Don't you hate how narrow phones are getting?Galaxy s7 edge vs s8 comparison

[Inders99]

Phones may be getting narrower and taller; but cell phone manufacturers are consumer-driven. They will make what the majority of the public demands.

Disagree to a point. They are marketing driving and tell us what we want to like and we do (some of us anyway).

Marketing HAS to come up with fresh ideas in order to drive sales, companies would go out of business if they just had to market the same 'ol thing. How would Samsung be doing if they were still stuck on the Note 4 design (which would be fine with me since it was one of the best phones ever made IMO)...not too good if the competition was touting newer "updated" features.

You see it with every product; cars, computers, tools, clothing, etc. Personally I'm not buying a phone until they come out with one without a notch...and give me a flat screen again please. These things will come around because it'll be something to market again and drive sales.

I don't know a single person that was desiring a narrow phone, or curved screens, or notches, or whatever, they just bought what was offered and moved on.

 

[Morty2264]

Disagree to a point. They are marketing driving and tell us what we want to like and we do (some of us anyway).

Marketing HAS to come up with fresh ideas in order to drive sales, companies would go out of business if they just had to market the same 'ol thing. How would Samsung be doing if they were still stuck on the Note 4 design (which would be fine with me since it was one of the best phones ever made IMO)...not too good if the competition was touting newer "updated" features.

You see it with every product; cars, computers, tools, clothing, etc. Personally I'm not buying a phone until they come out with one without a notch...and give me a flat screen again please. These things will come around because it'll be something to market again and drive sales.

I don't know a single person that was desiring a narrow phone, or curved screens, or notches, or whatever, they just bought what was offered and moved on.

I do agree with you! Consumers may buy things that are "new and exciting" that companies (whom they already trust) are putting out. They may think, "well, I liked their past few models/iterations; so perhaps I can give this a try." I'm sure there are many instances of consumers buying "what manufacturers tell them to" - in other words, the new and innovative ideas manufacturers put out in new products that entices consumers because these new ideas are different and enticing.

However, I don't think I think twice (that sounded funny) when it comes to buying products that are "new ideas," in essence. I tend to stick with what I know; and if it has a new twist to offer (like the Pixel 2: it still has bezels which I like; but it also has the new-ish implementation of AOD and I water resistance), then I'll consider it.

It's hard to measure customer purchasing habits and what "comes first/matters most" - the new ideas manufacturers put out that differ from the rest; consumers buying things they are told to; consumers buying what the majority of other consumers buy; etc. There are so many variables that can be measured. It's so interesting, though, to see what motivates mobile phone consumers. Thanks for responding!

 

[BaFel]

I hate the narfow smart phone trend with a passion. I have larger hands and older eyes. The thin phones have several problems. First of all, the icons and test all have to be smaller and are therefore harder to read. Videos, which are mostly viewed in landscape, are also smaller. I hate typing on my Samsung Note 9. The screen is already too skinny and narrow to type on. The insanely stupid curved screen makes it even more difficult. And yes, I have tried adjusting keyboad size and width. I hate using this phone. I wanted to try DeX which is totally awesome. If it weren't for the DeX, I would sell the phone.

 

[dangerousfen]

The narrowing may be an optical illusion.
The phones are not getting narrower. They are getting longer while the width remains the same.
For movie viewing, any movie not in a 18:9 format just adds black margins on the long ends.

They are certainly getting narrower. Just simply take a good old fashioned tape measure, then check two phones with the same advertised screen size.

 

[datum9]

I have Samsung S8+... too narrow and too thin. Very slippery and hard to hold. I had to install a ZeroLemon case with an extended battery.

Dislike the 18:9 screen ratio, 16:9 is better in all ways. Curved edges are annoying as well and completely pointless.

cannot wait until that Energizer Power Max P18K Pop will become available.

 

[bembol]

I don't mind it TBH it has its advantages but I agree about these CURVE edge displays. I'll admit at first it got my attention but quickly realized it doesn't work.

 

[Golurk]

Personally I love curved screen displays (only on the sides though, obviously) and new 18/19:9 aspect ratios for these reasons:

1. New ratio allows for a larger screen without an impossibly wide phone

2. Curved screen makes your display look larger and Samsung’s Edge Panel feature is genuinely useful.

As for new gimmicks/bells and whistles I’m fine with most of them although I wish in display fingerprint scanners were slightly faster. Slider phones and 21:9 aspect ratios are ridiculous in my opinion.

Also I find that the vocal minority of users who want really thick phones and large bezels are either clumsy or just naive (no offense intended).

However, phones are getting bigger and bigger and that’s not really a good thing. Punishing users who choose smaller phones by making those devices inferior is also annoying. Personally I think a (nearly) all screen phones/slim bezels with a display size of 5.5 to 6.3 inches is around right but above or below that is either too large or too small.

 

[Rukbat]

I really don't care about the aspect ratio, but I care about how thin phones have gotten, making user-replaceable batteries impossible - so instead of a $10 battery, it costs $60 or so to have someone open the phone and replace the battery. (I probably could, but at almost 77, I don't trust my ability to do so any more.)

As for curved screens? Not until they warrant an improperly-annealed screen. A curved screen can shatter from the shock of being gently placed on its back on a folded blanket, if there's a strain spot still left in it.

(Those are two reasons I didn't stay with Samsung when I was looking for a phone with a FPS. And I've gotten so used to the one on the rear that it would probably take a while to get used to one behind the digitizer. I thought I'd prefer that, but the way I grab the phone, my index finger is near the rear sensor.)

 

[tgm1024]

Can't stand the new taller form. In my front pocket, I'm convinced it's going to get snapped in half when I sit down.

 

[datum9]

I like the old 16:9 ratio, in my LG V20 and such.

For several reasons:

1) I read in the portrait mode and the wider screen is nice. Easier to read versus on a narrow phone.

2) I use the horizontal mode for typing. And since I use extended capacity batteries, it scales nicely. I tried a ZeroLemon extended battery for the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus and it made the phone impossibly long, very difficult to type in horizontal mode and equally difficult in vertical mode since it's so narrow.

3) youtube, etc. all scale nicely to 16:9, not 18.5:9

4) 16:9 fits nicely in my pockets. Anything longer such as 18:9 sticks out.

5) 16:9 appears larger than 18:9. It just seems like there is more real estate. Both of my 16:9 phones, Note 4 and LG V20 are 5.7" in size appear to have more real estate than S8+ that's 6.2" and 18.5:9. Strange.

6) As a footnote, some of the real estate is used for on screen keys "home" and "back" and such, so you are not getting the full 6.2" screen size, it's a bit misleading. I think for that reason alone 6.2" S8+ for example has less real estate than Samsung Note 4 that's 5.7" with the buttons not on the screen.

 

[datum9]

I really don't care about the aspect ratio, but I care about how thin phones have gotten, making user-replaceable batteries impossible - so instead of a $10 battery, it costs $60 or so to have someone open the phone and replace the battery. (I probably could, but at almost 77, I don't trust my ability to do so any more.)

As for curved screens? Not until they warrant an improperly-annealed screen. A curved screen can shatter from the shock of being gently placed on its back on a folded blanket, if there's a strain spot still left in it.

that is a valid point, I've had my S8+ battery replaced after 1.5 years as it wouldn't hold charge, ran me $60 on sale.
For a relatively tiny 3500mAh battery. For the same amount I could have bought a 10,000 mAh battery (or two) and installed it myself in a phone such as LG V20.

The curved screens being more vulnerable, that is an interesting point as well. My S8 Plus is incredible brittle all around. Front and back. You really have to baby it.

 

[Golurk]

The fragility problem and curved screen dislikes can easily be solved with a case in most ‘cases’ (lol).

As for the seemingly larger display, that is kinda countered by Samsung’s curved edge display.

I guess the noticeable (but not huge) narrowing down of phones is to make it easier to hold, which is actually true, however ironic it may be.

Because it’s harder to hold something quite wide than it is for something quite narrow, hence the new 18:9 and 19:9 aspect ratios (extreme example: try holding a remote control compared to a small book flat on your palm). Another example could be trying to hold an iPhone 7 Plus in 1 hand compared to the S8 Plus...the latter is narrower and taller but easier/more comfortable to hold.

Don’t get me wrong, I think 21:9 ratios (e.g sony) look and are quite silly and are purely for easier multitasking and movies.

 

[Morty2264]

The fragility problem and curved screen dislikes can easily be solved with a case in most ‘cases’ (lol).

I see what you did there.

 

[Golurk]

I see what you did there.

I’m glad you did

 

[Golurk]

I also don't like the narrow phone. I like big phone. It can watch TV and movies and play games. But the narrow phone is disgusting.

Could you please be more specific as to what aspect ratio? (e.g 18:9-21:9) All modern phones within the past 2 years have an aspect ratio of 18/19:9.

I've already mentioned the benefits of having an 18:9 display compared to 16:9 above...as for 21:9, it looks odd and I don't like it but the apparent advantage is meant to be for multitasking and watching movies (which are filmed in 21:9)

 

[Golurk]

and 18:9 phones can be plenty big as well!

 

[Casey Cheung]

At least a longer phone means it's easier to hold and use with one hand operation, so that is an offsetting advantage. The curved screen on the other hand is simply a daily nuisance, I cannot find any usefulness for a curved screen. It "looks" cool to my eyes, but my eyes don't have to touch the screen.

 

[Golurk]

At least a longer phone means it's easier to hold and use with one hand operation, so that is an offsetting advantage. The curved screen on the other hand is simply a daily nuisance, I cannot find any usefulness for a curved screen. It "looks" cool to my eyes, but my eyes don't have to touch the screen.

Samsung does have software to prevent accidental touches, which (to be fair) works most of the time for me. However, when it does happen it is a bit of a nuisance.

Also, another feature of the curved screen is 'Edge Panel' (quick app/info access panel) which many find quite useful although personally I don't use it that often.

 

[recDNA]

YES YES YES! A thousand times YES!

View attachment 279627
Before you say s8 has more screen no it does not have bigger screen it has just taller screen and everything is more narrow and smaller there

I don't know I feel phone manufactures don't ask people what they want they just do what they want or what Samsung does.I hate the 18:9 aspect ratio and I feel it makes phones very narrow also for movies and youtube watching I feel you get a smaller screen it does not make sense to me and it looks like that the 16:9 phones will disappear from the market but probably I believe the will return in the future...If this continues I will probably go and buy a iphone 8 plus in the future.

What do you think ?Do you agree with this trend?

 

[recDNA]

He said he wants to watch video! Every video I watch (and I watch a LOT) is 16:9. I don't find the narrow phone better in ANY way. I LIKE 16:9. Movies are better in narrower format because they are meant to be watched on huge screens. Talk to me about 21:9 when TV's and all the shows are 21:9.

Could you please be more specific as to what aspect ratio? (e.g 18:9-21:9) All modern phones within the past 2 years have an aspect ratio of 18/19:9.

I've already mentioned the benefits of having an 18:9 display compared to 16:9 above...as for 21:9, it looks odd and I don't like it but the apparent advantage is meant to be for multitasking and watching movies (which are filmed in 21:9)