More people want big screens without the bulk
A few days ago a leaked schematic showing the Galaxy S8’s overall dimensions compared to its competitors hit the web which showed just how much screen to body ratio it had. While the Galaxy S8’s overall screen to body ratio is estimated at over 80%, it’s not the first phone to have an big screen stuffed in a small body.
In fact, we predict that flagship phones from other manufacturers will start to follow the same path that Samsung is taking with the Galaxy S8. Xiaomi’s Mi Mix, as ridiculous as it was from the get go, is the logical conclusion of an arms race that started with Samsung’s Note series of devices. The fact of the matter is, phones with big screens (5.5-inches and up) sell faster and better compared to phones that have smaller displays (sub 5.5-inches).
Despite consumers’ hunger for big screens, they don’t like big phones. Big phones, like the LG V20, for example, aren’t the easiest to use one-handed, and anybody with smaller with average hands will struggle with a similarly-sized phablet. To reduce the overall dimensions of big-screened phones, companies like Xiaomi, Samsung, Huawei and LG are turning to ridiculously thin bezels and curved screens to squeeze as much screen as possible into a footprint as big as your typical 5.5-inch device.
It’s interesting to see how each manufacturer tries to tackle the big screen, small phone problem. Samsung reckons that the combination of reduced top and bottom bezels as well as curved screens is the way to go, as evidenced by the doomed Galaxy Note 7 and the many, many leaks of the Galaxy S8. For LG, curved screens are a no-no, so they’ve gone with drastically reduced side bezels and an extra-tall display which also yields a funky, 2:1 aspect ratio. Companies like Xiaomi and Huawei aren’t too picky about which approach to take, and use both techniques depending on their requirements.
While Samsung’s Galaxy S8 is shaping up to be a technical marvel, it’s not going to be the only phone that has a ridiculously large display in a relatively small package. You can expect top contenders like Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, Sony and other companies to release their own big screen, small phone flagships in the near future to compete with the Korean company.
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