
Ask HN: Will you buy a 7 inch smartphone? - baybal2
Question mainly for Americans and Europeans, will you buy it?<p>Not much a question for Asian countries... It already seems to be the new trend here :\
======
lgregg
No, I have an iPhone SE. I’ll just buy a used phone or one the same size. If I
can’t wrap my fingers around my phone or forget it’s in my pocket, no bueno.

------
byoung2
At what point does a phone become a tablet? I have a Samsung Note 9 at 6.4"
and it is plenty big but if they make the bezel smaller and the screen bigger
for the next generation I wouldn't complain.

~~~
dragonwriter
> At what point does a phone become a tablet?

When it doesn't have a dialer app.

------
beatgammit
I had a 6" and didn't particularly like it, mostly because it didn't fit
nicely in my pocket. I now have a 5" and I like it much more. There's no way
I'm going to 7".

------
voycey
I need to be able to use it one handed, Samsung has gestures to enable this
which is helpful but feels like a hack - I really dont need a longer phone. I
feel the Nexus 5 was the perfect size for a phone - with pixel densities now I
will be very happy keeping it at 1080p - no need for 4k in a phone!

------
sesteel
I might have in the past; all I want now is a smallish phone that can dock as
a machine (Librem 5) or slide into a laptop enclosure and "be the guts of it".
Maybe, the enclosure is like 80% batteries; idk.

~~~
toper-centage
My wet dreams are about standardised convergence where any phone can connect
to any dumb laptop via a standard connection (like a USB type C port) and "be
the guts of it". Sliding in sounds ideal but phone sizes vary widely.

------
zamadatix
As much as I'd love for this to be true (I've wanted a 7" low bezel phone
since I got a Note 2) 4 phones in the last year match the criteria you define
as a "trend"
[https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?fDisplayInchesMin=6.9&...](https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?fDisplayInchesMin=6.9&nYearMin=2017)

6.4" remains the popular choice for new high end phones but these phones
remain the same physical size as the 5.4" screen phones of older generations
due to decreases in bezel size.

------
screye
Nope.

I went from my old phone to the new S10e and the smaller size is much
appreciated.

I suspect that in 3 years or so, I might buy a folding phone that goes from
say 5.5" to 9", so I can use it as a full tablet.

------
mikelward
I still want something to replace my 7" Nexus tablet.

Don't care if it's called a phone or tablet provided the specs are similar, it
gets updates for a few years, and isn't too expensive.

~~~
snaky
Xiaomi Mi Pad 4

~~~
mikelward
Specs look good. But sounds like no official Google Play Store and not likely
to get any updates.

~~~
snaky
The firmware installed by seller usually is an ugly hack, so first thing you
need to do is to install official Chinese ROM (English language is included),
then - if you wish - Google services and store.

------
ksec
You need to take Aspect Ratio into account. Is it a 7" 16: 9, 21:9 or 22:9
Phone, or would it be 7" 5:3 ?

On iPhone, I wouldn't mind a 6.9" iPhone XR Max. It will only be slightly
wider and taller than iPhone XS Max.

But then the question is, what do we need it bigger? Apart from Playing Games
where the screen is too small for control AND display, I would actually prefer
the phone to be smaller most of the time. Social Media, and other consumption
type of activity don't need such a big screen.

------
dev_north_east
Nope. I have an iPhone 5se. When it dies (hopefully not soon!), I'll be on the
market for a similar sized phone. Don't want bigger.

------
asimjalis
I want the largest phone that can fit in my pocket.

------
quickthrower2
Not really, mainly because I like to fit my phone AND my wallet in any pocket,
and because I fear I am more likely to drop a bigger phone because you cant
wrap your hands around a bigger object as effectively. If I want to watch a
film I prefer using a laptop or TV. If I want to read a small screen size is
OK especially with iPhone reader mode or outline.com.

------
wishinghand
Absolutely not. I have large-ish hands (can play chords on a bass guitar) and
find the iPhone 7+ chassis to be too big. I wish they had kept the SE size and
split the difference between the two bigger sizes they introduced, like a 5.1”
instead of a 4.7” and 5.5”.

------
dagw
I would definitely say no. But then again I once thought the 5+" was
ridiculously large for a phone, and yet here I sit with 5+" phone which I'm
quite happy with, so I wouldn't listen to me.

------
badpun
After 4.5 years of ownership, I have just today cracked the screen of my
iPhone 5s (by carrying it in my back pocket) I bet that with a larger screen
it wouldn’t take nearly as long.

------
MiddleEndian
I'd buy one that unfolded to that size or more as long as I could continue to
keep the keyboard in the bottom left corner for one handed swipe texting and
folded up it fit easily in my pocket.

------
hanniabu
6 inches seems ther limit for me. I can see even at this size that my pants
get stretched because it's larger than the area that the curve of my thigh can
get depressed.

------
BasicObject
No. I want 4.5-5.5 inch phones in 16:10ish ratio. Give me that screen size
with good battery life. User replaceable battery. All I need.

------
51lver
I like small phones. Wife has a 6" screen and would probably go bigger though.
She didn't think a 5.5 was big enough.

~~~
stonecharioteer
> She didn't think a 5.5 was big enough.

I have bad news for you fam.

------
cimmanom
Only if it folds into a 3.5” smartphone.

------
platform
yes. because I mostly use it for reading and music. I do not mind the size, I
carry it outside of pant pockets.

And it fits into my coat, or back pack (if in summer).

------
tmaly
I am not waiting, I have already switched to an IPad Pro

\s

