The way you think about phone sizes is about to change. Thanks to the new Infinity Display on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the nearly bezel-free design of the LG G6, the standards we’ve used to predetermine if a phone is too big or too small likely won’t hold up for much longer.
For essentially the last six years, our understanding of phone sizes has relatively stayed the same. A phone with a 4-inch display was thought of as too small for many, but perfectly sized for some. Anything between 4.7 inches and 5.1 inches — both the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 fit into this category — has been considered the sweet spot for the past few years. And then everything over 5.5 inches — the iPhone 7 Plus, Galaxy S7 Edge, and Pixel XL — has been considered the pocket busters of the smartphone world, too big for many people to realistically consider.
Bigger displays, smaller phones
But thanks to these new edge-to-edge displays, we’ve got to readjust our standards as to what is too big to use. Let’s look at the dimensions of the iPhone 7 Plus, the Pixel XL, and the Galaxy S8:
Samsung Galaxy S8 vs. Google Pixel XL vs. Apple iPhone 7 Plus
| Display Size | 5.8 inches | 5.5 inches | 5.5 inches |
| Dimensions (inches) | 5.9 x 2.7 x 0.31 in | 6.1 x 3.0 x 0.34 in | 6.2 x 3.1 x 0.29 in |
| Dimensions (millimeters) | 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 mm | 154.7 x 75.7 x 8.6 mm | 158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm |
Despite having a larger display than both the Pixel XL and the iPhone 7 Plus, the Galaxy S8 is notably shorter and more narrow, making it easier to hold. Even when compared to the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and the 5-inch Google Pixel, the Galaxy S8 really doesn’t give up much more than a few millimeters in height: