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Comment by aetherson | Hacker News Reader

I have literally never heard anyone ever say, "I like this phone I bought, but after using it for a couple of weeks, the screen is just a little too big for my tastes."

Like, NEVER. In all the complaints I've heard about people's phones, over the seven years that we've had smartphones so far.

What I have heard is a lot of people pooh-poohing 4.7" screens, 4.9" screens, 5.2" screens, etc., and those screen sizes going on to utterly dominate smaller phones.

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I'll say it. Been using the iPhone 6 for several weeks. Love it, but the screen is just a little too big for my tastes. It's awkward and I miss the smaller screen. It's enough of an annoyance I'm looking at other phones for the first time.

I agree. My iPhone 6 is too big. Not an iPhone 6, just a regular iPhone. I've had it since launch day, so I've had plenty of time to get used to it. Whenever I pick up my wife's 5S, it's like a breath of fresh air.

I've heard dozens of people say that about the iPhone 6 -- not necessarily about the 6 Plus though.

I'd say that 5" versus 6" is a qualitative difference. People don't buy a 6" phone thinking, "Eh, whatever". You don't hear a lot of people complaining that 6" phones are too big for the same reason you don't hear a lot of people complaining that Linux is too hard to use -- because you only got there by having already decided the answer to the question.

No, because the complaint you get is "I like this phone I bought, it has a great screen, but I can't reach the top half of it when I hold it, and my hand gets so tired, and I'm ending up with tendonitis or carpal tunnel all the time now."

These are all very real complaints - I've heard them from coworkers (who work at Google, so if they have a bias, it's in the other way) and family members, and I suffered from frequent tendonitis while I had my Galaxy Nexus that went away when I "downgraded" (in screen size, at least) to a Moto X.

Well, no, that's not the complaint either. Because I've never heard anyone say that.

I mean, I believe you when you say you have that complaint and you've heard it, but I've never seen anyone be anything but delighted when they've bought a larger size phone. (I say this as someone who has consciously avoided large phones and carries a 4.3" screen phone).

This is mostly a selection bias. Given the wide variety of choices on the Android side, and the very obvious effect screen size has on using the phone, you have to be reasonably sure you want a big screen phone to actually bite the bullet. (Other factors are less clear cut and can be harder to decide between.) Since there is a good selection of screen sizes to choose from, you can often find something you want.

Contrast that with the two iPhone 6 people already replying to your post saying they think it is too big. As an Apple user, if you want a current year phone, you may have to go bigger than you want.

Android choice, for the win!

(BTW, I want! I'm pretty sure I'm gonna love the Nexus 6.)

I like my Nexus 5, but after using it for many months, it's just a little to big for my tastes. My ideal size would be the 1st gen Moto X.

Actually, I just returned my iPhone 6 last week, and got a cheapo Moto G with LTE. Yes, it was too big for my hands, and I like using phones with one hand.

I do. I have a Nexus 4 and rather small hands and it's really uncomfortable to use with one hand, especially with the bumper on.

I hear it all the time, especially from non technical people.

Anecdata. I've heard plenty of people complain. What does it prove? You and I know different people. That is all.

lots of people carry a bias into their opinion on purchased items. sort of like a buyers' remorse, but with the goal of getting others to make the same mistake in order to achieve some sort of normality with 'the pack'.

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