Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
This thread is full of nonsense and fanboyism. If you just look at it it objectively then 4.3" and 4.7" is just much better. You get more screen real estate, you get more pictures and texts on your screen. You have more space on you virtual keyboard.

Any application benefits hugely from an increased diagonal. If you say otherwise then you have to be smoking something. You see more facebook pictures and wallposts, more text in emails, much easier to browse the web. Overal a much better experience. Tell me how this is a bad thing?

I switch to a 4.3" phone and want an even bigger phone. Its super easy. I am not lying to you guys. I have trascended beyond what apple was feeding me all these years and it was wrong. I was plain wrong. I never want to go back to 3.5" anymore. it feels so small and cramped. Why do you guys think I am lying to you?

I see less on my Galaxy S2 than I would on an iPhone because the resolution is much lower, but if you're talking about an iPhone with a larger screen and the same resolution, then you will if course be able to see more.
 
Unless you're rockin' one of these sized handsets that you've currently got wood over;

Then you are using an iPhone and having to put up with that teeny weeny itty bitty screen that you bitch about relentlessly, which would then make you one of said iLivestock you referred.

No need to respond unless its "yes sir, yes sir, three bags full"

What, like stating that everyone that likes the current screen has small hands.

Or like EVERY iPhone user wants a bigger screen.

Or do you mean some other exaggeration?

See what I'm getting at?

I get as ridiculous as the people I'm responding to.

I asked why the bigger screen and then the insults started, so I just retort in kind. I do enjoy a good trollfest :D

You're weird.

I can see why you enjoy a good troll fest. You're the one using incendiary words. You're the one who brought up "sheep" in the first place.

Again, this whole sheep mentality "ooh, look, htc and all the other dime a dozen handset makers have made tablets that are phones they are that big, lets copy them", come on, its the perfect form factor. Anything else is disproportionate.

And who's insulting who in this supposed "discussion?"
 
It's all just a matter of opinion ... why the need to insult each other and cut everybody up... too many 12-year-olds have smart phones nowadays :rolleyes:

Ideally for my wishes, I would like to see physical size of the phone stay the same but increase the screen real estate as much as they can.

I've had the galaxy nexus, droids with larger screens and returned them, one of the reasons was the size. Too much in the pocket, too much in the hand for not for not much added benefit. Currently trying out the Nokia Lumia 900, again the size is a little larger than I prefer.

I'm 6' 2", and 220 so small hands is not a concern, a large screen smart phone just feels bulkier and bigger than it needs be. I don't spend hours glaring at my phone screen and I always have my iPad or a laptop nearby for times when I need anything larger than a smart phone screen.

Now if I couldn't afford an iPad or didn't want a tablet then considering a phone with a larger screen might be something I'd do. But, I'd sooner have an old flip phone and iPad and I would a smart phone with a 4.6 or larger screen.

Apple isn't known to offer a lot of options or choices but this is a good example where they could quite likely do well with two sizes of iPhone's. The market seems to be quite divided when it comes to personal preference in screen size.
 
I have to say, I'm also in the club that thinks 3.5" is a touch small. It's serviceable but I've been using a 4" phone and that seems to be the perfect size taking into account all of the trade offs. At 3.5", it's easy to use, but harder to see some of the details when playing a game or viewing a website at times. At size > 4.3" It get's too big to hold and keep in your pocket, but it's easier to see everything. When looking at the mass market, it's all about balance and I think from experience that 4" is the perfect trade off.
 
NO I keep telling everyone 3.5 is to big, you can do anything on a 2.5 inch screen that you can on a 3.5 inch screen and it fits better in your pocket. They should make it a smaller 2.5 inch screen thats the only thing that makes any sense.

3.5 is plainly to big to work one handed, while 2.5 is a work of art for one handed texting and such.
 
NO I keep telling everyone 3.5 is to big, you can do anything on a 2.5 inch screen that you can on a 3.5 inch screen and it fits better in your pocket. They should make it a smaller 2.5 inch screen thats the only thing that makes any sense.

3.5 is plainly to big to work one handed, while 2.5 is a work of art for one handed texting and such.

You would think if you're wanting to text, you'd do it with two hands (for speed).

Anyway, smaller is better for you, but some would like it bigger. It's a preference. No one's preference is right or wrong.

BTW, the Note, which is 5.3" fits fine in a pocket. All this hyperbole is ridiculous. My Note in most shirt pockets is totally covered. In some smaller shirt pockets the top peaks out to just below the camera lens. I haven't come across any shirt pockets worse than that.
 
NO I keep telling everyone 3.5 is to big, you can do anything on a 2.5 inch screen that you can on a 3.5 inch screen and it fits better in your pocket. They should make it a smaller 2.5 inch screen thats the only thing that makes any sense.

3.5 is plainly to big to work one handed, while 2.5 is a work of art for one handed texting and such.
Sounds like a smartphone is just not for you. ATT has a great HTC 'feature' phone you should really check into. 'course the 3.2" screen is probably too big for you too.

Oh, wait, you were completely joking. You got me there!
 
Unless you're rockin' one of these sized handsets that you've currently got wood over;

Image

Then you are using an iPhone and having to put up with that teeny weeny itty bitty screen that you bitch about relentlessly, which would then make you one of said iLivestock you referred.

No need to respond unless its "yes sir, yes sir, three bags full"

----------



What, like stating that everyone that likes the current screen has small hands.

Or like EVERY iPhone user wants a bigger screen.

Or do you mean some other exaggeration?

See what I'm getting at?

I get as ridiculous as the people I'm responding to.



I asked why the bigger screen and then the insults started, so I just retort in kind. I do enjoy a good trollfest :D



You're weird.

My bad, you must be an iSheep.
 
It not illegal everywhere.

It's not that I *always* only have one hand free, it's just that it's more comfortable to use with one hand. The only time I ever see an iPhone user have both hands on the phone, is when typing. All other uses is with one hand. Think about it, if it were more comfortable to use two hands, wouldn't that be the primary use case when holding the phone?

I have never seen someone using an iPhone by holding it with one hand and poking at it. I have noticed this behavior, however, with a co-worker on the Droid Razr.

This is the key right here. For me, it isn't that one-handed use is required or desired so you can have the other hand free to do something else. It's that one-handed use is the most natural way to use it. I find myself using only one hand on the iPhone almost all the time (except when typing), and my other hand is usually free.

Now, would it be horrible if I had to use two hands? Maybe, maybe not. Any difference likely would be on more of a subconscious level. I can see the experience not feeling as easy or casual if I find myself having to stretch my thumb to reach something, or bring my other hand up to the screen more often.

I'm sure Apple tried different screen sizes (and overall device sizes) and arrived at 3.5 as the best of all worlds. This of course is subject to evolve over time. Perhaps as the technology has advanced, they can fit a larger screen onto the same overall device size.

As an aside, I find its easier to reach all across the top of the iPhone one-handed than the bottom. Holding it in my left hand, it is awkward to reach with my thumb down to the bottom right corner and nearly impossible to reach the bottom left corner without shifting the phone in my palm.
 
It's not impossible to use a device larger than 3.5-3.7" with one hand. Even if you have small hands, the top of the screen is but mere millimeters away from your thumb.

This argument is really becoming absurd.

People are really grasping for straws if the argument against a larger phone is that one can't hold it in one hand the same way they can with an iPhone.
 
Sounds like a smartphone is just not for you. ATT has a great HTC 'feature' phone you should really check into. 'course the 3.2" screen is probably too big for you too.

Oh, wait, you were completely joking. You got me there!

Thank god someone can tell sarcasm when the see it :D
 
I look forward to the day when/if Apple releases a larger than 3.7" iPhone.

I am fully expecting tons of complaints that Apple made an egregious mistake making the device too large to use comfortably with one hand.
 
Last edited:
4.3" is ideal size, IMO. Netflix on it, is actually pretty good. Not too big, not too small. I can't stand watching Netflix on a 3.5" screen. Way too small.
 
OP,
What were you doing on the Lumia? I ask because WP7 is hands down the best OS I have ever seen in terms of one-handed use. The entire UI and how it scrolls seems like it was made for single handed operation virtually regardless of screen size (within reason).
 
WP7 is really a fantastic operating system at it's core. It's very smooth and very quick. I've got an older Samsung Focus and it still runs great. I like WP7 more than Android at it's core, but I have to defer to Android and iOS in the apps department. I keep waiting for the library to grow, but man, it's a long wait!
 
personally, I love the screen on my Lumia. However, that's partly due to OS design. Windows phone is designed so you can do all your navigation (except for search, which is the only exception to this I've found so far, as you have to hit the bar at the top of the screen) along the bottom of the device. Home, back, search, and most app navigation elements are located at the bottom (ex. the url bar)

however, I also see that 4.3" isn't for everyone. Windows phones and android phones can do this, as theres many different devices. iOS only has a single device each generation. Going 4.3" would lose them more customers than it gained. However, I've used a 3.8" screen phone (HTC surround) and a 4" phone (Samsung Focus) extensively, for at least a few months each, and I think apple could move to a screen that size both without making the body any larger (if they do no bezel, especially the 3.8"), and without isolating customers who have smaller hands and don't want a large bodied phone

I think the key for apple will be to increase screen size without changing the dimensions of the phone noticeably...they can make it as wide as a 3G/3GS, but no wider, and almost no taller at all. A larger screen is possible in those dimensions, but certainly not 4.3"...and that's fine
 
personally, I love the screen on my Lumia. However, that's partly due to OS design. Windows phone is designed so you can do all your navigation (except for search, which is the only exception to this I've found so far, as you have to hit the bar at the top of the screen) along the bottom of the device. Home, back, search, and most app navigation elements are located at the bottom (ex. the url bar)

however, I also see that 4.3" isn't for everyone. Windows phones and android phones can do this, as theres many different devices. iOS only has a single device each generation. Going 4.3" would lose them more customers than it gained. However, I've used a 3.8" screen phone (HTC surround) and a 4" phone (Samsung Focus) extensively, for at least a few months each, and I think apple could move to a screen that size both without making the body any larger (if they do no bezel, especially the 3.8"), and without isolating customers who have smaller hands and don't want a large bodied phone

I think the key for apple will be to increase screen size without changing the dimensions of the phone noticeably...they can make it as wide as a 3G/3GS, but no wider, and almost no taller at all. A larger screen is possible in those dimensions, but certainly not 4.3"...and that's fine

If there's no bezel, that would make it difficult to put a case on it as the edges of the screen would be under the case
 
Wow, this thread has gone down the toilet! Well done guy's...

I am personally yet to see any screen that beats the 3.5" retina. If Apple increase the size then it will not be as sharp as they will loose DPI and also devs would be complaining due to fragmentation. Plus it's not needed.
Apple won't offer a bigger phone, I for one am very glad of that, but it doesn't fit their model line up or iOS design. The iPad iOS is designed for that size screen and likewise with the iPhone version.

If you want a bigger screen then fine, get the Note, personally I find it utterly daft but many don't, it is personal preference, for me I want my phone to be small and compact and powerful and easy to use, an iPhone, my money is ready for the next one but if they increase the screen size, I may well hold off if it in my eyes doesn't match or beat the 3.5 retina.
Others want a tablet like experience, they want screen real estate, and Android will utilise all of that cause of how it's designed.

And for the love of God, will you idiots please stop stating as fact that the majority of users of even the 35 million iPhones sold in the last quarter, let alone the rest to them, ALL want a bigger screen because the same Mac Rumors readers say so in a poll, all 300 of them!
 
Last edited:
What is up with this constant bickering about who has better phones? People, these are just phones. They can't cure cancer, they can't bring you happiness, they are not members of your family, etc. In the grand scheme of life, they are nothing. But yet people go in a tizzy if someone says the iPhone is best, or if an android is best, or if as blackberry is best. If you are so emotionally attached to a phone or to the criticism of that phone, you need help, and you need it now.
 
What is up with this constant bickering about who has better phones? People, these are just phones. They can't cure cancer, they can't bring you happiness, they are not members of your family, etc. In the grand scheme of life, they are nothing. But yet people go in a tizzy if someone says the iPhone is best, or if an android is best, or if as blackberry is best. If you are so emotionally attached to a phone or to the criticism of that phone, you need help, and you need it now.

There is bickering over what foods are great, which sports team is best, etc. etc. It is what it is. The answer to why this happens is probably right there on the bookshelf next to the meaning of life. :p
 
I believe your phones are the best. My phone is very humble and bows out to your superior telephonic products.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.