Librem 5 Screen size; Is the screen size too big?

I’m in the same boat with a few others where once you go larger screen, you can’t go back. Oneplus One (5.5") nailed it in terms of large screen size matched with good form factor. The curved sandstone back allowed to cradle perfectly and securely in your hand and easily reach across anywhere on the screen. Similar sized iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones are much harder to reach around due to the edges and flat back. Hard to explain. Needs to be experienced. (Unfortunately, future Oneplus models completely changed direction.) So there are ways to do it.

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Smaller phones is better for me. I want a phone, not a computer. I have a laptop already. I have an iPhone 6 the smaller one, since I wanted a phone, not a tablet, so totally agree with you.

Hi Seven,

I am not a mod or something, but following the discussion I am getting a bit annoyed that anytime someone posts that he for himself doesn’t care or likes bigger phones you post that he’s a minority and that as posted in your initial post there was a poll where a majority prefered smaller phones.

I mean I also use only 5" phones and I don’t know how I would experience a phone slightly larger, but repeating the ever same argument again and again doesn’t help the discussion. I think that one poll should also not be the argument to post over and over again. If so - why discuss anyway - the poll already says it all…

I think purism had things like one or two handed usage in mind (as seen in the UI / UX posts) and they won’t have taken a decision to make the screen larger without thinking about side effects. It’s valid to also tell them here that you have arguments against it and I personally think that it’s good to double check decisions.

In a nutshell: Thank you for the post, but I would prefer if you don’t reply to anyone who posts something against your opinion with the poll. We have all read the initial post :slight_smile:

Kind regards

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Hi I also got a bit annoyed by the 5.7 inch size as i use an iphone se which i choose for the small size. For me its okay to trade the perfect size for better security but this trade of has a limit for me. I thought that might be at 5" phones size. But display diagonally doesn’t say that much, especially if the aspect ratio isn’t the same. For me this is ture as i’m more used to 16:9 in contrast to librems 18:9. As i had a Nexus 5 on my desk to toy around with ubuntu touch and Plasma mobile I made comparison images for the phones. It seams that the Librem 5 will be nearly the size of a nexus 5, which only has a 5" display. The librem is 0.15" (4mm) longer and 0.1" (3mm) less wide. This surprised me and i though i might share this with you. Or maybe i made a mistake and some one corrects me. The images i made are scaled to 1" = 100px.

I estimated this size form the librem 5 renderings:

phone hight: 585px = 5,57" = 141,4mm
phone width: 276px = 2,63" = 66,7mm

top bazle 44px = 0,41" = 10,6mm
bottom bazle 41px = 0,39" = 9,9mm

This is smaller than the fairphone, galaxy s8/s9, oneplus 5/6 and a bit longer but less wider than the iphone 8.

Edit: Hit Enter accidentally.
Edit2: Add iPhone SE comparison.
Edit3: Estimated size and comparison to more recent phones.

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Hello Maximilian,

I can respect that is how you feel. However my responses are directed to those persons. Just like any discussion about any topic sometimes things maybe need to be reiterated. When some readers made specific points, restating the initial poll or other references are in fact brought up to reassert the facts at hand. This is done to remind the person of ceetain points along with additional thoughts from me to them. Discussions are back and forth, not one way. In all honesty the persons I responded to seem to have no issue with it. On that note I will continue to voice my opinion and enjoy the exchange with those persons. If my responses annoying you then feel free to skip them. I have done the same with some responses myself. Thank you for reading the initial post. :sunglasses:

Cheers

Ramnasko,

Thank you so much for sharing! I really appreciate what you have done with the visual comparisons here. It really hits home on the dimensions as I currently have an SE. If this is to scale then I may well reconsider. If anyone else is willing to verify these dimensions and comparison that would be helpful too. As I think many who worry about the size would want to know. Again, thanks for sharing. It is much appreciated.

Cheers

To answer the initial question: yes.

I saw this project and was intrigued - then saw it was 5"+ screen size and lost all interest.

Keep the phone size under 135x70mm.

I write only because it always strikes me a way of thinking different from mine and I try to understand. I respect all the ideas of others but some logical processes do not understand them. I do not want to make controversy and, I repeat, I write only because certain logical processes strike me. So, I read, you decide not to buy a phone because it has a slightly different measure than you want, beyond the fact that this phone is something absolutely innovative because the first with open source software and respect for privacy (which are the reasons for which I buy it and I do not care about the measures - only it is not too small). If it is the only motivation I do not understand it but … the world is beautiful because it is varied.
Greetings

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So the librem 5 misses your criteria by just 6mm in length and it is 4mm less wide. 141.4mm x 66.7mm
I think the width is much more important for handling. So you might wont to reconsider. Don’t be scared by the 5.7" 18:9 it is not comparable with other 16:9 phones. I made a comparison to other phones here Size comparison to other phones

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I decided to use this monster phablet as my infotainment unit in my car when I get it. Hopefully we’ll have an ‘Auto’ mode at some point without having to install Android. As long as it can do Maps, Uber, etc it should be a good choice. I’ll never use a phone over 5 Inches as daily driver

I’ve had an idea that I’ve been mulling over recently. What if you could use the touchscreen like a laptop trackpad? It would not matter how far your thumb could reach.

Scrolling can be accomplished by moving the mouse cursor to the edge of the screen and continuing to move it so that it “pushes” the screen.

Either Purism can implement the feature (best-case scenario) or people in the community.

Over the years, I have moved up in size. My latest is 5.9 inch 18:9 ratio, fairly thin bezels.

I have no problem with this, and find the larger screen so much better for web browsing.

I backed this project after they decided on i.xm8 and not i.mx6 AND went up to 5.5+ screen. I did not want to back it with only a 5 inch screen.

a phone is a phone. 3.5 inch square is a max. had mine of the BB classic. now it’a a 3.1 BB q10. 5 inch is an odd number. 7 is nice for 1280x720 but then it’s a phablet.
just search ergonomics and see that 4 inch square is a max for small hands. 5 is ok in landscape with large hands but it’s not ideal for phones. landscape is for media consumption not productivity.

For me, 5.7’’ is great.
It leaves enough room for a decent battery without making the whole device too thick.

to be honest. i am ok with the increased screen size but I want screen dimensions and resolution ratio to be exact 16:9.

I prefer 5.7" screen size. It’s ok. Mostly because it lacks hardware keyboard.

The small hands issue and not getting all edges of screen with thumbs,.it is solved using one hand mode option. This is able on xiaomi smartphones already.

One-handed navigation has been taken into account:
https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-progress-report-4/

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@Caliga

It will be very interesting to see how this will work. I am glad that Purism is acknowledging the issue and trying to address it in their own unique way. Time will tell.

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so far it looks like it’s going to be 5.8 inch in diagonal.

My personal take is that there isn’t a phone on the market too big for me. I don’t actually use phones as phones, just mobile internet, and my pockets can handle a 6- or just barely a 7-inch tablet if it’s very thin and small. And I really enjoy and use that extra screen space.

Nothing’s going to be ideal for everyone, but it sounds like this one will be on the bigger end and I’m happy about it. If the market gets large enough perhaps they’ll have the revenue to justify producing two models, one small and one big?

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