# Smartphones - can you PLEASE stop getting bigger!? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650 "2019-10-29T15:54:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/21 "2019-10-29T21:18:50Z")
You can go to Amazon and search by cell phone screen sizes: Up to 3.9 in 4 to 4.4 in 4.5 to 4.9 in 5 to 5.4 in 5.5 in & above ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/22 "2019-10-29T21:45:59Z")
> [@Kovitlac](#): > > \*I apologize if this belongs in another forum. I thought maybe it fit best here, but I’m fairly new here and if I put it in the wrong place, I apologize. \* > > Obviously the plus size (such as the Galaxy S10 Plus) exist for a reason, and I see nothing wrong with that. I’m not talking about those so much as the base versions. Your Galaxy S10, Google Pixel 4 XL, etc. > > I have a Galaxy S8 and it’s getting about time for me to upgrade. But very consistently, over the last several years, I’ve had to adjust to wider and wider phone sizes. Don’t get me wrong - the larger screens are lovely. Too bad I’m getting closer and closer to having to text two-handed. My thumb barely reaches to the left side of the phone as it is. I have to use SWIPE if typing one-handed, so I can keep pressure on the phone the entire time. I often just text two-handed to avoid the annoyance. > > In addition to having smaller hands, women’s clothes also tend to not have pockets at all, or have much smaller pockets than men’s clothing. So my phone already sticks out a couple inches from where my back pocket ends. Yes, I know women often carry purses, but I personally dislike them unless I absolutely need it. I prefer my phone being quicker to access. > > Anyway, I’ve been glancing through replacement possibilities. The only ones that are slightly smaller than my current phone are Google Pixels. I’ll take a look at them in the store, but every single other option is larger than my current (two generations old) phone, save for the Galaxy S10e, which is the same size. > > Another annoyance is that the larger versions are always rated better than the smaller ones. Is this because they can fit more features or processing power into a larger space? Does this mean phones will just continue to get larger and larger? Why even bother having tablets at all if XL phones have 8 in screens?? > > Sorry for the rant and the obvious first world problem. Actually, not really - that’s what this message board is for, right? I have the S10e, and it fits very comfortably in my pockets. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/23 "2019-10-29T23:29:13Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I’m in a wheelchair and wear this bag over my shoulder. > > [https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07MYW2FX6?psc=1&ref=ppx\_pop\_mob\_b\_asin\_title](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07MYW2FX6?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title) > > Plenty of room for my phone, debit card, earbuds, extra power supply, all without reaching down and digging into my pockets. Plenty of zippered pockets, and my smartphone slides right into the front pouch. Very nice bag. I have an old PacSafe [sling bag](https://www.amazon.com/Pacsafe-Metrosafe-Anti-Theft-Cross-Sling/dp/B008X5L22O) that they don’t make any longer [or at least I couldn’t find it on the site for sale any longer …] and I love it because it is slash resistant, the strap is slash resistant [with enough concerted effort anything can probably be cut …] and is quite comfortable and stays nicely flat against my body and as you point out, plenty of pockets for just about anything. I also have a buttpack I had been using for medical appointments to carry my infusion pump and some other assorted medical supplies [I wanted something that if it got bio-contaminated I wouldn’t mind losing to decontamination efforts] When I travel by plane, I have a large daypack I picked up at the Navy Exchange [in the now going defunct ‘blueberry’ Navy camo pattern] and an OD green bag mrAru picked up somewhere. I wear the buttpack and carry the green bag in the day pack. My actual travel ‘luggage’ is in the green bag, and I fold my crutches and sort of tuck them into the day pack and it slides under the air plane seat in front of me [the crutches then do not get taken away and ‘stored safely out of the way’ somewhere if the plane goes down I won’t be able to get them to escape safely] I also [since I travel Delta primarily] have a 40 liter flight compartment qualified [back pack](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JB6CBGW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)that I pack with my luggage, and it fits under the assisted wheelchair from desk to gate and down to the plane and back again at the end of the flight. I am able to wear the day pack slung on my front, the big pack on my back and stump from a door to the cab, or to the car rental desk and so forth. I finally got my replacement wheelchair [my original got melted in the house fire] and we have seriously been discussing getting a fitted Anvil case for it for when we fly … I had a rented wheelchair get a wheel hub damaged by the airline one trip to Germany … we werre not happy about that! We figure it would protect the chair during shipping, and when we got it at the baggage claim, we pull the chair out and stuff our luggage in and tow it all along in one bundle =) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/24 "2019-10-29T23:57:10Z")
> [@Kovitlac](#): > > Too bad I’m getting closer and closer to having to text two-handed. My thumb barely reaches to the left side of the phone as it is. You type by using the thumb of the hand holding the phone? I’ve never done that, with _any_ size screen. And when I do attempt to do things with the thumb of the hand holding the phone, the foldy part of my thumb that merges into the palm (whatever the hell that is called) touches the screen and tells the phone to do stuff that I don’t want it to do. My current phone has a 2.7 inch wide screen. Ideally, I’d like that bumped up to 3 inches. (That would be 6.1 inches on a 9:16 screen or 6.7 inches on a 9:18 screen–I’d prefer a 9:16, but that choice is almost dead.) ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/25 "2019-10-30T04:17:07Z")
> [@Kovitlac](#): > > Too bad I’m getting closer and closer to having to text two-handed. My thumb barely reaches to the left side of the phone as it is. I have to use SWIPE if typing one-handed, so I can keep pressure on the phone the entire time. I often just text two-handed to avoid the annoyance. The iPhone has a one-handed keyboard mode. I imagine your S8 has a similar function. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/26 "2019-10-30T04:32:39Z")
[The real reason smartphones are getting bigger.](https://imgur.com/gallery/Yh6f6) ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/27 "2019-10-30T05:54:30Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/28 "2019-10-31T15:36:37Z")
> [@Yodalicious](#): > > I have the S10e, and it fits very comfortably in my pockets. As far as I can tell, that’s the same size as my current S8. I’m thinking about it, although I really like the beveled edges on my S8, and I’m surprised the S10e doesn’t have them. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/29 "2019-10-31T15:39:59Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You type by using the thumb of the hand holding the phone? I’ve never done that, with _any_ size screen. And when I do attempt to do things with the thumb of the hand holding the phone, the foldy part of my thumb that merges into the palm (whatever the hell that is called) touches the screen and tells the phone to do stuff that I don’t want it to do. Yes, unless I just decide to use two hands. The beveled edge is helpful in limiting how much the rest of my hand hits the side, though I can’t say it never happens. Using swipe, I can type without having to left my thumb hardly at all, so I’m able to keep the phone in place. If I tried to text normally using one hand, the phone would constantly be moving (unless you have a better method?). ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/30 "2019-10-31T15:45:37Z")
When I got my first smartphone around 2003-2004 (pre-iphone era) everyone was like “Wow. Why do you need such a huge phone?” and the fact that I was using a phone to make business transactions and browse the internet was considered a dorky thing. Now, with my small iPhone - “Wow, how OLD is your phone (I bought it new 1 year ago, I wanted to keep the same size as the previous phones)?” and “WOW, your phone is so small!.” ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/31 "2019-10-31T17:10:02Z")
As a big guy with big hands and large pockets, I think phones are about perfect now. (the regular versions, not the plus) I had the iphone 7+ and liked it a lot, but if I had to pick a tiny bit bigger or smaller, I think I’d go smaller than that. So the iphone XR is the “just right” size for me. The iphone 11 is a tiny bit smaller I think, but close enough not to matter. So IMO about a 6" screen and minimal bezel is perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/32 "2019-10-31T19:24:44Z")
I like big phones, I cannot lie. Ideally, though, I’d like to have a tablet with a detachable keyboard and and detachable tiny cell phone. Something modular would be great. Women’s clothes have horrible or no pockets, and I’m clumsy, so I use [this](https://www.amazon.com/Aapporto-Cellphone-Purse-Crossbody-Shoulder/dp/B00RMJ69AM). It’s a well-made pouch. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/33 "2019-10-31T19:25:10Z")
I dunno - My Droid4 hasn’t noticeably grown any over the past 6 years that I’ve owned it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/34 "2019-10-31T19:58:15Z")
> [@Kovitlac](#): > > As far as I can tell, that’s the same size as my current S8. [Very slightly wider, less slightly taller](https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Samsung-Galaxy-S8,Samsung-Galaxy-S10e/phones/10311,11114). > [@Kovitlac](#): > > although I really like the beveled edges on my S8, and I’m surprised the S10e doesn’t have them. Lots of people despise the curved screens. There are other S10 models that do have them. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650/35 "2019-10-31T20:00:38Z")
Looks like [the standard S10](https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Samsung-Galaxy-S8,Samsung-Galaxy-S10/phones/10311,10959) (with the curved screen) would work for you just as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartphones-can-you-please-stop-getting-bigger/842650.md?page=1)