Samsung recently announced the details for the Samsung Galaxy S4 and one of the big feature changes from the previous model was an update to a 5 inch display. This is a prime example of how over the last few years phone screens have been getting bigger and bigger. This is happening so often that there’s even a market now for combination phone/tablets, dubbed as “phablets” (yes, I agree, it’s a terrible name).

While I’ve found myself jealous when comparing co-workers iPhone 5s against my iPhone 4S, I can’t help but wonder how big is too big? My Dad recently entered the ‘phablet’ world and owns the 5.55 inch Samsung Note II. I do admit that after using it for 10-20 minutes I found myself squinting when going back to my iPhone. After using my Dad’s Note II for a bit I could understand the appeal to having a phone with a large display but that appeal quickly vanished when I saw where he put his device when he left – in his coat pocket. While the large screen was great for ease of use, I think the large form factor starts to become a nuisance when acting as a phone.

The whole purpose of having a cell phone is so that consumers can have a mobile phone (funny that) everywhere they go – a phone needs to be convenient, yet functional. It’s one of the reasons why I have not switched to an Android OS yet for my cell – functionality is the top requirement for me. I’ve been using my Nexus 7 for quite sometime and love it as a tablet, but there are a variety of inconveniences where I find myself wishing it acted more like iOS in certain aspects. As soon as a phone becomes an inconvenience for me it’s scratched off the list of potentials – not being able to comfortably put it in my pocket is equally an inconvenience.

I feel as though from generation to generation many manufacturers are simply looking at how they can “improve” on their specs rather than the quality of device. Manufacturers need to look at how the user experience can be better improved, rather than simply figuring out how big they can make their screen or how beefy a processor they can put in it. TV companies fell into this problem for awhile and eventually the market stalled in size and just focused on the balance between cost effectiveness and feature options. While there are still a few TVs geared toward the bigger market (ie. 80 inch TVs), overall the market no longer is rapidly expanding its sizes and instead focusing on the user experience. I hope in upcoming years we see the phone market take a page from this and we see the displays remain convenient reasonable in size and some more focus on perfecting the user experience.

But who knows… perhaps I’m in a category of my own and everyone looks forward to a 10 inch phone.