In addition to catering to Steve Jobs' aesthetic taste, can small-screen mobile phones really succeed?

About six years ago, when Samsung's first generation Galaxy S mobile phone was launched, facing the 3.5-inch screen iPhone 4 and competitors from the Android camp with larger screens, Steve Jobs said, "3.5 inches is the golden size for mobile phones, and any larger screen is stupid."

Of course, with the launch of the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones, it is clear that even Apple itself has not insisted on implementing Jobs' ideas. In the Android world, various big guys called "Note", "Max" and "Plus" are also everywhere.

Strangely, in 2016, signs of a "recovery" in small-screen mobile phones became increasingly obvious, especially among domestic brands. Meizu, 360, and Nubia all launched new products with screen sizes around 5 inches at the beginning of this year. The Meizu PRO 6 and Lenovo ZUK Z2 PRO, which "only" have 5.2-inch screens, are positioned as flagship products of the brands.

So, are small-screen flagships really in fashion again?

First of all, we need to figure out why mobile phone screens are getting bigger and bigger?

When mobile phones were not as smart as they are today, screen size never seemed important, whether it was the Motorola V3 that sold over 100 million units, or the Nokia 5300 that influenced a generation. But with the advent of the iPhone in 2007, everything changed.

The capacitive touch screen combined with finger touch is the most direct link between smartphones and users. The common sliding operations and multi-touch in the system interface make the size of the mobile phone screen have a crucial impact on the user experience. Especially when a virtual joystick appears on the mobile phone screen for you to operate the game, you will instantly lose any good impression of small-screen mobile phones.

In addition, the deep popularization of smart phones has endowed mobile phones with richer functions and more diverse usage scenarios. Watching movies and TV series on mobile phones is no longer a novelty in the eyes of modern people. Some mobile phone manufacturers also hope to add expandable applications such as split-screen operation to the smartphone system. When it comes to these uses, the larger the screen, the better. The previous rise of Samsung's Note series products has undoubtedly caught the new user needs.

The return of smartphones to small screens is not a step backwards

Big-screen phones are good in many ways, so is there still a need for small-screen phones? This inevitably requires some more rational analysis.

Mobile phones are always held in the hands, and it is difficult to control and operate with one hand. This is obviously a flaw that large-screen mobile phones cannot get rid of. Many mobile phone manufacturers are exploring the path of narrow bezels or even no bezels, hoping to make the product size as small as possible while matching a large screen. However, once the mobile phone has a screen size of 5.5 inches or more, it is obviously not as effective as directly making the screen smaller.

Some people say that it was because Jobs could not accept large-screen mobile phones, but did not want to miss the large-screen experience of mobile smart terminals that he presented the iPad to the world. Even if the "tablet enlargement" of mobile phones has become a trend, it is absolutely impossible that this is the definition of mobile phones in everyone's mind.

On the other hand, where is the balance point between mobile phone experience and screen size? Many manufacturers have indirectly given the answer. Whether it is the Samsung Galaxy S, which has evolved seven generations internationally, or the Xiaomi mobile phone, which has been updated five times in China, the 5-inch screen seems to have become the upper limit of the size of an important mobile phone series. Considering the operation, experience, portability and other factors, even though 5 inches is already regarded as a small screen today and is not as visually shocking as a large-screen mobile phone, the balanced "enough" principle is the best interpretation of this type of product.

iPhone SE sales are dismal, where will small-screen phones go?

Just as some mobile phone brands such as Nubia will choose to launch multiple products including mini and max within a year , such as this year's Z11 mini, and Sony's Z series Compact models are the continuous masterpieces of small-screen mobile phones in the era of large-screen phones. This shows that small-screen users have never been ignored by mobile phone manufacturers. These "small and beautiful" products provide consumers with a choice not to follow the trend of large-screen phones.

However, the road to small-screen smartphones is not easy. Take the iPhone SE, the "trigger" of the return of small screens this year, for example. In the first month of the launch of the 4-inch Apple new phone, its sales were only 4% of the sales of the iPhone 6 in the same period. Even with Apple's support, small-screen smartphones are difficult to achieve good market performance. Will there be manufacturers who will continue to stick to this in the future? This is indeed a big question.

There is no doubt that mobile phone users have indeed been "spoiled" by the large screens of their phones. Coupled with the hidden advantages of larger body size in terms of battery life, it is an indisputable fact that large-screen phones are more popular among users nowadays, even if many people are forced to get used to typing on their phones with both hands.

As for the future of small-screen mobile phones, perhaps 2016 will be a turning point. Although no one can guarantee whether the so-called small-screen flagships will continue to appear in the second half of this year, at least the opportunities before us are much rarer. Just treat it as a long-awaited feast for small-screen enthusiasts.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.