From the 'shovel' to the compact smartphone: the next round of form factors.
Recently I met an acquaintance with whom I had not seen for a long time. Seeing my SGN4, an acquaintance did not fail to call it a 'shovel', laughed and forgot. But then I remembered this phrase and wondered, is it really advisable to endow such smartphones with a similar label? In the course of thinking, I recalled a similar moment from the past, when many in amazement goggled at HTC HD2 in my hands, offering to take it to play table tennis instead of a racket. It is a retrospective that can show the result of technology development and transformation of form factors. And with the release of LG G6 and Samsung S8 / S8 +, we were on the next threshold of rethinking the size and approaches to device form factors.
2013: Samsung Galaxy MEGA – 5.8 “display. Discontinued,” too big ”
2017: Samsung Galaxy S8 – 5.8 “display. Little brother
Power of bezels
– Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) April 13, 2017
The new design for the market, as we have already seen, makes the devices more elongated in length, while they are not so difficult to use with one hand. Of course, such a statement about S8 + size devices will not always be true, there is a subjective factor. Yes, the frames and aspect ratio play an important role, this trend has become even more relevant with the transition to the 18: 9 format. I will repeat the thought already expressed in the Gazebo: no matter how you are encouraged by the sellers in stores or your own inertia, it is inappropriate to compare smartphones with the 'old design' and new products, the difference is visible to the naked eye. The old rules don't work here. For example, here's a comparison with my current smartphone.
Moreover, it is not at all necessary to climb so far and compare with smartphones two or three years ago. Last year's and highly relevant S7 Edge doesn't look as compact as the next-gen Galaxy 'junior' smartphone, but I hope Google will learn from its lessons and release the second generation Pixel without those huge bezels at the top and bottom of the screen, while keeping the dimensions small and increasing the screen diagonal.
A solution with thinner bezels instantly transforms seemingly relevant flagship smartphones into something from the past. And in this aspect, we should expect changes in the next generation of devices from major players in the mobile electronics industry. As for Apple I am silent, I absolutely do not like the 'leaks' of the new design, especially from the back.
iPhone 7 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S8 +
Pixel and S8
New standards are gradually pushing the boundaries of form factors, and once considered 'shovels' smartphones can now be called ultra-compact, and phablets have actually become smartphones in their usual sense. A little more and the upper bar of convenience and ergonomics will be reached, but so far this has not happened, and devices like Xiaomi Mi Max (6.44 ″), Lenovo Phab 2 Pro (6.4 ″ ) and Honor Note 8 (6.6 ″). And, interestingly, they find their buyer.
Of course, you can add new categories ('extra-phablets', 'nano-smartphones', whatever), but this will confuse the consumer even more. The growth of diagonals while maintaining the same physical dimensions is the catalyst for a new understanding of the form factors of modern gadgets. I catch myself thinking that I would like a tablet the size of a iPad Mini, but with minimal frames and a screen similar to the S8. I hope the manufacturers will not keep waiting long.
It's time for us to reconsider our prejudices in terms of 'labels', the market, as a rule, reacts quickly to given design trends, and before we blink an eye, a bunch of smartphones copied by Chinese craftsmen a la S8 / G6 will appear around us. I have no doubt that most users will prefer to wait for the natural aging of their current gadgets, while simultaneously observing the situation on the market, but this does not negate the need to adjust to its trends.