The hype surrounding the iPhone 14 Max is buildinga rumored larger-screen version of the standard iPhone 14, which gives people the opportunity to go big without going pro. It’s just not the model that interests me.
That would be the standard iPhone 14, or rather that iPhone 14 prowith its tilted 6.12 inch display.
The reason for this is that I’ve come to the conclusion that around 6.1 inches is the best screen size for a smartphone. let me explain.
Big was better
My first smartphone was the iPhone 4s, a beautiful device that felt like a magical little computer at the time. Looking over his broken body now – thanks to a bloated battery – I can barely remember getting anything done on a tiny 3.5-inch display.
All perfectly understandable given that pretty much every top-end flagship phone I’ve reviewed over the past few years has been a big-screen beast. Lastly I use the Google Pixel 6 Pro with its 6.7 inch display, Oppo Find X5 Pro also at 6.7 inches, and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra with its large 6.8 inch screen. Not to mention the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and its folding display.
And I was all for it as I loved using big screen phones; The extra space is great for getting things done on the go, as well as watching videos and playing games.
But that has slowly been changing and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not really necessary for phones to have screens larger than, say, 6.2 inches.
This tech heart change came into effect in 2020, with the Google Pixel 5.
Pandemic-perfect pocket phones
I had already raved about why the Pixel 5 was like this my favorite android phone of 2020, but my regular phone test got me away from Google’s last-gen Pixel. Still, it left a lasting impact.
This was partly because the Pixel 5 is a beautiful phone, but also because of the 2020-2021 coronavirus restrictions.
Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, I had to walk a lot to escape the confines of my small apartment. And that meant having a phone that slipped easily into my pocket without feeling like I was carrying a glass slab around, and still had enough screen real estate to easily keep an eye on Slack, Gmail, and so on. So the Pixel 5 has been an understated boon to my itinerant life.
Once I got used to a smaller-than-usual screen, I found that about 6 inches is a lot (stop giggling at the back), all thanks to the introduction of increasingly narrow bezels by many newer smartphones. This was hammered home when I moved to the Samsung Galaxy S21since its flat 6.2-inch bezel display made it appear much larger than it really was, while still being operable with one hand.
Now my phone of choice is this iPhone 13 proWhich I think the formula nailed it. The combination of the 6.1-inch Retina display and flat edges makes the screen feel appropriately sized, but the phone is still easy to use with one hand (at least for me): the lack of rounded edges means so too that the phone doesn’t feel like it’s going to fly out of my hands during a barrage of knocks.
Conversely, the 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro max Used by some of my colleagues, looks like an unwieldy slab of metal and glass. Yes, it is worthy of ours best phones Top spot, but I can’t help but think the flat design looks awkward for such a large phone; I don’t think the rumored design of the 14 Max or Pro Max will change that either. In fact, the iPhone 14 Pro series is geared towards getting a bigger camera bump.
This further supports my view The iPhone 13 Pro is probably my new favorite phoneis the fact that – unlike the gap between the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Ultra – They don’t make any major compromises, opting for the iPhone 13 Pro over the larger iPhone 13 Pro Max, bar a slight sacrifice in battery life.
And I think more phone makers should follow Apple’s lead here (yes, I know there were differences between the iPhone 12 pro and iPhone 12 pro max). I wish there were more flagship phones that come in a mid-range size without compromising on camera specs or storage.
For example, I would like to see them Google Pixel 7 Offer two screen sizes but don’t force users to get the larger Pro handset if they want an extra camera or 120Hz display. And while it might lead to over-the-top selection, maybe the Galaxy S23 The lineup could offer an Ultra model with options for large and medium screens.
I’m pretty sure there are some people who would want that. During iPhone 13 mini may be a bit of a sales jerk, I’ve seen a lot more people with 13 Pros than 13 Pro Max-es.
With that in mind, I can see myself picking the iPhone 14 Pro over both Max models. But more broadly, I think it’s about time phone makers embraced the idea that you don’t need a huge screen to be a flagship phone, just killer specs and features. And a 6.1-inch display might just be the perfect size.
