What do you use the big screens for?

[BetaTester5]

Hello,

Lately phones started coming out with very large screens (4" and above) - how are you taking advantage of that?
Web browsing? Games? Movies? (maybe another not so obvious usage?)

And what do you think the screen cant help with? I'm guessing texting, calling and emailing can be done just fine with a 3" screen.

I'm just wondering if its worth it, taking into account that phones are getting heavier, bulkier, and use more battery.


Thank you for answering

 

[canesfan625]

If you have bad vision bigger screens are excellent, however, there are other things that can help as well.

 

[mparker]

Bigger screens make for faster and more accurate typing on a virtual keyboard. I think this is one reason that physical keyboards are unlikely to ever be seen on a WP7/8 high-end phone, they add unneeded weight and complexity whereas the bigger screen gives you better typing speed and accuracy and also has other uses. I was a big fan of the blackberry for years, but two of the fastest and most accurate handsets I've ever used been big screened phones with good virtual keyboards (Titan and Galaxy Nexus).

Web browsing is easier and faster since you don't need to zoom in as much. Higher resolution helps too, but given the option of a bigger screen or higher resolution I find the bigger screen is more important.

For games it's also important since the percentage of the screen being covered up by your fingers is much lower.

I don't watch much video on my phones but I could see the bigger screen coming in handy for that.

 

[ejb222]

I use Netflix on my phone. I had an iPhone 3GS with the 3.7 inch screen and now have a Lumia 900 with a 4.3 inch screen. Huge difference. Also it does help with browsing and typing.

 

[freestaterocker]

Texting and typing with large hands. I wanted an iPhone until I tried typing on one... Thought I was gonna be stuck with physical keyboards until I found my HD7.

 

[freestaterocker]

I use Netflix on my phone. I had an iPhone 3GS with the 3.7 inch screen and now have a Lumia 900 with a 4.3 inch screen. Huge difference. Also it does help with browsing and typing.

iPhone has a 3.5" screen.

 

[HeyCori]

Hello,

Lately phones started coming out with very large screens (4" and above) - how are you taking advantage of that?
Web browsing? Games? Movies? (maybe another not so obvious usage?)

And what do you think the screen cant help with? I'm guessing texting, calling and emailing can be done just fine with a 3" screen.

4 inch and larger phones seem huge until you've used one for a while. You'll immediately notice how cramped everything feels if you try dropping down to 3 inches again. Last weekend I compared my Titan to an iPhone 4S by loading up an article on Engadget's mobile website. The 4S' screen resolution made the page look great but the article was much easier to read on my Titan. The Titan has a large (very large) screen so I had a much larger block of text that I could read at once. I didn't have to keep flicking the page up so much like I had to with the 4S.

I'm just wondering if its worth it, taking into account that phones are getting heavier, bulkier, and use more battery.


Thank you for answering

They're getting bulkier but not much heavier. The Titan is extremely well balanced and doesn't feel too heavy in the hand, a feat considering its size. You can also go extremely light with something like the Samsung Focus S. You should definitely get a bigger screen unless you have really small hands.

 

[BetaTester5]

Thank you for replying, got it better now

 

[Laura Knotek]

I like the screen size on my device, since it is easy to type in either portrait or landscape mode. Smaller touchscreen devices are not as friendly to type on in portrait mode.

I also like to watch Netflix.

 

[Verkunder]

I use the large screen to see what's on my phone.

 

[ninjaap]

Love the big screen, but I think my Lumia's 4.3" is going to be max for me on all future phones. I am having a bit of hard time with one handed operation, reaching with my thumb, particularly the bottom buttons (especially the back button, which is the farthest). I think 4" would probably work best for me.

 

[socialcarpet]

Love the big screen, but I think my Lumia's 4.3" is going to be max for me on all future phones. I am having a bit of hard time with one handed operation, reaching with my thumb, particularly the bottom buttons (especially the back button, which is the farthest). I think 4" would probably work best for me.

I agree with this. 4" would probably be idea.

4.3" is great for watching movies, but it's a little large for the pocket. Though if they get to the point where they don't need an inch of phone chassis at the top and bottom of the screen and get it closer to being almost edge-to-edge, it would be perfect. Give me a Lumia with a 4.3" screen that's almost edge to edge and 1280 x 720 resolution and I'd be in heaven.

 

[sentimentGX4]

Last weekend I compared my Titan to an iPhone 4S by loading up an article on Engadget's mobile website.

I've used my Titan for several weeks now and it already looks and feels average sized. We can still go bigger. 4.7" is not that large at all. I think phone sizes will eventually settle at 5"+. Just wait. Come two years from now and you'll all be saying 5" is the ideal size. hahaha...

Bigger displays are great for typing as mentioned earlier. They're also better for browsing nonmobile sites.

 

[anon(5335877)]

I've used my Titan for several weeks now and it already looks and feels average sized. We can still go bigger. 4.7" is not that large at all. I think phone sizes will eventually settle at 5"+. Just wait. Come two years from now and you'll all be saying 5" is the ideal size. hahaha...

Bigger displays are great for typing as mentioned earlier. They're also better for browsing nonmobile sites.

Lol not for me. I use a Titan and while it's not as large as I thought it would be, it's not as natural/comfortable to type on as I would expect. It's not unusable, but I definitely notice the difference between my Titan's 4.7" screen and my Dell Venue Pro's 4.1" screen. On the DVP, it feels like my fingers aren't "reaching" as much. 4.1" is tad bit too small though, I think a 4.3" screen suits me better. A 5"+ screen would probably be too uncomfortable for me to use daily.

 

[hillsighed]

I always buy phones with 4"+ screens because it makes typing on the virtual keyboard feel really natural to me. 4.3" is the sweet spot for me personally, and that's almost always what I get.

 

[claudeburdel]

Hi folks, this is my first post! I've been lurking WP Central forums for weeks, and I hope to order a white Lumia 900 today from AT&T.

One of the basic things I want to do with the phone is use the Kindle app for reading. I have an e-ink Kindle that I take with me during the day, and I read on a Kindle Fire tablet at night/weekends. I'd like to use the Lumia instead of the e-ink Kindle for reading during the day because it will lessen my load (one less device to carry -- I have to carry around a lot of equipment for work).

Screen size makes a big difference when it comes to reading, especially for 50-year-old eyes.