Is bigger actually better?

Screen size has always been an interesting debate. In mainstream culture, it used to come up mostly with TVs, which generally meant you got the biggest one you could afford. Then desktops, which generally meant you got the biggest one you could afford. Then laptops, which opened up the ‘portable screen’. All of a sudden there were more cons to a big screen other than price.

Big screens meant weight and size. What a pain in the bum!

For once bigger wasn’t better and we understood why. It only took a couple of trips to the airport with your 17” desktop replacement laptop to wonder if you really need that twin DVD player.

So fast forward to today and what we’re seeing the average screen size of all devices increase, except laptop. That’s interesting to me, because one of the devices we’re seeing a constant increase is the ol’ mobile phone. It interests me, because although it’s increasing, we kind of feel we have to hate it.

“It’s too big! I couldn’t carry that around with me!”

I remember hearing this from the iPhone kids when I got my 4.7” HTC One XL and they still had their 3.5” iPhone 4s’. Irony?

To be fair, I remember hearing it from mobile phone owners when the iPhone was released as well. We’ve all just kind of got used to the increase in screen size, whilst still mocking the forerunners of the next size up.

So naturally, the phablet was like shooting fish in a barrel. Even the name was as ridiculous as the memes of people taking on their iPads.

What was even more interesting to me, was that no one I knew who made the phablet choice, regretted it. Maybe they were OK?

Cue the release (eventually) of the Nexus 6. A perfect time to test it out…

It’s only been 5 days, but I completely understand what phablet people are talking about. It doesn’t even feel like a phablet anymore, it just feels like a phone. The screen means I can stop lugging my Nexus 7 around with me. The 6 has filled the void of owning and carrying two devices. No more Bluetooth tethering my phone to my tablet on the train.

Maybe bigger is always better? Maybe average phone screens are rising and laptop screens are shrinking, because they are set to meet halfway as the perfect mobile device.

It’s only been 5 days, I’ll give it a few more before answering…