Galaxy Note
While it's a really nice device it's just too big as a phone. IMHO my Desire HD is pretty close to the sensible limit for a phone, a little bigger may be OK but smaller than a Note for sure.
If you're one of those folks who favour smartphones with supersize screens, you're not alone. Nearly 90 per cent of your fellow phone owners want handsets to have bigger displays. So reveals market watcher Strategy Analytics after polling punters earlier this year. The favoured screen sizes range from 4.0 to 4.5 inches, it …
Sorry for the thumbs down but that's a very subjective opinion. I've a Note and it's far and away the best smartphone I've ever had - the size is absolutely perfect for my use-case, ie it's perfectly useable as a phone and is also absolutely fantastic for gps/photos/videos/web/docs. For me it's the perfect converged size between a phone and a tablet - for some it's too big as a phone, for others it's too small as a tablet. Certainly if I just want phone duties my N8 is great, but my old 6110 is even better, but I want more than a simple phone. I was used to it in an hour and I honestly could not go back to a smaller screen now.
likewise, I find the note is the best phone I've had. its allowed me to leave the netbook home - and when I finally get around to ordering the mini keyboard will enable me to use it as a "laptop". and the stylus is a fantastic addition to it.
plus, of all the smartphones out there, the note easily manages 2 days battery life with fairly vigorous usage, (though watching flash video can drain the battery quickly)
only real complaint would be that the speaker position isn't particularly comfortable.
That's exactly my next plan. I've got a Desire HD at the moment and it's great, but too small to use as a proper tool at work and big enough to be a nuisance on a night out.
Android tablet with some decent productivity apps and a stylus for under £300 please. And a cheapish pocket sized phone to go with it.
Agreed - i have a Samsung omnia 7 which to be honest feels a bit big sometimes. It's pretty thin, but it can sometimes feel like you are carrying a slate (by which i mean roof tile). i also have a nokia N8, which has a slightly smaller screen and although it is marginally thicker, it's actually pretty much the perfect size.
I don't spend a huge amount of time browsing websites on my mobile (which i think is the main appeal of the bigger screens) but something the size of the N8 hits that sweet spot between big enough to use for what you need and small enough to carry and not notice.
My old G1s 3.3" was almost perfectly sized for one handed use, take away the largish borders and sheer thickness and 3.7" would feel as comfortable. Like you probably the sweet spot for my short fingers.
That said I wouldn't downgrade from my Plays 4" screen. That's despite dropping it several times trying to use it with 1 hand (before adding a rubberised shell). Trimming off the thickness and borders and that would make a tolerable 4.5 or pretty comfortable 4" device. Became obvious why 5" devices never took off though.
For me it either fits in the change pocket in my jeans or, apart from the 1 hand issue, the size and weight don't matter. Not found a smartphone that fits that pocket yet.
My previous 'phone was a SE xPeria Mini, which I chose because of the pocket size factor.
I could carry it around in a jeans or shirt pocket easily. Unfortunately as a 'phone it was a bit of a turd so I have now moved to a Nokia 710 - much better interface and performance but I would have ideally preferred that functionality (plus f'ing wifi tethering - when, oh when, will that arrive, Nokia ?) in a package of a similar size as the SE.
I don't want a big screen, I don't watch video on my 'phone (and if I did want mobile video, a 10" tablet would be a minimum acceptable screen size really) but I was at a loss to find a full featured device in a smaller form factor (what happened to the good* old days of ever shrinking 'phones with ever growing features ?).
*for a given value of 'good'.
A while back I heard that they were already available in mobile devices in asia and would thus be appearing in the west in the future...
Relevant, because (provided they work ok) they allow you to project a large screen onto a flat surface without carrying round a ton of fondleslab.
When everyone was using smaller and smaller phones I was using Windows "Mobile" bricks like the XDA, XDA IIs etc. They had 3.5" screens but were huge and the IIs weighed 285g. Now everyone wants bigger devices and I'm still using a 3.5" screen, although in the much smaller, slimmer and lighter shell of an Orange San Francisco. That size seems just right to me. Bigger would be handier sometimes but then, other times, so would smaller.