't look coherent and is a little Frankensteinish.

I also thing the Lumia 920 bazel could be smaller, but after seeing this picture it doesn't seem to be so big anymore:

 

[smoledman]

iPhone has a huge bezel.

 

[Winterfang]

Yes but there's not empty space. So it's more pleasing to the eyes.

 

[brmiller1976]

Larger phones are better for many people with large hands who use on-screen keyboards.

20 million Galaxy S III series phones sold shows that 4"+ screens have a huge market.

My personal preference is something around 4" to 4.5". The HTC 8X is rumored to have the screen from the One X, which is PERFECT.

 

[Winterfang]

The one X screen is 4.7. Which I found big on the Titan but great on the One X, probably because of how thin the phone was.

 

[brmiller1976]

Good catch! You are correct.

I love the One X. It's gorgeous. It just happens to run that dreadful Android thingamajig.

 

[Winterfang]

I actually prefer the Evo 4g LTE. It has a more industrial look to it, it doesn't look like a toy and the camera is so good.

LOL I'm actually was trying to convince a friend of mine to get the One X instead of the Galaxy S3 since it was a 100 dollars cheaper and basically the same. But she said not, because the GS3 is completely white while the One X isn't.

Samsung knows what the **** they are doing. They nailed everything on that phone.

 

[poiman]

Yes but there's not empty space. So it's more pleasing to the eyes.

It's full of empty spaces!!! On the sides of the home button specially!! Between the camera and the screen more empty bazel! The effect is even worse if it's the black version!

 

[Winterfang]

It's full of empty spaces!!! On the sides of the home button specially!! Between the camera and the screen more empty bazel! The effect is even worse if it's the black version!

That's not empty space, is perfectly symmetrical. Nokia could just put the capacity buttons a little be lower in the middle of the bezel and it wouldn't look so horrible. But what does Nokia knows about design? They think people will buy a Yellow phone.

 

[poiman]

That's not empty space, is perfectly symmetrical. Nokia could just put the capacity buttons a little be lower in the middle of the bezel and it wouldn't look so horrible. But what does Nokia knows about design? They think people will buy a Yellow phone.

I didn't argue if it was symmetrical or not, I talked about empty space and as you can easily see, iPhone has more wasted/empty space than the Lumia. As far as I know "symmetrical" doesn't mean "no wasted space".

 

[Winterfang]

Actually it does. It was there with a reason, a design in mind. The wasted space in the 920 contrast with the design of the phone.

 

[poiman]

Actually it does. It was there with a reason, a design in mind.

Bad design, as the home button could be a lot smaller or capacitive, making more free space for a taller screen (instead of making a taller iphone as they will do with the 5). Seems like apple is proud of their empty bazel all around their phone. Well, they can be as they sold so many units, but that doesn't make the design any better.

 

[brmiller1976]

You're comparing iPhone 4S (a year-old, soon to be entry level product) with Lumia 920 (an unreleased prototype that is supposed to be high end).

Wait a week and compare the new Apple device to Lumia 920... then this conversation will have more relevance.

 

[poiman]

You're comparing iPhone 4S (a year-old, soon to be entry level product) with Lumia 920 (an unreleased prototype that is supposed to be high end).

Wait a week and compare the new Apple device to Lumia 920... then this conversation will have more relevance.

You are probably the only one who has not seen the iphone5 design yet. If you think that the final design isn't the one that we saw so far, please don't reply saying that. It's pointless.

 

[brmiller1976]

You are probably the only one who has not seen the iphone5 design yet. If you think that the final design isn't the one that we saw so far, please don't reply saying that. It's pointless.

I've seen rumored designs. I prefer to see actual prototypes as shown in a presentation (and ideally, shipping product).

The comparisons are all of year-old product next to product that has no ship date. That's hardly reasonable.

I'm pretty confident that Apple will release product that is significantly better than what they had last year... and likely different from what was promised and rumored (after all, if you went by the form factors shown in "leaks" prior to the 4S launch, you were WAAAAY off with expectations versus what shipped).

 

[poiman]

I've seen rumored designs. I prefer to see actual prototypes as shown in a presentation (and ideally, shipping product).

The comparisons are all of year-old product next to product that has no ship date. That's hardly reasonable.

I'm pretty confident that Apple will release product that is significantly better than what they had last year... and likely different from what was promised and rumored (after all, if you went by the form factors shown in "leaks" prior to the 4S launch, you were WAAAAY off with expectations versus what shipped).

Like I said, pointless. Better talk about it on Wednesday.

 

[squire777]

Yes but there's not empty space. So it's more pleasing to the eyes.

That's not empty space, is perfectly symmetrical. Nokia could just put the capacity buttons a little be lower in the middle of the bezel and it wouldn't look so horrible. But what does Nokia knows about design? They think people will buy a Yellow phone.

Actually it does. It was there with a reason, a design in mind. The wasted space in the 920 contrast with the design of the phone.

I know you dislike Nokia, but please for the sake of this forum stop. You're making a fool of yourself.