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Comment by m4tthumphrey | Hacker News Reader

Have you actually tried using a 5 inch phone? I think you may change your mind if you haven't. Trying to use someone's iPhone X after using my Nexus 5 is quite frankly laughable to say the least.

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I hear this alot, and I wonder: is that because I frequent developer forums, where the users are mostly male? I'm a guy, but have really tiny hands (smaller than my wife's, and most every girl I ever dated) I have an S3 (and S5 on order), and have had most iPhone models. The larger phones really are uncomfortable for me, but I suppose the same is true if you reverse it (smaller phones are uncomfortable for larger hands ... I heard the reason why Shaq sucked at the free throw line was because to him, shooting a basketball was like a normal person trying to shoot an orange)

You're not alone, I have noticed as soon as you get out of most tech circles and look at mostly women only things, that is nurses/etc... they tend (tend is key here not always) to prefer iphones.

Funny part is they seem to hate the 5/5s cause its too tall and still prefer the 4s. I know a girl that downgraded back to her 4s because the extra height on the 5 was too much.

With my girl hands I pretty much agree though, I do miss the smaller height of the 4s over my 5. I think when people talk about what phones they prefer they should also bust out their glove size. Mine is a 7, and any phone > 4"ish starts to really frustrate me when I try to text one handed.

While we're generalizing I seem to know many women who will then outfit their Iphone 4(s)/5(s) with big bulky Otterboxes or other huge cases that negate the natural size advantage of the iPhone.

I have the iPhone as a phone. I make calls with it, keep it in my pocket, and other uses are secondary (albeit common). Insofar as it's uncomfortably small for some uses, that's why an iPad is usually in arm's reach. Sure, 5" is more usable for many applications than 4", but ~10" is much more so. Make the phone more than 4" and I'm apt to just not carry it, as it won't reasonably fit in my pocket and looks/feels like a wall held to my ear.

iPad + iPhone Nano = winning combination. If Apple makes a 6" iPhone, I'd sure hope they at least retain the 4" version, if not shrink & optimize for a much smaller version. I need a phone that excels at being a phone and integrates well into the iOS ecosystem; got my tablet for applications needing a more complex/larger interface.

>> I have the iPhone as a phone.

Yes, but this is your use case.

While there are a lot of people who share your use case, there are probably a lot more people who don't.

Which is why the product diversity on the market right now is good. There's a decent chance that you'll find a phone that will work for your particular use case.

What concerns me (and I'm sure many others who don't like the idea of a larger iPhone) is that the iPhone 5s is currently the only flagship phone under 4.5". Sure, you can get smaller budget smartphones, but if you want a small high-end phone, it's Apple or nothing.

If the rumors are true and Apple decides to make the iPhone 6 4.7" and 5.5", what do I get next time I'm ready for an upgrade? I think it's silly for Apple to leave money on the table by only selling the current form factor when there's obviously a lot of demand for a larger iPhone, but it's equally silly to ignore the market for smaller phones like every other smartphone manufacturer is.

I feel the same way. If I were designing my own iPhone, it'd be as light and thin as the current-gen iPod touch, but with the height (and so screen size) of the iPhone 4 series.

How does one use a 5-inch phone one-handed? My thumbs aren't large enough to hit the extremes of a 5-inch screen. (fully-grown American of European descent with a height exactly at the center of the bell curve)

Swype style keyboards work wonders. Double tap + drag to zoom.

I have smallish hands and it's just not that big a deal to be honest. My last phone was iphone sized and I wouldn't go back to that size for just about anything.

I can barely use my Moto X one-handed (e.g. standing on a bus). I must be one of the only people on the planet who a) does this and/or b) does not have monstrously large hands. :P

Yep, prefer the iphones smaller width to be honest. Not everyone has huge hands.

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