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Comment by DCKing | Hacker News Reader

Observing the sameish discussions over the years, that size limit preference you are talking about seems to be steadily rising.

I'd hypothesize that if you analyzed tweets and comments about screen sizes, the ideal screen size per year would look something like this:

2011: 4.0 inch

2012: 4.3 inch

2013: 4.5 inch

2014: 4.8 inch

2015: 5.0 inch (projected)

2016: (median size for high end phones in 2015)

Eventually we'll get to something that is the most practical in use. I think 4.7 inch is pretty good, but of course I'm biased towards my current phone, and I'll probably update my preference with my next phone.

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I'm not buying anything smaller than 5.5" again unless I have to. I love the bigger screen too much. I'd rather go to 6" than back down to 5"...

There's a reason the screen size has kept going up: People keep buying the larger screen models.

Remember when everyone was ridiculing the size of the Note? The it sold unexpectedly high volumes.

As someone who purchased a Note (1) on near release day (technically before release in the UK as I got an unlocked one before most of the contract networks had theirs on tap), I absolutely remember that.

Everyone online and off was claiming that the Note was simply "too big" and how it was a "tablet" and would never "fit in your pocket." But once I physically got the Note in my hands and they had a play, the tune quickly changed (at least for men with larger hands). Plus outside of skinny jeans it absolutely fits in my pockets.

When it came time to upgrade my Note (1), my choice of phones was much wider as almost every flagship had significantly closed the gap (e.g. 4.2-4.5" was the standard when the Note(1) got released (5.3"), but it was 5-5.1" when I had to upgrade).

So when I upgraded I went from the Note (1) to the LG G2, which is a 5.3" to 5.2" change. I didn't really notice the extra 1" but I did notice the significantly smaller brazil on the LG G2 and lighter weight.

If the Note (1) got released in 2014 people wouldn't even notice it as being particularly large. The Note 3 is 5.7"(!) by contrast. That's how far things have come.

I have a Moto X at 4.7 inches and it's a little too big for comfort. It's usable, and you do get used to the size, but I can't reach the top of the screen from every hand position. The HTC Incredible 4G I used to have, at 4 inches, remains my ideal screen size. Unfortunately, that means I have to compromise on performance, since there are now no reasonably-sized high end phones.

> now no reasonably-sized high end phones.

Running Android. From next Tuesday you may be completely right though.

> I can't reach the top of the screen from every hand position.

Well, I think that is not a self-evident bad thing. As a result of Android and Windows Phone design guidelines, by far the most interactions happen on the bottom half of the screen. I think that as long as you can reach the notification bar, there's a pretty good argument to be made that the additional screen estate is more beneficial.

Furthermore, just because you're used to it on your current phone should not necessarily imply that you need it on your next. That is a line of reasoning I'm also seeing a lot, but that just sounds like people being conservative to me. It's a fine preference to have, but such a slightly different way of using a new phone may not always be a bad thing either.

I'm not arguing that bigger screens are better, but I don't think that there are clear objective constraints to screen size. You could even wonder why people think one-handed usability is important at all.

wrong.

the top left corner is very high on usage. on newer android without the menu button, the top right is very high too.

now, android added lots of unsatisfactory work arounds for the very fact that almost everyone can't reach those corners. such as sliding from the left to simulate the top left corner touch. or even the failed fire phone with screen tilt to do the same.

it's all lame work arounds for the problem. the real solution is smaller screen sizes.

Great point DCKing.

You're missing something there. Phones have also had smaller and smaller bezels. I remember seeing a Motorola Defy a few years ago, that was 4", and it was the same size as my 3.2" HTC Legend.

A much better way to measure these is how tall they are in milimeters. Moto X was 129mm. Now it's 140mm. I've tested some phones in a store, and I've come to the conclusion that 130mm is my ideal size. 135mm I can compromise on if I like the specs too much, and I wouldn't go any bigger than 140mm. Ever.

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