I’ve long been a fan of “smaller” smartphones, but that’s kept me pretty firmly in the Apple camp. What kind of difference does that extra screen real estate actually make?
No, it’s not that I’m a raving Apple fanboy; my mantra has long been that I prefer to use products that work for the task at hand — and I’m not blessed with particularly large hands. That’s made many of the larger premium smartphones a bit of an issue for me on long-term usage grounds, as I’ve found it annoying to use a phone that I can’t fully operate single handedly.
That’s meant that my day to day phone has been an iPhone 4S for a while now; my work means I’ve usually got a couple of phones on the go at any one time, but only one gets to wear my SIM and be my primary work tool. There are smaller Android phones, but very few (outside perhaps the Motorola RAZR M) that offer both a high-end experience and a small form factor. Above a certain size, my brain said, and I may as well grab a tablet or laptop anyway.
I’ve been pondering on that choice for some time now, and wondered if it was as much a matter of habit as actual utility. With that in mind, for the next month, I’m going to switch over radically, ditching the iPhone 4S in favour of something a bit larger. Quite a bit larger, actually; if I’m going into this full steam, then the truly massive Galaxy Note II has to be the best bet here. At the end of a month, I’ll decide if smaller or larger phones really do matter to me — and why. While I’m only guest editing Lifehacker for today, I’ll pop back with a quick guest post on my observations as well. For now, what’s your thoughts on the mobile phone size issue, and will I regret or rejoice in a month’s time?
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