Saturday
Jul142012
Question: The ideal size?
Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 3:00AM What would you say is the ideal size for a smartphone and a tablet? I would say 7” for a tablet (Playbook size) and 4”+ for a smartphone (Galaxy Nexus size).
Reader Comments (8)
I'd say 4-4.5" for a phone. I still have a hard time coming to grips with a 7" tablet - the ones I've tried have left me feeling they are too small. 10" seems about the ideal size to me.
Slightly disagree - 7" for a tablet for casual use (ie novel readers)
10" tablet for those in university/technical college/business/medicine - the extra real estate is useful for textbooks and professional apps eg powerpoint. There is no way I can study effectively from a novel-sized tablet.
NO GREATER than 4" for a phone. 5" and greater IMO is in the "silly" category of trying to be both a tablet and a smartphone but not being particularly good for either. There are a small few who it will fit but the majority it will not.
Four inches for a standard smartphone, Galaxy S3 size for smarter phone or super smartphone and seven inch for leisure tablet and ten inches for business tablet.
If the phone and tablet have minimal bezel, and the weight is very light, then I would say 7 inches providing sharp text like the Nexus 7, but 9.7 if using an iPad 2. Problem is the iPad 2 or 3 gets heavy holding for long periods.
Phone. Samsung S3 size is max, ideally 4.5 inches I reckon. Problem is do we use a phone really as a phone.
A smartphone/PDA should be small enough to put in a pocket or easy carry case such as worn on the belt. At least for men who don't always carry something else such as a briefcase or man bag or knapsack. That seems to be about a 4" screen max. So there may be a wider market for slightly larger devices among women.
As for tablets, although portable, they are typically not put in a pocket or in a belt case. Here the size reflects relative ease of carrying and handling as well as the use. If the iPad were much bigger it would become unwieldy. Much smaller and it would lose the ability to do office type things easily. However, if the device is dedicated to reading books and playing games, then 7" would be fine. Still not pocketable, but lighter.
Personally, I wouldn't be interested in a 7 or 8 inch tablet, not after using the ipad, but I can understand many who would be.
4 - 4.8 for phone
Kindle size for stand alone ebook reader
10 min for tablet (especially if mainly a laptop replacement)
Agree with Shaun's article: phone 4", tablet 7". 10" and it just starts losing portability. I love the Note size though. Completely portable and of very good quality. It also has the bonus of being a phone ;-)
I got my S3 on Friday and it doesn't feel too big at all. I do have big hands, but the fact it's so light and thin helps a lot. It feels a lot less bulky than my old 4.3" HD2, both in the pocket and in the hand.
I think if you have a smaller phone then a 7" tablet makes sense. If you have a bigger phone then there's far less need for a 7" screen and so a 10" makes more sense.
Personally I find the 4.8" S3 and 10.1" Prime give me what I want.
However I do think you shouldn't have to have a large screen to get a premium phone. It'd be great if Samsung made an S3 Mini with the same insides but a 4" screen. I wouldn't want it but I'd like to see more choice; that's what Android is supposed to excel for but it's lacking in this particular aspect.