Four years after the launch of the original, Apple announced its new iPhone SE back in April. I imagine fans of the small phones collectively jumped for joy upon hearing the news. The iPhone SE, which looks like a iPhone 8 but has the iPhone 11is powerful Chipset A13, uses a 4.7 inch screen.
Apple claims it is a “small” phone. And that is the smallest (and cheapest) iPhone currently available in the Apple lineup. It is also relatively compact compared to current phone standards, especially compared to the popular Samsung Galaxy s20, which has a 6.2-inch screen.
But at 4.7 inches, the 2020 iPhone SE is around 20% larger than the original iPhone SE, which had a 4-inch display.
If you were expecting something really tiny, the iPhone SE 2020 does not address this issue. Apple’s decision not to build a brand new 4-inch phone is revealing. This means the business will probably never pay off small iPhone, no matter how much people want it. That’s not to say Apple won’t downsize some of its upcoming phones. the The iPhone 12 range is widespread to have a phone with a 5.4 inch screen, but it’s not a small phone.
Personally, I completely agree. Because it’s 2020 and I want a big phone. And because big screens simply provide a better, more immersive user experience. For me, “portability” takes a step back from these advantages. To make credit card payments and join Focus on calls follow a Banana bread recipe on YouTube, I spend more time than ever in front of my phone, for better or for worse.
And if I use my phone for hours, I want to enjoy it. Or at the very least, I don’t want to have a hard time staring at my screen while doing more unpleasant tasks (like paying a credit card bill, for example). Big phones can do this for me.
But my perception of what is big and what is small in terms of phones has evolved over the years. I haven’t always been such a big screen fan, nor do I subscribe to the “bigger is bigger” axiom. I actually loved my 4.7-inch iPhone 8, which I held onto for years. I loved how easy it was to use and operate with one hand. But when I went to the 5.8 inch iPhone X in 2018 it was almost punishing to go back to something smaller.
Every time I use my iPhone 8, I can feel my eyes get tired as I try to navigate its interface, which now looks messy. Reading news and watching videos on iPhone 8 had become an unpleasant experience compared to iPhone X. Either way, I think there is an upper limit to the growth of these oversized phones.
Phone manufacturers are offering increasingly larger handsets over the years. They know that screen size is one of the most important things about a phone. But the trend of giant phones really started in 2011 with the first galaxy note phone. Samsung took a bet and launched the 5.3-inch Note, which looked huge at the time, or as one analyst put it, like a “Dork flag. The Note ushered in the big phone mania and is one of the reasons Apple finally produced my beloved 5.8-inch iPhone X in 2017.
Now the phones are even bigger. Take a look at some of the phone releases from 2020 so far: In the Galaxy S20 family of phones, the S20 Ultra has a huge 6.9 inch screen. Oppo launched its 6.7-inch super premium Find X2 Pro, and Motorola unveiled the 6.7-inch Edge Plus in April, its first real flagship in years. Also there are rumors that Apple will release an iPhone 12 Pro Max it could also go up to 6.7 inches. Sorry small phone fans, it’s clear that the big phone trend is here to stay.