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Comment by thomseddon | Hacker News Reader

After my blackberry died around 4 months ago I've been grappling with the issue of what to replace it with. I really enjoy my Transformer Prime tablet and am 100% sold on Android, but the major issue for me is phone size.

Why on earth is every decent phone so bloody big? Now, I've never had a "large screen" phone before so my concerns may be unfounded but I feel that as I don't carry a handbag/manbag and my phone resides in my jeans pocket 99% of the time i'm on the move, anything over say 80/90mm long is just going to become an utter liability with respect to falling out and/or breakage? That aside from the fact that anything larger than that must be a pain to lug around?

Is this something anyone else has struggled with? Are my impressions unfounded?

For now I'm sticking with my old flip style Motorola Razor (beside it has the totally brilliant "Hello Moto" ring tone :)

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Agreed. I currently hace a 4.3" phone which feels like it is pushing the limits for me. That said, I will be picking up a Nexus 4- because the phone buttons are now on-screen instead of hardware the 4.7" figure is misleading. But I think a 4" phone is the ideal for me, sadly no Android manufacturer is interested in it making a phone that is both powerful and a reasonable size.

The Razr I (or Razr M, depending where you are) is worth a look if form factor is an issue. The Intel processor in the Razr I isn't high-end, but I've not had any compatibility issues and games (Minecraft, GTA III, World of Goo) run fine - not to mention great battery life. Although I would personally go for the Nexus 4 if I hadn't already bought one of these - simply because it has great specs, is "pure Google" and is so darn cheap.

I wish there would be a Nexus version of the RAZR M. The battery life really is good. Certainly the best 4" Android phone out at the moment.

At least the latest motorola android is very close to stock android, and there is hope that since moto is now google the newer phones will have timely updates.

I tried switching from an iPhone to a Galaxy Nexus and I couldn't. Not because of the software mind you, but because of what you mentioned: the bulk.

I'm used to being to hold the phone easily in one hand, and thumbing through some random trivia on the train to work. I found this difficult, or at least precarious feeling, on the Galaxy Nexus because of just how damned big it is. I heavily disliked how the phone practically begged for two hands to be operated.

It also felt huge in my pocket, though I suspect it's not enough of annoyance to stop me from carrying a compelling enough device - but the Galaxy Nexus isn't that.

That's funny because when I try to switch from my Galaxy Nexus to my wife's iPhone 4s, I get annoyed with the smallness of the screen for reading, and the sharp edges are less comfortable in my pocket than the Nexus. I suspect it has a lot to do with what you're used to.

The 4" Galaxy S3 Mini might be the phone for you. With the smaller size and packing the same punch as the main S3, it's a clever move by Samsung to cater for individuals such as yourself, at the other end of the market.

That's incorrect. The S3 Mini has not the same punch as the S3, actually it is much weaker.

"First off the Samsung Galaxy S3 has an Exynos 1.4GHz quad-core processor (1.51GHz Snapdragon dual-core for US variants), 4.8-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display with resolution of 1280 x 720 and 306ppi, LTE (regional), 1GB of RAM and16, 32 or 64GB internal memory expandable via microSD to 64GB. It also has a very decent 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, autofocus,1080p HD video recording and the ability to simultaneously record video and images, along with a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera.

(...)

The Galaxy S3 Mini on the other hand has a 1GHz NovaThor dual-core processor, 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display with resolution of 800 x 480 and 233ppi, no LTE connectivity, 1GB of RAM, and 8 or 16GB of internal storage expandable via microSD to 32GB. There’s also a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, autofocus and 720p video capture plus a VGA front-facing camera, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, WiFi Direct, WiFi Hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, microUSB 2.0 and a 1500mAh battery."

http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2012/10/13/samsung-galaxy-s3-v...

I stand corrected, but for anyone wanting a smaller phone the Mini might be the phone for them. I'm all for 'bigger is better' and will be getting the Nexus 4 when it comes out - at that list price, you can't really go wrong.

The S3 Mini packs nowhere near the same punch as the main S3.

480 x 800 resolution vs 720 x 1280 1 GHz Dual Core vs 1.4 GHz Quad Core 5 MP camera vs 8MP

It's very poor value for the money in my opinion, not even matching the specs from the S2 last year.

I have a Galaxy Nexus, at first I thought it was big as well but it's actually "just the right size" for me. Any bigger and it was be hard to handle and any smaller and I feel like it's a phone for ants. I have it in my pant/short pockets all the time and haven't had a problem with it falling out and it's thin enough that it doesn't make an unsightly bulge. The only time it's fallen out of a pocket was when I was on my bike and it was in my cargo short pocket which I forgot to zip up, landed on pavement, and aside from a few scuffs it took it like a champ.

I worried about large screen too, but after getting 4.8 inch Galaxy S3 i can say, that my next phone will have even larger screen.

It fits into my jeans perfectly (and i cycle with it too). Of course, my choice of pants is more limited now, but I always loved big pockets.

There's also somebody in this thread (Nursie: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4757840) who's not going to get the Nexus 4 because it's too small. After having gotten used to a 4.7" screen (and loving it), I'm inclined to suspect that if I got used to a 5.5" screen I wouldn't be able to downgrade either...

I had similar concerns when switching from the Nexus S to the Galaxy Nexus, but I'd find it difficult to go back to the smaller phone now. The slightly thinner build of the larger phones vs the Nexus S does slightly make up for it, but I do understand where you are coming from.

If someone made a phone the size of the new iPod Nano, they would have my sale.

Also, my mother is aging and the size of this screen would be perfect for her.

Tight jeans seem to be the only place where my S3 (4.8" display) gives me a bit of trouble.

If you are set on a smaller screen, look at the Moto RAZR M (or the RAZR i outside US). 4.3" display, where others normally fit a 4" display.

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