Large smartphones vs. small ones – which is best?

If there's one thing you can say about the smartphone market, it's that it offers a little something for everyone. Differences in price, features, and design all contribute to this, but one of the most important factors has to do with size.

Large phones like the Galaxy Note 8 and LG V30 have become incredibly popular over the last few years, but there's absolutely still people that prefer smaller phones such as the Pixel 2, Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, etc.

One of our forum users says that they've recently been using Google's Pixel 2 for a few days, and while they like the phone, it's taking them a while to adjust to the size difference coming from the Note 8.

When asking other members if they think the Pixel 2 is too small of a phone, these are a few of the responses they got.

My phone history has 3 phab sized phones in it and I for one am doubtful I'd ever get another large phone. Smaller/larger being better is just a matter of opinion. I hear Apple is coming out with a 6.5" phone later this year. Yikes, that's really huge. I recall many, many moons ago when larger phones were kind of disliked and rare as a general rule. I had a 3" screen on my windows pro device...

cbreze

I could actually stand it a hair smaller, tbh.. I've never liked big phones for pocketability reasons mainly. I generally keep a tablet in my tech lineup if I need a bigger screen.

anon(10092459)

I have the Pixel 2 XL and just had the Pixel 2 and an Essential phone. In terms of size the Essential was perfect. 5.7" phone in a compact size was awesome. Unfortunately the signal strength made me sell it. The regular Pixel 2 was just too small a screen for the size of the phone. It was almost the same size as the Essential but much smaller screen. The regular Pixel 2 XL is a little bigger but...

Armeniandave

I prefer the Pixel 2 in the smaller size personally. Sold my Note 8 and have been using this ever since. The battery life took a hit, but I've reduced my useage and I'm chugging along just fine. There was an article recently about how battery life on most phones is good; we just need to get off our phones more.

Nubwy

With all that said, we'd now like to hear from you – What do you like better, big phones or small phones?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.