Why Smartphones are Getting Bigger

Why smartphones are getting bigger : A year ago, I decided to upgrade my smartphone. I wanted something newer and more powerful, and most importantly, more compact than my iPhone 11 with a diagonal of 6.1. Then I came across the mini line from Apple. I came to re:Store and poked an iPhone 13 mini with a 5.4 diagonal. It was great in my hand, but for some reason it seemed so uncomfortable to me that I abandoned it. In the end, I bought an iPhone 13 with the same display as the old smartphone.

After the purchase, I did not let go of the question of how it happened. I wanted a compact phone, but in the end I myself refused it. Is it all habit or is it something else? I decided to study the topic and now I’m sharing it with you.

In this article, I will try to cover:

how the first smartphone with a large screen was ridiculed;
why the big screen is so popular;
that in addition to the screen increases in smartphones;
how to launch the one-hand control function on iOS and Android;
why are there so few compact models;
which smartphones today have the largest diagonal.

How it all started

In 2011, the Galaxy Note smartphone was released, which was conceived by Samsung as a phone with tablet functions. It was the first phablet on the market with a 5.3-inch AMOLED display. But then it was believed that a smartphone is just a means of communication with advanced features, so it should be compact. Most people criticized the Galaxy Note and prophesied that it would only be popular with a narrow audience. Maybe someone remembers jokes like: “I bought a Samsung, and the wind does not blow in my face”?

But the smartphone had more than just a big screen. Galaxy Note received a powerful dual-core processor at that time with a frequency of 1.4 GHz and a battery with a capacity of 2500 mAh, which was enough for 13 hours of operation. And also Samsung made a lot of creative apps and a stylus for them. All this aroused interest among consumers, and the smartphone was in demand. Such unexpected popularity showed other companies that there is a demand for feature-packed and large smartphones. Now, from year to year, we are seeing how the average size of smartphones is growing.

How convenient is a large smartphone

A modern smartphone is not just a means of communication. This is a complete gadget. We are already accustomed to “shovels”, and the demand for the big screen is not falling. Over time, manufacturers have abandoned wide frames in favor of a larger display. At the same time, the case remained the same familiar to users. But why do we need a big screen, why is a modern smartphone so good? Let’s get a look.

What are the advantages of smartphones with a large display:

Multitasking . It is convenient to open several applications at the same time on a large screen. For example, you can turn on some video on YouTube and write messages to friends at the same time. You can also place more widgets on the home screen for quick access to applications.

Ability to watch movies and play games. When a person watches something on a big screen, he is better immersed in the plot. Unlike a TV or game console, you can play on your smartphone anywhere.

Help at work. Viewing documents on a large screen is easier – no need to zoom in several times. And there are also features that allow you to scan documents through your smartphone camera. Yes, and going to video conferences and viewing everything that is displayed on the screen is more convenient with a large display.

Suitable for people with poor eyesight. If you make a comfortable font for yourself, then it will not take up almost all the space on the screen. And you can also increase the keyboard, thereby getting rid of accidental typos.

More interactions with content. We see a lot of information on big screens. This makes it easier to view maps or read articles in browsers. And also participate in all sorts of interactive entertainment sites.

You can make video calls and take high-quality photos. Video calls are only getting more popular. They are in every messenger. The big screen allows people to see each other better.

Thus, the smartphone has become for us a multimedia device and a tool for work. But for all these conveniences, you have to pay with large sizes that do not always fit in a jeans pocket.

But there are people who do not need a smartphone to watch movies, work and play. They want a compact gadget that will last a long time and take high-quality pictures. You also need a smartphone that would fit in a child’s hand and be reliable, but inexpensive. But there are fewer and fewer such models on the market every year and, as a rule, they cost decent money.

Why is it difficult to make a smartphone compact and multifunctional

The smartphone has replaced a lot of different equipment for us – this is a computer, a camera, a game console, a TV and much more. And the more functions it performs, the more details inside the case become.

Here is what increases over time inside the smartphone:

Battery. We all want our phones to last as long as possible. But the more powerful the processor and the better the display, the more energy they eat. And along with the increase in capacity, the size of the battery also grows. Have you noticed that after a couple of years of use, your smartphone needs to be charged more often? This is affected not only by the deterioration of capacity over the years, but also by updated applications that require more power.

Camera. Smartphones with two or even four cameras are now popular. Perhaps this is just a marketing move by manufacturers, born from the demand for high-quality images with a good zoom.

Cooling system. The processors in modern smartphones are almost as powerful as those in computers. And powerful processors need a good cooling system. Manufacturers cannot build a fan into a smartphone like a computer, so they increase the size of the case to distribute heat. And Xiaomi has developed a smartphone liquid cooling system that requires its place under the cover.

5G support. Models with 5G support are starting to appear on the market. These are new components, which themselves are large and require additional energy.

When manufacturers want to improve something in smartphones, they are faced with a choice: sacrifice old parts or increase the size of the case. So it’s not just the demand for a big screen that makes smartphones big.

Meanwhile, our hand does not grow with the smartphone. It has become difficult to control the phone on the go or while standing in a crowded subway, when you need to reach the top of the screen with one hand. But manufacturers have figured out how to deal with it.