Other What do you think of phones with screens with a ratio of 21:9

[Eliott69]

For the last three years I've been using a Sony XZ Premium. I chose that phone at that time because it had the best camera (I'm working in an art gallery, so photography was and is important). Currently all other phones in our company are iPhones and I have been quite impressed with the quality of the iPhone 11 Pro Max in regard of the camera – and therefore I thought that I finally would change to an iPhone in September or October when the iPhone 12 will be available (as I am a Mac user).

In addition last year when I looked at the line-up of the then current Sony mobile phones, they all had the 21:9 screen ratio – and I disliked it heavily when "testing" one in a shop. Not because of the form factor of the device, but because the screen is too narrow (or not high enough in landscape mode).

Now in the last two weeks I've seen rave reviews about the Sony Xperia 1 II. The camera and the camera app and the video app seem to be amazing. All these videos are so convincing, that I'm contemplating to go for it and not the iPhone 12. On the other hand I do write texts, work on Excel, read newspapers, browse the web – and I fear that the Sony screen is not wide enough.

What is your opinion? Please stay on the topic, which is – as the title says – about the screen ratio, not about Sony vs Apple (or specific models).

 

[akash.nu]

That Sony device really got me warmed up about getting one. Had I not had the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones already, I’d have ordered the device by now.

 

[Falhófnir]

Well both the iPhone 5 and X made the screens taller, so something we can expect for the iPhone 15? The trouble with super wide aspect ratios is you need a very large screen overall so you don't sacrifice width when held vertically. A lot of content is also still 16:9 so the 16:9 area of the display remains quite an important factor to consider. For example, the iPhone X had a nominal diagonal of 5.8" but for 16:9 content it was equivalent to a 5.0" screen.

 

[ericwn]

Personally not interested in such a long and narrow screen. I don’t want to watch movies on my phone and don’t see the benefit.

 

[now i see it]

Both phones (Apple & Sony) have big trade offs. The iPhone 11 Pro Max has a much better aspect ratio for photos and videos (but is still too long) but from a photography point of view, I think it kinda blows because of the unnecessarily large radiused rounded corners- it crops off all the corners when viewing full screen. Then there's the horrible notch at the top of the screen you're always trying to dodge or squint around, pretending it's not a big issue.

The Sony on the other hand with its super stretched 21:9 ratio isn't ideal for viewing pictures. If the camera shot at that aspect ratio, that would be one thing, but it doesn't. So there will always be a lot of black border on every picture you view.

I can't really see any benefit to a really long screen. Nothing fits it and all it does is make the phone unnecessarily bigger. It's not like scrolling a webpage or text is annoying or hard on a shorter phone.

It seems that Sony is trying to differentiate it's phones from the masses of other Android phones by making it different in some way - not necessarily for the better.

 

[Tsepz]

For the last three years I've been using a Sony XZ Premium. I chose that phone at that time because it had the best camera (I'm working in an art gallery, so photography was and is important). Currently all other phones in our company are iPhones and I have been quite impressed with the quality of the iPhone 11 Pro Max in regard of the camera – and therefore I thought that I finally would change to an iPhone in September or October when the iPhone 12 will be available (as I am a Mac user).

In addition last year when I looked at the line-up of the then current Sony mobile phones, they all had the 21:9 screen ratio – and I disliked it heavily when "testing" one in a shop. Not because of the form factor of the device, but because the screen is too narrow (or not high enough in landscape mode).

Now in the last two weeks I've seen rave reviews about the Sony Xperia 1 II. The camera and the camera app and the video app seem to be amazing. All these videos are so convincing, that I'm contemplating to go for it and not the iPhone 12. On the other hand I do write texts, work on Excel, read newspapers, browse the web – and I fear that the Sony screen is not wide enough.

What is your opinion? Please stay on the topic, which is – as the title says – about the screen ratio, not about Sony vs Apple (or specific models).

The main issue you are going to face is when using many Android apps geared towards the most popular Android phones which are typically Samsung globally.

So you will have to deal with apps not properly fitting that Aspect Ratio a lot.

Another issue I see coming is battery life, that Xperia 1 II has a a small battery for a 5G Android

I suggest finding people at forums such as Android Central who already own the phone and find out what they think.

It’s always a little bit of hell owning an obscure Android phone as you will hit these weird issues as lost developers cater for the most popular setup which is 18.5:9 (Galaxy S8, Note8, S9, Note 9 etc...)
The newer Note10 is 19:9 and even newer S20 is 20:9, so you can only imagine the dilemma developers are dealing with there, now here comes Sony with 21:9 and they are not exactly a top 5 manufacturer anymore.

 

[MarkX]

It seems that Sony is trying to differentiate it's phones from the masses of other Android phones by making it different in some way - not necessarily for the better.

View attachment 920913 View attachment 920914

Samsung aren't far behind, the Galaxy S phones and current A series are using 20:9, probably other models/manufacturers too.

 

[Harthag]

LOL. Here's a post I made back in 2017. Since that time, as I predicted, someone has indeed made a 21:9 abomination. There's simply no need for this, in my opinion, on a cell phone. Ridiculous.

Wholeheartedly agree with OP. Only a matter of time until someone makes a 21:9 abomination which will be touted as the best screen ever. These tall phones + tall screens are getting out of hand. I hate 18:9 screens on phones as much as I hate 16:9 screens on laptops (16:10, 4:3, 3:2 FTW).

Tall screens are BAD marketing gimmicks.

Indeed. The iPhone 5 "commercial"/trailer had Jony Ive saying something like "by making the iPhone taller, but not wider (...) you can still comfortably use it with one hand." The iPhone 5 had the same (body and screen) width as the iPhone 4(S), but the screen went from 3:2 to 16:9. In fact, it...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[LFC2020]

Not because of the form factor of the device, but because the screen is too narrow (or not high enough in landscape mode).

Exactly how I felt when I purchased the iPhone x back in 2017, felt awkward using the keyboard on such a narrow screen.

The extra width of screen real estate on my XS max makes a massive difference when it comes to viewing content, and typing experience.