No, not a cheap attempt at Google search traffic on male enhancements, but another serious look at the ever changing, ever growing statistic that is phone screen size. Steve Litchfield looks at devices and use cases past and present, from Psion Series 5 to Apple Newton to Dell Axim to Nokia 7710 and through to the Samsung i8910 HD in the current day. Initially cautious over whether phones might get too big, Steve points out that a 4" display is more a 1995 phenomenon than a 2010 one....
Read on in the full article.
It really is a pity that you almost always seem to be Nokia-centric on most of your articles.
Why wasn't the Ericsson R380 in that list? How about the Sony Ericsson P800/910?
Nice article. But when looking at the figure with the six screen sizes, the difference between the N82 and the N900/.N97 seemed too small even. Afraid I'd lost my 'carpenter's eye' I measured my N82&N900 screens, and plotted them over the figure.
And sure enough, the 2.4" screen is actually 2.6", if I scale the N900 screen correctly.
By the way, the actual usable areas of both the N900 and the N82 screens are exactly to spec, no cheating by Nokia.
If you can read what you want to read - where's the problem? :con? It's all well and good boasting lovely big screens but when the interface is so unintuitive (S60 5th Edition for example) it's redundant.
In recent years I have owned an N95 8GB, 5800XM, N86 8MP and an N97 mini and without fail the larger screened phones have been underpowered (5800) or simply broken beyond the point of usability (N97 mini) making the larger screens essentially pointless.
I know that it's all supposed to be subjective but let's be honest, the general pattern seems to be large screen = touch UI. And, unless you're using an iPhone, touch UIs are inferior to a real keyboard (hence the plethora of QWERTY/touch hybrids). Let's face it, if touch was so great why do we need to add the physical keys? iPhone users the world over will tell you they are not necessary.
Screen size is a non-issue for most users. Screen quality is important however and I am constantly reminded of that fact when I take my N86's beautiful OLED screen into bright sunlight.😎
"Why wasn't the Ericsson R380 in that list? How about the Sony Ericsson P800/910?"
I owned all of those, of course, in the day, but none of them were really significant in terms of screen size. However, you make a good point and I'll rectify it now by at least giving some of the UIQ-based phones name checks in my little history 8-)
I've never had a problem before when I switched from 3.5" PDAs to 2.4" smartphones, so I can't see why this is suddenly an issue just because the latest trend is having big 4" smartphones. There are phones just for everyone.
Personally for an everyday phone for me a 4" screen is too big, I just don't find them at all all pocketable.
For an occasional use/business use phone then that size is ok with me.
Smaller screens wont disappear any time soon as there are alot of people like myself who just want something that easily fits in your pocket for everyday use.
The reason screens got smaller is because of the amount of power required by phones - they need at least 1 full day's worth of battery.
Now that Super AMOLED tech is available and battery tech has become cheaper/better, we may even see large screen devices that last more than a day!!
PS. Why has no-one created an E71 like the Palm Tungsten T3?? The keypad/control cluster could slide down to reveal the rest of the screen. With OLED tech the hidden part of the screen wouldn't use any power anyway.
(The P900 type device with a flip keyboard isn't good for typing and not strong enough! An E71 with the T3 slide would be much more ergonomic and sturdier.)
I think screen resolution would also be worth covering, I took the N80 specifically because it had a higher resolution. A bigger screen is not always better if you can't see as much. However I know higher resolution is not always better either (if the screen is tiny).
While both N97 and N800 have 3.5 inch screens, the aspect ratio isn't the same. By area, the N97 is actually smaller than the N900.
Opps to the above.
While both N97 and N900 have 3.5 inch screens, the aspect ratio isn't the same. By area, the N97 is actually smaller than the N900.
My dream phone is a more than 3.5� screen, full querty keyboard, with a good camera (5 megapixels or more), very good sound quality for playing music on the plane (the only flaw of the E71), GPS, push email (currently using Emoze), with the ability to edit MS-Office docs, a very good video player and most of all, THE POWER AND STABILITY OF THE E71.
Because of the screen size, it will have to be have touch screen (it has to fit in my pocket and I have to be able to make a call with one hand), even though it is not a must for me.
I started with a Nokia 2160, then a 6160, 8290, 5100 (company phone), 9290, 7600, N95, E71 and since July 2009 a N97.
I love my phone, because it does most of the tasks I want, but the performance is not even close to my old E71. Will my dream come true on a Nokia branded phone? Or will I be forced to switch to another platform and brand (I am a Nokia fun)?
Right now I am planning to sell my N97 and buy an E72 (E5?), but I am sure I will miss the screen very badly.
3.2 inch is fine for me. I've said it before - a N82 in a 5800 shell (with updated OS).
widehead wrote:If you can read what you want to read - where's the problem? :con? It's all well and good boasting lovely big screens but when the interface is so unintuitive (S60 5th Edition for example) it's redundant. In recent years I have owned an N95 8GB, 5800XM, N86 8MP and an N97 mini and without fail the larger screened phones have been underpowered (5800) or simply broken beyond the point of usability (N97 mini) making the larger screens essentially pointless. . . .
I use a Nokia E72 for business and a Samsung i8910 for playtime but when it comes to using a map program there is only one choice, the i8910. The screen of the E72 is just too small to use Ovi Maps easily, particularly in a car.
I'd love to see a phone with a 3.7" screen, but zero, or minimal, borders, looking at all these phones, a fair bit of the height comes from above or below the screens. Surely it would be easy enough to have, say, a 2 mm boundry on the whole thing? or does such a phone already exist?
What I need is at least a 7" screen. It has to be this size in order to give a realistic chance of viewing and editing A4 size office documents and viewing web pages in full size. There is not a chance of pocketing such a large device. Its a crying shame then that the hardware for computer plus modem plus keyboard plus cell phone can fit in a tiny candybar form factor. The problem is the screen is just too tiny in a candy bar form factor, and to a lesser extent so is the keyboard.
The most intriguing gadget I have seen to date is the Redfly by Celio Corp. Its about the size of a small netbook, has a 7 or 8 inch screen and a proper mini keyboard. It has no processor or hard drive, it is just a dumb terminal which links to your smart phone. Brilliant.
In my gadget heaven, I carry a smart phone in my trouser pocket and a Redfly in my brief case. The only thing stopping me is they only currently work with a selection of WIN Mo & Blackberry phones. Somebody twist their arm to include Symbian please.....!
Actually fired my old PSION Mx up the other day. Put the batteries in, it fired up in about 30 seconds from deep storage. You can rip through files and folders in lightening speed, run multiple apps, step through multiple zoom levels with no stuttering,and the keyboard - surely still the best mini keyboard ever, not bettered by anyone since. Just needed Wifi and native MS docs support.
(okay and a colour screen).
I own Nokia E71 and Motorola ZN5. Sold Nokia 5800 a few weeks ago. I am hard internet mobile user. The reason i sold my 5800 is because for somewhat long time usage, it hurt my palm. I wish it could be slimmer. Also navigating on its screen require more captivity than smaller non touchscreen. I am happy using E71 for mobile browsing. For long mobile browsing, it's still comfortable in my hand, and landscape screen is a plus. I don't miss 5800 at all.
That RedFly is a great idea, but unfortunately very ugly and NOT BIG ENOUGH!! You may as well go the whole hog if you're going to have things seperate. It should be 9/10 inch and thin, very thin. There's not really an excuse for any sort of thickness when all you need to include is a battery and a rudimentary controller for communication between the terminal and the phone.
Can anyone provide further info about how this works (Bluetooth/USB, which profiles are used etc)? I can kick start an investigation.
7 inches??? 😮
Of course as you say, this will not fit in the pocket.... If you are leaving the smartphone market then why not 12" or more???
Unless you you dont mind pulling it out of your suitcase, just to answer a call... 🙄 how would you look, holding a large thing like that to your ear?? :hahaha: :embarasse
Until a workable, inexpensive roll-up screen can be realized, with a small screen for receiving / making calls, it still has to be small enough to fit in the hand and pocket without discomfort!!
Unless you dont mind having a BT earpiece permanently in ear...
It's not size it's weight.
A 3.2 screen is a good size but not if it weighs in at 135 grams. Or even 122 grams like the Nokia X6.
Sony Ericsson seems to have got one over on Nokia with the Vivaz.
A 3.2 touch screen, S60 handset and only 97 grams.