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I am a believer in the 3.5" screen

S

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
1,046
329
I used my wife's new Nokia Lumia 900 which has a 4.3" screen exclusively for a weekend doing all kinds of routine tasks that I would do on my iPhone, and now I am convinced that 3.5" screen is the ideal if you want to consistently use a phone one handed without straining to reach things on the screen. Anything beyond 3.5" (or at most 3.7") just doesn't work for one handed use at least for me and I have normal sized hands.

Confession: I am the guy who started this thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1355401/ and thought Apple was arrogant to push another 3.5" sized iPhone on us. Frankly I was just enamored with the large screen Android phones that I played with a few times at the AT&T store which look great when you use it only for a few minutes. But for prolonged use the smaller iPhone is much more comfortable, I have to admit. Seems like Apple knows what it is doing after all.

Having said that if you are somebody that uses their phone two handed, definitely the bigger screenmay work for you. Still a lot of people say that they can fit their huge 4.5", 4,7", 5" phones easily in the pocket because they are so thin so they don't see an issue with the size. But IMHO I think the phone size is most important when you are trying to use it and not whether you can slip it easily in and out of pockets.
 
Well personally my thumb extends beyond the frame of the iPhone, if I hold it in my right hand, I can literally adjust the volume with my right thumb. Ive been quite keen to give Windows Phone 7 a whirl, and would have settled for the Lumia 800, however I'm keen for a larger screen as most of what I do is browse the web. So I'm waiting for the 900.
 
I can use my galaxy s2 one handed no problem.

I mainly use it two handed, but if I'm walking down the street or something I can easily use it one handed.

I don't know what "normal sized hands" are but mine aren't freakishly big. :confused:
 
MOKHAN said:
I was never a fan of the 4.3" + phones...
I have a Nexus S, I find the 3.7" - 4" range to be perfect.
Click to expand...

The Nexus S screen is pretty good saw one in person for the first time and I liked it that it was nice sized.I want a bigger screen but not a bigger device.Like the note has a huge screen but the device is huge and surprisingly the battery was normal sized.
 
I, too, can use my Galaxy S2 with one hand with ease. I am not wanting a 4.5 inch screen but would like to see something larger that what we got now. 4" would be good for me.

It is going to happen. The ones who do not want a larger screen can always stick with the 4S:p
 
DerekRod said:
The Nexus S screen is pretty good saw one in person for the first time and I liked it that it was nice sized.I want a bigger screen but not a bigger device.Like the note has a huge screen but the device is huge and surprisingly the battery was normal sized.
Click to expand...

Hmm, yeah I completely agree. I want a bigger screen, but not a bigger device. I find the overall size of the iPhone ideal. I think MacRumors posted a rendering explaining it would in fact be possible to slap a 4" screen on the iPhone while maintaining its current size.
 
I have used phones for a few weeks at several screen sizes and I really think 4.3" is the best size. It's not too big that you can't move your fingers around it with one hand. Currently I am using the Galaxy Nexus. 4.65 isn't bad either but 4.3" seems to be the sweet spot IMO.
 
Well looking at the current iPhone they could make it a 4 inch screen using the same dimensions if they elongated the home button and shortened its height. Move it down half a centimeter and do the same with the front camera and ear piece. Would still be a great feeling device with a 4 inch screen(should be able to get the .5 inch from doing the above changes).
 
4" is perfect for the next iPhone and smartphones in general.

Anything above that size - might as well get a tablet, IMO.
 
I had the Galaxy Nexus for 4 months after having iphones since they originally came out. I just needed a change.

The screen size although much bigger than the iphones did not make the phone drastically bigger. There were some benefits to the larger screen but even with large hands i can say there are certain things that were annoying to have to do with one hand that could easily be done on the iphones puny screen.

The number one thing that needs to be done on phones now is move all on screen controls to the bottom half of the screen. The ONLY time it was hard to reach for something on the Gnex with one hand is when it was on the top of the screen. If all app makers and OS makers start putting there app controls at the bottom there will be no trouble trying to reach for stuff on the larger screens.


With that said...There is no doubt the screen size has to go up from 3.5 to at least 4" or 4.3". Remember, if apple makes this change then they are most likely going to stick with it for another 5yrs+ so they will want to get it right. This is why i think they will go in the 4.3" range on the next iphone release.

In the end i did i go back to the iphones 4s after having the Gnex for 3 or 4 months. It was a great phone no doubt, the reasons i left were the paltry camera and the fact that i have a $1000 stereo system in my truck that runs off the ipod interface off the iphone or ipods
 
I came through 3gs, 4 and 4s to current Galaxy Nexus. I tried Galaxy Note for 2 months, but that was too much. Gnex seems to be ok, but I would say that I won't come back if Apple introduces anything smaller that 4inch. For me 4 inch minimum, 4.3 fine, 4.65 on Gnex is max.
 
I love the 3.5" phone. It is the perfect size for just about every purpose, and fits nicely in a Watch Pocket, Jeans Pocket, Shirt Pocket, or Slacks Pocket. All the others have issues with those locations.
 
Personally, I like the fact that I can stick my S2 Skyrocket in my pocket and it fits snugly. My iPhones have always fallen out of them. I really hope the new screens are bigger just for that reason. A lot easier to control the camera too.
 
Shockwave78 said:
The number one thing that needs to be done on phones now is move all on screen controls to the bottom half of the screen. The ONLY time it was hard to reach for something on the Gnex with one hand is when it was on the top of the screen. If all app makers and OS makers start putting there app controls at the bottom there will be no trouble trying to reach for stuff on the larger screens.
Click to expand...

Well said. I'd be ok with a larger screen provided all the buttons/menus are within easy reach. The worst is when you have to reach diagonally across the screen to press something.
 
saintforlife said:
I used my wife's new Nokia Lumia 900 which has a 4.3" screen exclusively for a weekend doing all kinds of routine tasks that I would do on my iPhone, and now I am convinced that 3.5" screen is the ideal if you want to consistently use a phone one handed without straining to reach things on the screen. Anything beyond 3.5" (or at most 3.7") just doesn't work for one handed use at least for me and I have normal sized hands.

Confession: I am the guy who started this thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1355401/ and thought Apple was arrogant to push another 3.5" sized iPhone on us. Frankly I was just enamored with the large screen Android phones that I played with a few times at the AT&T store which look great when you use it only for a few minutes. But for prolonged use the smaller iPhone is much more comfortable, I have to admit. Seems like Apple knows what it is doing after all.

Having said that if you are somebody that uses their phone two handed, definitely the bigger screenmay work for you. Still a lot of people say that they can fit their huge 4.5", 4,7", 5" phones easily in the pocket because they are so thin so they don't see an issue with the size. But IMHO I think the phone size is most important when you are trying to use it and not whether you can slip it easily in and out of pockets.
Click to expand...

Why do you want/insist on using the phone one handed? There is nothing wrong with using two hands.
 
The second Apple releases a 4"+ display, you will be starting a thread how Apple is revolutionizing the industry :rolleyes:
 
lilo777 said:
Why do you want/insist on using the phone one handed? There is nothing wrong with using two hands.
Click to expand...
*cough bathroom *cough

Actually, while driving. I can tilt the phone slightly and reach way past the edge, so larger won't be a problem.
 
Funny how arguments change over the years.

Nowadays, with touchscreens that must be looked at to be used, it's "I have to use my phone one-handed".

It used to be for button driven smartphones, "I need to use my phone one-handed AND without looking at it!"

:)

Then, there's voice control.

Nothing is forever.
 
saintforlife, i was one of the very few, or only person who thumb upped ur last thread on the arrogance. All i can say is that it certainly is weird for you to be quickly hating on something and then going on to say it is amazing.

I for one however, like many people, do not like the 3.5 inch screen you can't even read simple text holding it straight up in your hand if u do not turn it over because the text is way too small!

I think I'm going to end up getting the galaxyS 3 when it comes out

truth be told i would like a 4.7inch screen and a quad core processor
 
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