Weekend Open Forum: Your ideal smartphone and tablet screen size?

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97

Over the last three years we've seen screen sizes on smartphones vary from a smallish 3 inches to a massive 5.3-inch on the Galaxy Note. It's a similar story with tablets, only those started out at around 10.1-inches and have gotten smaller from there.

Meanwhile, despite longstanding rumors of Apple releasing a larger iPhone or smaller iPad, the company has stuck to its guns with the original 3.5- and 9.7-inch form factors of those devices.

I'm all for diversity and choice, but there's a point where a phone is just too big to carry around hassle free and a tablet is too small for the tasks it's intended to handle. We've asked the same question about laptops before, but now we want to know: What's your preferred smartphone and tablet size?

Personally, the 3.5-inch form factor of the iPhone suits me well, but I could easily get used to a ~4-inch device if it doesn't add much bulk. Anything over that seems unnecessary and would actually hurt portability. As for tablets, I think both 10- and 7-inch sizes are here to stay. So far I prefer the former.

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Moving from the 3.2" HTC Aria to the 4.5" HTC Vivid took some time to get used to.

And you know what I prefer? The Aria, hands down. Give me something with that form factor, but the power of the Vivid, and I would buy it in a second. Please let pocket-breaking phones be a phase.

(That said--I actually bought my first game for the Vivid recently (Dead Space), and it does look beautiful on the 4.5" screen, and the 3.2" wouldn't provide enough real estate to enjoy it.)
 
I'd have to agree with that the iPhones screen and form factor is perfect, for me. For a smartPHONE, if I wanted to carry a tablet around with me always I'd buy one.
 
4.65" Phone w/ on-screen buttons like the Galaxy Nexus.

This is a great idea because even though the screen size is much larger because of the on-screen buttons, the phone overall isn't actually larger than a 4.3" phone and then when you want to watch movies you can use the entire screen.

10.1" Tablet
 
I don't have nor need a tablet. If I need something on the go, I will need a place to put it. If I have to put it some place besides my pants pocket, might as well be a laptop. Any smartphone I have must be able to fit in my pocket comfortably.
 
my 4inch droid 3 seems pretty nice, though i wish the phone itself wasn't as heavy
 
I think over 4 is to big for a phone, as for a tablet I have a kindle fire and iPad in my household and I enjoy both so it's nice to have the option. I wonder of someone will make a tablet even bigger like 16 inches.
 
I haven't had much time to play with 4"+ smartphones, I know there's plenty of people that swear by them but for me the iPhone's 3.5" screen is suitable for smartphone kind of use and it's small enough that carrying it around is not bothersome.

As for tablets, I have an iPad and a Kindle Fire. Personally there are only very specific scenarios where I like to use them, and each size has its advantages, but 90% of the time you'll find me going back to the laptop instead since it's much more useful. The larger screen of the iPad gets you closer to true productivity without really reaching that point, while the 7" Kindle is fine for reading and occasional media viewing.
 
4.3" MINIMUM. Anything less just seems like a toy. As for resolution, 720p is really the minimum for a gadget lover like myself. 1280x800 on my GNote is just icing on the cake
 
22'' and ... waiting for them .. guess I'll need bigger pockets too ^^
 
I have 4inch sony ericsson x10. I wouldnt go any smaller. I find the phone fantastic, with slightly curved edges on the back, so it fits perfectly in my pocket.

On the other hand, i find the iphone screen generally small. But what i really dont like, is the thickness and blockiness of it, and the huge waste of space above and below the screen.

Tablet is 10 inch android. Would not go smaller for a general tablet.
 
As an owner of a Lumia 900 (don't ask me how, can't say ;) ), and having owned a Focus which is 4", I can honestly say 4.3" is the sweet spot; in fact anything below 4" just feels like a toy to me.

If it wasn't for the iPhone's great design and materials, I'd also consider it one.
 
Can't go below 4.3" after the HD2. The small screen size is one of the main reasons I dislike the iPhone too.

Ideal size is probably around 4.7" for a smartphone imho.

For a tablet - 10" is decent but 11-12" might be perfect.
 
I have a seven inch tablet and first thing I thought after a while of using it was how it could almost be passable as a phone. I'm a two phone person anyway, I always have a small burner phone on me at all times, then a larger, better equipped phone for when I'm not doing something physical or where it could get damaged. Five to six inches for the latter would probably be ideal.
 
I don't have a tablet, but it's always been stuck in my head that it would be cool to have one that was the letter size or A4. But of course, I'm clearly insane since I've never owned/used one so I have no perspective. =p
 
I really like the 3.5 on the iPhone....Is a bigger screen nicer to look at...sure...but I like the form factor of the iPhone...because I have lig it around all day I don't want anything larger. It fits in my pocket perfectly..I seen some of the larger phones and they are too large. If I want a larger screen I use my tablet...Its only a phone....and the iPhone screen is so clear it doesn't matter that its only 3.5". If somehow they could make the screen 4" but keep the same form factor then I'm all for it!
 
I had the 4.3 inch Samsung Galaxy S2 but when I saw the 5.3 inch Note, I fell in love. I carry it everywhere. It fits into my pocket perfectly and I love it that I dont need to use a tablet too.
 
4.3" minimum for me, I love the Galaxy Note and that's about perfect for my needs.
 
4.6" for phone and 7" for tablet. I kinda enjoy reading things more on the 7" screen than I do on a 10" tablet for some reason. 5.3" phone felt too big in the hand, 4.6" or 4.3" was just ok, own Galaxy Nexus myself.
 
As for phone it should be 4.2" - 4.6" and when we speak about TABs I really looking forward for Samsung Galaxy Tab 11.6. There's no big difference between carrying 10.1" and 11.6" tab (none of them fit in my pocket), but I would like to have bigger screen for my tasks.
 
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