What's The Perfect Size For a Modern Smart Phone?

Cellphones are getting big. Some would argue too big. There's going to come a time when phones become so large that we won't even call them phones anymore. We might be forced to call them something different, something more than just a phone.
 
Oh. But as it turns out that's already happened. Short of building a phone into our very own hands, there's not much extra growth that today's cellphones can do. Devices like the EVO 4G, while visually striking, are relative monoliths in the mobile crowd, pushing the boundaries of our pockets at over 4" thick.
   
When it came to tablets, we wondered just how big these thin, computing powerhouses could become, but now, it seems as if phones are beginning to warrant the same sort of thinking. What's the right size for a modern cellphone anyhow?

You don't quite realize how large today's screens have become until you hold one in your hand. It's one thing to be told that a device packs a 4" screen, but another thing entirely to have it in your pocket, held to your ear, and completing the day-to-day tasks that you most often do. After all, a screen isn't just something to look at — its size can greatly impact how a device is built and functions.
     Take, for example, the Dell Streak. The so-called tablet has a bit of an identity crisis, billing itself as an iPad-style device, but with cellular capabilities. However, it is, for all intents and purposes, a phone. And it's over 5" big. For some, this isn't an issue. It may feel a little bit different than a conventional device, and feel a tad more snug in the odd type of pocket, but it's still a phone. But for others, the size is simply too big.

According to Wikipedia, the average size of an adult male hand is around 7.5" in length, and 3.5" wide. Compare this to the Samsung Galaxy S, a device that's 4.8 by 2.5", and you can see how close we're coming to engulfing the human hand in cellular goodness. Phones have actually grown to a point where it's almost impossible to hold one in our hand. This is obviously the outer limit for size — any larger and you might require two hands, or it may become impractical to actually make calls.

From a functionality perspective, phones are traditionally designed with the purpose of making and receiving calls — nothing more. Text messaging and email build upon that original purpose, as does web surfing, but the more capabilities you add, the less of a traditional phone it becomes. With this in mind, you could argue that the right size for a phone is the same as it's always been — under 2 or 3". It's only when you add all those extra features that a larger screen becomes necessary.

Or does it? BlackBerries have long been known as messaging and communication powerhouses, but have had relatively small screens and physical size when compared to more feature-heavy devices. A 3" Android device can, technically, do the same sort of things as a 4" EVO. The extra screen real-estate makes things more comfortable, sure, but the larger you go, the more you blur the lines between phone and tablet territory. You're no longer producing a phone, but a borderline tablet.

And therein lies the problem. The right size for a cellphone isn't some magical, pre-ordained number that we've yet to discover. It's entirely fluid, and largely dependent on how we expect to use our mobile devices. A multimedia-heavy device is, naturally, going to be as large as one can comfortably fit in their hand, because that's what the media demands. But as those features and demands are removed, and one focuses on traditional cellular functions, that size decreases. It's the reason why dumbphones have barely changed in size over the past five years, and why BlackBerries still maintain the same form. When it comes to size, It all depends on the scenario.