Why manufacturers so against smaller phones?

[rspinell]

I have moto x (OG!) which i love. I was going to get moto x pure, but its just too big. I'm now going with 5X, but if the pure was smaller, I would of went with it. It seems like alot of people feel the same way about smaller size for a phone. Why do companies keep pushing/making these larger phones?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[getbretweir]

I have moto x (OG!) which i love. I was going to get moto x pure, but its just too big. I'm now going with 5X, but if the pure was smaller, I would of went with it. It seems like alot of people feel the same way about smaller size for a phone. Why do companies keep pushing/making these larger phones?

Posted via the Android Central App

simple, more people that buy high end phones prefer larger displays than smaller ones. if that weren't true, they'd make em smaller.

 

[mrsmumbles]

I don't know, but I wish they'd add smaller ones in too. There's a market for 4.7" and 5" phones!

 

[Javier P]

You can join this long thread about the same issue.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=576251

 

[original00]

We keep hearing that its because people want larger phones but no one is making compact flagship phones at all. I do not want a phablet and I'm disappointed that the in order to get a nexus with the top specs you had to get the 6p (so I got the 5x). Somehow a flagship phone means 5.5" screen to most android oems and I don't understand why

 

[Zendroid1]

There's still a few really good options there; Sony Z Compact series, Moto G, Nexus 5x and iPhone 6s.

 

[minnemike]

The small form factor phone will be coming back at some point!

... when they develop the fold out screen or holographic projection screen. Hell, they almost have all that going with Google Glass but you look ridiculous wearing it.

 

[Evilnut]

My take is, manufacturers made phones that were a bit larger, that is when things moved to a 5 inch screen, and saw that people were buying them in droves. So they went to 5.2, 5.5, 5.7 and so on. They also advertised the heck out of those larger phones and the average Joe phone buyer is going to follow the advertising. In addition, manufacturers realized they could charge premium prices for these larger phones. The fact is, larger phones really don't cost that much more to make than the smaller ones. Look at the Moto G which has grown significantly in size and features from the original, but maintained the price point. But, since they are perceived as premium based on advertising, manufacturers realized they could make a much higher profit margin off these larger phones. So, to protect their profit margins, they make the smaller phones with lesser specs and push the larger phones through advertising. This allows them to maximize their profit margins while still maintaining a market share with the smaller phones the people like us really want to still have.

Posted via Android Central App from a beautiful Ebony backed Original Moto X or the amazing Nexus 10

 

[getbretweir]

My take is, manufacturers made phones that were a bit larger, that is when things moved to a 5 inch screen, and saw that people were buying them in droves. So they went to 5.2, 5.5, 5.7 and so on. They also advertised the heck out of those larger phones and the average Joe phone buyer is going to follow the advertising. In addition, manufacturers realized they could charge premium prices for these larger phones. The fact is, larger phones really don't cost that much more to make than the smaller ones. Look at the Moto G which has grown significantly in size and features from the original, but maintained the price point. But, since they are perceived as premium based on advertising, manufacturers realized they could make a much higher profit margin off these larger phones. So, to protect their profit margins, they make the smaller phones with lesser specs and push the larger phones through advertising. This allows them to maximize their profit margins while still maintaining a market share with the smaller phones the people like us really want to still have.

Posted via Android Central App from a beautiful Ebony backed Original Moto X or the amazing Nexus 10

dead on!

sent from a Nexus fanboy on his "buttery smooth" and "vanilla" Nexus 6

 

[dusoccer10]

My take is, manufacturers made phones that were a bit larger, that is when things moved to a 5 inch screen, and saw that people were buying them in droves. So they went to 5.2, 5.5, 5.7 and so on. They also advertised the heck out of those larger phones and the average Joe phone buyer is going to follow the advertising. In addition, manufacturers realized they could charge premium prices for these larger phones. The fact is, larger phones really don't cost that much more to make than the smaller ones. Look at the Moto G which has grown significantly in size and features from the original, but maintained the price point. But, since they are perceived as premium based on advertising, manufacturers realized they could make a much higher profit margin off these larger phones. So, to protect their profit margins, they make the smaller phones with lesser specs and push the larger phones through advertising. This allows them to maximize their profit margins while still maintaining a market share with the smaller phones the people like us really want to still have.

Posted via Android Central App from a beautiful Ebony backed Original Moto X or the amazing Nexus 10

Absolutely this!! Well said.

Another analogy that would work is comparing phone sizes and profits to the automobile market. It's not a perfect analogy by any means, but it does fit. Ask most car makers and they will tell you that profits are significantly higher on SUVs and Trucks compared to cars.

 

[Jon_Doh]

My take is, manufacturers made phones that were a bit larger, that is when things moved to a 5 inch screen, and saw that people were buying them in droves. So they went to 5.2, 5.5, 5.7 and so on. They also advertised the heck out of those larger phones and the average Joe phone buyer is going to follow the advertising. In addition, manufacturers realized they could charge premium prices for these larger phones. The fact is, larger phones really don't cost that much more to make than the smaller ones. Look at the Moto G which has grown significantly in size and features from the original, but maintained the price point. But, since they are perceived as premium based on advertising, manufacturers realized they could make a much higher profit margin off these larger phones. So, to protect their profit margins, they make the smaller phones with lesser specs and push the larger phones through advertising. This allows them to maximize their profit margins while still maintaining a market share with the smaller phones the people like us really want to still have.

Posted via Android Central App from a beautiful Ebony backed Original Moto X or the amazing Nexus 10

And they should have stopped between 4.7" and 5". When Phones crossed the 5" mark sales plummeted regardless of manufacturer. The Nexus 5 with a 5" screen was a big hit, the Nexus 6 at 6" suffered from low sales. Same with HTC M7 with 4.7" screen. When HTC when bigger, sales dropped. The story is the same with Moto and LG too. Opponents point to slow sales on the few smaller screen phones, but I would argue that their sales are slow because phone makers put poor specs in them. The one smaller phone with good specs, The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact has sold well. Apple has figured this out and keeps the iPhone at 4.7" with good specs. For those few who prefer a larger screen they offer the iPhone Plus. There have been a lot of articles on various sites about how Android is losing marketshare to Apple and I think it's because of the huge screens that makes phones hard to manage in one hand. If Andoid phone manufacturers would offer phones with smaller screens and strong specs then I think their sales decline would reverse.

 

[Zendroid1]

Some of the most popular phones are still small. The iPhone 6/6s (4.7"), Galaxy s6 (5.1"), and Moto G (5.0") are all small and sell amazingly well.

 

[Adranalyne]

Every manufacturer is starting to follow the Samsung model of one big, one small, but the problem is that "small" keeps getting bigger. Apple may follow that trend with the iPhone 7 and go up to a 5 inch screen. The Nexus 5X, if you look at the screen size, isn't a huge phone, but in reality it's bigger than the S6. The reason we start seeing larger devices is because there's more room to implement new technology, but also because phones are being used as personal computers by most people and smaller screens make that difficult.

I'm just glad that Google and LG took the minimalistic approach with the 5X. The QHD displays, metal designs, and large device profiles are becoming the status quo and unfortunately that doesn't always mean a better experience. Chamfered edges look nice, but get dinged really easily, so a case is pretty mandatory. Adding a case to a phone that size makes it even more unwieldy. QHD, although the Note 5 panel is absolutely gorgeous, just isn't worth the performance/battery losses. Going with a 1080p display and a larger battery in a phone that should be easy to use in one hand is much more appealing to me than having a spec beast that probably won't perform noticeably better.

 

[Zendroid1]

Every manufacturer is starting to follow the Samsung model of one big, one small, but the problem is that "small" keeps getting bigger. Apple may follow that trend with the iPhone 7 and go up to a 5 inch screen. The Nexus 5X, if you look at the screen size, isn't a huge phone, but in reality it's bigger than the S6. The reason we start seeing larger devices is because there's more room to implement new technology, but also because phones are being used as personal computers by most people and smaller screens make that difficult.

I'm just glad that Google and LG took the minimalistic approach with the 5X. The QHD displays, metal designs, and large device profiles are becoming the status quo and unfortunately that doesn't always mean a better experience. Chamfered edges look nice, but get dinged really easily, so a case is pretty mandatory. Adding a case to a phone that size makes it even more unwieldy. QHD, although the Note 5 panel is absolutely gorgeous, just isn't worth the performance/battery losses. Going with a 1080p display and a larger battery in a phone that should be easy to use in one hand is much more appealing to me than having a spec beast that probably won't perform noticeably better.

I agree with you. I have seen so many posts on here saying "Why in the world would you buy a 5x when you can get a 6p with aluminum body and chamfered edges, and bigger screen for just $70 more?". Well, for me I like a lightweight, plastic phone to go alongside my 6s Plus.I loved that about the Nexus 5. It was so light, and the plastic had a great soft feel and I've heard the feel is the same on the 5x. Some people love aluminum & chamfered edges and such and some of us like a lightweight smaller device. I have a 6s plus as well so I obviously don't mind the aluminum look/feel but I love the 5/5x look/feel even more. I will probably use my iphone less and less once this arrives. The 5 to me was perfect outside of the battery and camera and the 5x should solve some of these issues while maintaining everything else I love.

 

[PhiPsi32]

Agreed

 

[Adranalyne]

I agree with you. I have seen so many posts on here saying "Why in the world would you buy a 5x when you can get a 6p with aluminum body and chamfered edges, and bigger screen for just $70 more?". Well, for me I like a lightweight, plastic phone to go alongside my 6s Plus.I loved that about the Nexus 5. It was so light, and the plastic had a great soft feel and I've heard the feel is the same on the 5x. Some people love aluminum & chamfered edges and such and some of us like a lightweight smaller device. I have a 6s plus as well so I obviously don't mind the aluminum look/feel but I love the 5/5x look/feel even more. I will probably use my iphone less and less once this arrives. The 5 to me was perfect outside of the battery and camera and the 5x should solve some of these issues while maintaining everything else I love.

At some point, someone decided a phone wasn't nice anymore unless it was made of metal and looked like a jeweled piece of art and everyone else followed suit. While I appreciate the craftsmanship of something as nice as the HTC One series or the Note 5/Edge+, it doesn't scream "superiority" to me. It generally means the actual experience of the phone is going to suffer because a lot of the cost went into the materials instead of other things like a larger battery/wireless charging/SD card support. That's why I'm happy that phones like the 5X exist because it goes against the status quo and tries to be inexpensive and great at the same time while not pushing cost on things that don't generally improve the experience.

 

[anon(464338)]

And they should have stopped between 4.7" and 5". When Phones crossed the 5" mark sales plummeted regardless of manufacturer. The Nexus 5 with a 5" screen was a big hit, the Nexus 6 at 6" suffered from low sales. Same with HTC M7 with 4.7" screen. When HTC when bigger, sales dropped. The story is the same with Moto and LG too. Opponents point to slow sales on the few smaller screen phones, but I would argue that their sales are slow because phone makers put poor specs in them. The one smaller phone with good specs, The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact has sold well. Apple has figured this out and keeps the iPhone at 4.7" with good specs. For those few who prefer a larger screen they offer the iPhone Plus. There have been a lot of articles on various sites about how Android is losing marketshare to Apple and I think it's because of the huge screens that makes phones hard to manage in one hand. If Andoid phone manufacturers would offer phones with smaller screens and strong specs then I think their sales decline would reverse.

This is one of the main reasons that i just bought an iphone 6s today. Need the size to be managable with good specs. I have smaller hands so i simply can't use a big phone anymore.coming from a g4) . I have 14 days to bring it back so not sure if I'm going to keep it but I'll sure try to give it a chance. If i do rerurn, ill pick up a 5x but honestly its still almost just as tall as the g4.. Actually the s6 wasnt bad for one handed use but thats where the good features ended for me.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Jon_Doh]

This is one of the main reasons that i just bought an iphone 6s today. Need the size to be managable with good specs. I have smaller hands so i simply can't use a big phone anymore.coming from a g4) . I have 14 days to bring it back so not sure if I'm going to keep it but I'll sure try to give it a chance. If i do rerurn, ill pick up a 5x but honestly its still almost just as tall as the g4.. Actually the s6 wasnt bad for one handed use but thats where the good features ended for me.

Posted via the Android Central App

If the iPhone doesn't work out you might want to consider the Sony Xperia Z5 compact.

 

[Ry]

You can join this long thread about the same issue.

Where have all the small phones gone? - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com