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While we at KitGuru know ladies who prefer to choose one that can be easily slipped into a pocket or purse, there is no doubt that – overall – the movement is toward bigger and smarter phones. But how big is too big? KitGuru pulls out a length of string and a ruler.
One measurement system for this kind of technology is “Can you use it in one hand?”
When it launched, the Blackberry 9900 was considered a bit of a hunk. Yet KitGuru can testify that it is possible to hold an Ultrabook in your left hand, 9900 in your right, and check/amend meeting details.
Now the 9900 is dwarfed by products like the Nokia Lumia 920, while – at the same time – companies like Apple and Asus are integrating more and more tablet power into products around the 7″ mark.
That seems to leave the 6″ zone sparsely populated.
Is it a large phone or a small tablet?
With the launch of its 6.3″ Galaxy MEGA, Samsung is quick to point out that the product is under 200 grams in weight and can (apparently) be used with just one hand.
With all computer-based systems, larger means increased opportunity for features – which could include more powerful processors and longer lasting batteries.
The trouble is that if you ask a friend for the time and he pulls a clock out of his jacket pocket, he will look like a dick.
Surely, the same judgement awaits those who pull out something as big as a plate and walk around with it stuck on the side of their heads.
Globally, almost 50% of all phones shipped now are ‘smart'. To put that into numbers, according to IDC, that meant around 220 million smartphones shipping in the last quarter of 2012. Smartphone shipments in 2013 are expecting to be around the 800 million unit mark – possibly more.
Do we really want to return to the time of the big brick?
KitGuru says: From absolutely nowhere in the phone market just 5 years ago, Samsung sold 50% more smartphones than Apple last year. That says that they know what they're doing, but we still can't visualise huge handheld devices being used against the ear while people walk along the street. It just looks wrong.
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Its not the devices that are at fault its the name … Smartphone.
In just about all reviews these days the phone side is hardly mentioned, its how good the camera is, what the browsing experience is like, how thin it is, does it have a card slot, etc, etc, etc.
They are no longer phones, that part of the device is now a sidethought.