have to use a phone with one had do you and why that an apple rule or something, in any event I can and have been able to use any phone i own with one hand easily.

And if i said a 42" TV was the way to go 10 years ago you would have mocked that no doubt all about current perception, at the moment you cannot think outside of the apple world so you need more time.

my note as huge as it is is only just over an inch taller and less that wide that your black brick iphone, it is also thinner which matters more to me when sliding it in a jacket pocket. Yet you squint at a screen of only 3.5 inches nearly two inches smaller - dont you get bored of pinching everything and watching tiny videos

I remember having a Nokia 8210 many years ago it was tiny, but now I think the Galaxy S3 is the limit. Infact its borderline to big IMO.

So where will phones go next? Batteries that last longer on these big screen phones would be the best improvement for me.

I seen something about bendable screens, maybe a phone that opens up into an even bigger screen (not shite like flip phones though)

Yep a phone that opens up to twice its size, or tablet that folds in half would be perfect.

Durability needs addressing as well....far too many cracked screens around on certain models of phone.....

I'd happily trade a longer battery life for a smaller screen. I remember 3 to 5 days between charges back in the 90s!

I love big screens. I've got a note and couldn't go any smaller. However now that I've just got a tablet the note seems so small in comparison and it feels like a phone now and not a phablet .

I really struggled with the size of the Galaxy when I tried it out just seemed too big

Isn't it great that we have choice as we are not all the same.? I loved my GNote but it was just tonight for my use. Also I craved vanilla android. For me the perfect size is the S3 HOX or GNexus. Given the choice of all three it was a no brainer for me - the GNexus. The Note has gone to Mrs finbaar and she loves it as she has either a bag or jacket with all the time and I don't.

Yep - T-Mobile sent me an S3 as the upgrade to my Desire.. however, having bought a Note in the interim, the S3 feels too small, so it's going back!!

I can't wait for the Note 2 to come out

It's already here under the name Galaxy Tab 7

Come on you can do better than that surely

Hopefully the fashion ends soon.

I mean The Galaxy note 5" is just too big for a so called mobile phone. Draw a line between phone and tablet.

They seem to think bigger is better but it's not always the case.

Why? Is the Note not 'mobile'? Are you one of these owners of jeans that apparently struggle with an S2 or larger in the pockets?

Yet another damning indictment of skinny jeans fashion you see

The Note is perfect and it fits in my big clunky hands just nicely

Why, though? Is it directly affecting you in any conceivable way?

Whilst 5"+ phones are not for your - or everyone's - tastes, they're certainly selling. Much better than expected, in fact. So people do want them, but there will always be phones with screens in the 3.5"-4" range for those that don't. Just because the Note exists doesn't suddenly mean the iPhone 5 will have a 5" screen! But bigger phones are selling very well and people are discovering the advantages of having large screens.

Last year I remember people saying that the upcoming Galaxy Nexus - with it's 4.65" screen, one of the biggest at the time - was way too big, cumbersome, etc. Yet realistically, you have a massive, genuine 720p screen, in a phone that is the exact same weight and only a couple of centimeters bigger than the phones we had absolutely no problem carrying about a decade ago! For me, that's a no-brainer.

Sadly, this isn't true. The fashion for big screens is affecting me. I've been looking for a phone to replace my Desire S for a couple of months. In the HTC range the One X and One S are both significantly larger than the Desire S. The One V and Desire C have both had dreadful reviews, saying their processors are under powered.

So HTC no longer make a top end phone without a huge screen.

I understand I am in the minority right now, and the fashion is to get larger and larger phones, but the sooner this fashions ends, the happier I will be. We don't all want to look like Dom Joly.

I think in 5 years, the popular phone size will not be much different from the Desire S (and I admit, the iPhone4S).

I'm old enough to remember people carrying around ghetto blasters on their shoulders in the 80s. They were very popular and all the makers of portable hifi made their machines larger and larger to meet the demand for this fashion. Even my grandparents bought one (theirs never left the house). Eventually the crazy fashion died out and I'm sure it will with phones too.

the difference is larger screens have a practical benefit - you can see more/read more. Maybe the fashion trends will change over time, but no way am I getting a smaller phone now.

I think your going to be upset then for a long time, when it comes to visuals there is no other option to have larger, unlike a ghetto blaster. It not a matter of fashion its about what you can see comfortably.

The only way this is likely to change is with folding screens and that is still for practicable purposes a way off yet.

It's because they do more. Browsing the internet is easier with a bigger screen, so there are real advantages to having one.

Some of it is technology. You can have a big screen now without the phone being disproportionately large. When I was choosing my Desire HD, I thought 4.3" would be too big for my pocket, but in fact the phone is thin and light enough that it fits OK.

While the initial thought may be that phones such as the Nexus, S3 etc are too big, given a day with them I would imagine you would quickly change your mind. They easily fit into your hand and are very light.

The S3 despite being at the top end of screen size is really deceptive and you quickly forget how big it is until you compare it with other phones. While its not my favourite phone I have no issue with it on a day to day basis and regularly use it for browsing, navigation, media for which it does an excellent job.

The phones back then were generally seen as big and cumbersome though, hence there was the desire to make phones smaller and smaller. Todays phones are much thinner though (in the 2 examples you show the modern phone is under half the size in terms of cubic millimetres than the old brick, though they weigh the same) so take up much less space in pockets...though I carry mine in a case for added protection so makes it bulkier.

Can't argue that bigger is better for media consumption, but we're discussing phones (and even with tablets, they can be to large to be convenient).

I think we'll see phones get smaller again in a few years, with more people having a second Kindle sized device. The Swiss army knife approach of the phone doing everything only worked well for things that didn't reduce the convenience of the device as a phone (MP3 player, camera, PDA, etc).

I don't think there is a demand for smaller phones, only a reluctance from people to get the next size up. Very few want to go down a size once they're used to it,

what media? I said visuals that includes everything you do on the phone.

trust me screen sizes will not get smaller on average full stop.

That's your opinion, and I have mine. I think the device we use to make a phone call will be much smaller in a few years, although it may communicate wirelessly with another device when we need a big screen.

We sort of started heading down that route with bluetooth headsets, but you really do look like a weirdo wearing your headset all day. Something hand held is a lot more sensible.