[General Topics] Techno79:
Ok, so I prefer my phone to be top end but I kind of feel that I'm being forced to purchase phones with increasingly larger displays because the smaller display phones tend to needlessly gimp out the rest of the spec (CPU, RAM, storage, camera etc).

People say that manufacturers are only reacting to consumer choice but is this really true.

Take for example the original Samsung Galaxy S. This was a 4" display. The phone was very popular. When they upgraded the phone (S2) the phone went from 4" to 4.3" screen. Anyone who preferred the 4" size had two options:

1. Force to get the 4.3" and still benefit from the latest top end specs in other areas or

2. Look at other 4" phones that may not be a top end phone.

I reckon most people who preferred the 4" display reluctantly took option 1.

A year later the same situation occurs with Galaxy S3 and the 4.8" display. People who preferred the smaller screen size had to choose from the same previous two options. The same thing pretty much happens going forward so we have a history like this:

S1: 4"

S2: 4.3"

S3: 4.8"

S4: 5"

S5 and S6: 5.1"

Same thing for the Galaxy Note:

Note 1: 5.3"

Note 2: 5.5"

Note 3 and 4: 5.7"

Same for Motorola and Moto X:

1st gen: 4.7"

2nd gen: 5.2"

3rd gen: Style 5.7" and Play 5.5"

Same is true for pretty much every other manufacturer.

How can manufacturers say consumers want larger display phones when they offer no comparable alternative to their previous generation?

For me personally, I preferred the size of the Galaxy S2 phone. Although that came with a 4.3" display, I wouldn't mind if they managed to squeeze in a larger display into the same dimension of the phone by reducing the bezels so I'm guessing a 4.7" phone is around the sweet spot for me. But wanting a smaller display phone doesn't necessarily mean I don't want top end specs everywhere else.

I think pretty much all manufacturers are missing a trick. Top end phones with large phablet size displays are in a massively competing market. They all find it difficult to differentiate their phone to create a unique selling point.

One easy way to create a phone that stands out from the crowd with instant unique selling point:

A 1080p, 4.7" display phone with smallish bezels. All other specs should be relatively top end. Boom, that'll be a winner right there.

The only manufacturer that seems to get this is Sony as they do this with their Xperia Compact phones. General review feedback and sales of the Compact version of the phone are comparable to their full size Xperia phone so I do believe there are consumers who want this. The thing with Sony is that their phones are not massively popular (even the larger Xperia phone) so while the Compact brings in decent sales figures for Sony's overall sales, it is dwarfed by bigger names like Samsung.

Plus, if you want a top end phablet size phone then you have dozens to choose from. If you want a top end compact size phone then you only have one to choose from which is priced pretty high (typical Sony pricing) and therefore even those who are inclined with top end phones that are compact, may not go for the only option they have available for many reasons.

There are many who prefer phablet phones so I'm no trying to take away anything from those consumers. I still think manufacturers should create phablet phones as there is a market for those but I'm just saying that I reckon there are a good portion of users who prefer top end compact phones but there is only one option for them and that will never indicate the huge consumer market potential for this preference. Manufacturers should create both variety of phones so they can see how sales compare. But if all they do is produce the larger phone and say "see, everyone is still buying the larger phone" then this doesn't show those who reluctantly forced into buying those type of phones.

Anyway, I just thought I'd air my opinion and see what others think.