Image credit: This is my next
How do you know smart phone sizes are getting out of control ? When Samsung announce a 5.3” device. Sure the industry has been through their phase of over miniaturisation, which was technically impressive, but not that useful. In recent years, we’ve seen phones grow back to a more sensible 3.5 – 4” range, but 5.3” is just ridiculous.
Samsung try and allay any fears of size being a concern by providing a helpful graphic explaining that of course it will fit in your pocket. What’s not shown is the big warning label on that graphic that says “Not to scale” or “Females need not apply”. Sure more real estate via higher resolutions are normally welcomed on any device, but if you need 5.3” to achieve the 1280×800 resolution is quite simply too big.
5.3 inches lands in the strange domain of being not quite a smart phone and not quite a tablet, ultimately being a device that nobody wants. The same problem is played out with 7” tablets. When you chart the sizes of devices, there does appear a gap between 3-4” smart phones and tablets at 10”. What manufacturers like Samsung don’t realise is that its not an opening in the market that needs to be filled, but rather a size that’s impractical for most customers.
Samsung will sell some of these devices, just like some 7” tablets were sold, but the niche market actually looking for an in-between device will likely be 2 small to maintain a sustainable business. The device concept, as the name suggests, is to replace a traditional paper notepad. To achieve that, the Samsung Note even comes with a stylus.
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