Judging by market trends, many smartphone users feel that bigger is better. A case in point is the LG V20, released last fall as the successor to the LG V10. Like the V10, the LG V20 packs a huge 5.7-inch screen, as big as Samsung’s rival Note 7 and bigger than the iPhone 7 Plus. The V20 is so big, in fact, that it has room for a secondary display panel that can be used to show items such as notifications and music controls without disrupting the main display area. This secondary display is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the V20, a fact that underscores the market appeal of larger screens. Here’s a look at how smartphones have gotten bigger over the past ten years.
Starting Small
When the original iPhone first hit the market in 2007, its display screen was just 3.5 inches across. For the sake of comparison, this is just 60 percent as big as the iPhone 7 and only 44 percent as big as the iPhone 7 Plus. While this is considered small by today’s standards, believe it or not, this was an inch or more bigger than the leading competitors of the day. For instance, the Nokia N95 was only 2.6 inches across, the BlackBerry Curve 8300 was 2.5 inches, the Motorola Q 9h was 2.4 inches and Samsung’s BlackJack was just 2.25 inches across.
The increased size supported the new functionality the iPhone introduced. It enabled users to use the phone’s touchscreen functions, use computer apps on-screen, browse the web and watch videos on YouTube.
The Phablet Phase
Apple’s rivals initially tried to compete with the iPhone by copying it. When this failed to bring about consumer enthusiasm, they decided that competing with the iPhone meant making smartphone screens bigger. Between the beginning of 2007 and the end of 2011, the size of the average smartphone screen gradually increased from 3 inches to 3.75 inches. Market research showed that consumers preferred larger screens for richer media quality and the functionality afforded by roomier on-screen keyboard space.
Capitalizing on this market trajectory, in October 2011, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note, which represented a breakthrough in screen size trends. The Note had a 5.3-inch display size, and it combined the functionality of a phone and tablet into a single device. It made the most of the extra space by using a Super AMOLED display and adding a stylus.
The success of the note carved out a market niche for phablets. Phablets had been around before the iPhone, but they did not become a commercial hit until the Note.
Following the introduction of the Note, the growth of screen sizes accelerated rapidly. Where average screen size had only grown three-quarters of an inch in the four years between 2007 and 2011, over the next two years, the average screen leaped from 3.75 inches to 5 inches. Even Apple, which had resisted the trend toward bigger screens for six years, finally ditched the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen in 2013, rolling out the 4–inch iPhone 5, which added enough room for another row of icons. Eventually, average phone size grew to the point where some began to argue that 6 inches should be considered the cutoff point between phones and phablets.
Expanding Into Curved Space
Today, screens have gotten so big that smartphone manufacturers have run out of room to expand horizontally or vertically without crossing the line between smartphones and tablets. To sidestep this problem, smartphone designers have expanded into a third dimension by introducing curved screens.
Devices since the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 edge have added screen size without increasing phone size by wrapping the screen around the edge of the phone, providing additional display space as well as additional functionality. Industry watchers anticipate that the iPhone 8 will follow this trend, adopting an edge-to-edge display that resembles a single glass sheet and eliminates the home button and top and bottom bezels. LG’s V20 embodies this trend, with sides that curve into the phone’s frame for an enhanced touch experience.
