Mobile screen sizes- the madness continues!

There was once a time when the smart phones had QWERTY and I found them useless. There was a time when the best screen size in a phone was a 2.8” screen and I bought a phone having that screen. It had no touch and it was a simple slider (SE W910i to be precise). I was in love with that phone to say the least. The only reason I parted with it was the dawn of Android.

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The phone that changed everything about well… phones- iPhone started with a 3.5” screen. I have used a 3.5” screen and even looking at a 2.8” non-touch screen seems dull. Android of course could not blatantly copy Apple (they would have been sued ).

On a serious note, to differentiate itself from Apple, Android brought what they could- variety! Suddenly, there were screen sizes from 2.8” (in SE Xperia X10 mini pro) to 4” big budget phones. Flash forward to current and the smallest phone has a touch screen of 3.2”. The largest is now considered a new category- Phablet at a whopper 5.5” Galaxy Note 2.

I know people might argue that Note 2 is not a phone. My only question to those people- “If you have a Note 2, will you carry a phone to call?” If you find the answer as NO, then Note 2 counts as a phone.

Coming back to topic, I remember Dell Streak, bringing the first 5” device to the market and failing miserably. Somehow Note captured interest of people and its note taking usability was highly regarded. What happened here? How did the screen size stop mattering suddenly?

Of course, it might be the case of simple adaptability. When Galaxy S2 was launched, it had a huge screen in phones- at 4.3” it was difficult to manage and was a big phone. I haven’t used S2 comprehensively but my current phone is 4.3” and I find that even going back to my old trusty 3.5” is also nearly impossible. My hand is now adjusted to the bigger screen and the only way from here is up.

Galaxy S3 has 4.7” screen and it is rumored that S4 might have a stellar 4.99 incher. It will be almost equal to the first Note.

If Samsung Galaxy S had a 5” screen it might have failed as badly as Dell. Of course, the Dell phone did not have specs to match a Galaxy S(pick your number) but still, it must have not gained the traction that Galaxy S3 is gaining. It is already the most sold phone.

Even Apple relented and increased the size of their iPhone!

What do you guys think? Were we always ready for 4+ sizes or are we adapting to the ever increasing screen size and will there come a final point where the trend will stop and maybe even reversed?

[This article has been written by Kunal Prakash]