Samsung may be looking to have the largest smartphone screen on the market with the Galaxy Note 10. The manufacturer may release a device in 2019 with a 6.66-inch display, according to a new report from the Korean publication, Bell. If true, the phablet could beat out many of its current competitors, including the iPhone XS Max and the Pixel 3 XL.
Most smartphone makers have fully adopted the large-display phablet design to the point where the term phablet is hardly used anymore. Manufacturers have embraced the trend of smartphones with large displays and thin bezels to ensure the devices are not excessively wide. However, many new devices on the market are rather long, which continues to challenge users’ ability to use the devices with one hand.
But continued sales have convinced manufacturers that consumers don’t mind smartphones that aren’t easy to handle. Samsung’s entire 2018 flagship line is comprised of phablet-sized devices. The most recent Galaxy Note 9 features a 6.4-inch diagonal display and is 6.37-inches tall. The Galaxy S9+ features a 6.2-inch display, and the smallest Galaxy S9 model features a 5.8-inch display.
Large screens in small spaces
Many manufacturers have embraced the infamous top-notch as a method of expanding screen real estate on a device. Samsung hasn’t yet jumped on that bandwagon and current rumors suggest its 2019 devices may also remain notch-less. Samsung takes advantage of its curved display design to support its large displays. Reports suggest the Galaxy S10+ screen may jump to 6.44-inches, while the Galaxy S10 screen may remain at 5.8-inches.
Since Samsung created the phablet category with the 5.3-inch original Galaxy Note in 2011, the manufacturer is surely not afraid to experiment with its devices. Today, a 5.3-inch smartphone would be considered rather small. Even the 5.5-inch display on the Google Pixel 3 is petite in comparison to many of its competitors. Considering all of this, how large would a smartphone display have to be until it is no longer considered a smartphone?
The blurring of device categories
Tablet sizes traditionally begin at 7-inches, but they typically retain features such as thicker bezels and capacitive home buttons to differentiate from smartphones. A device with a screen nearing 6.7-inches is creeping extremely close into the tablet category. However, if smartphone screens continue to get larger, consumers may see a further shift in the descriptions of their devices. Tablets themselves are creeping into the laptop space with keyboards attached to folio case accessories common among the latest models. Some tablets also have cellular data ability, giving them some aspects of smartphones.
Still, as display sizes and designs shift, so do other categories, such as quality. Manufacturers have begun releasing devices in the “super-premium” space, where they stuff devices with top-of-the-line technology and unabashedly charge $1,000+ for the latest models. Many of these devices feature some of the largest displays on the market. The 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max starts at $1099, while the Galaxy Note 9 starts at $999.99.
Galaxy Note 10: unconfirmed but plausible
The Galaxy Note line itself started as a way for Samsung to charge more for a device that was never that much different from its already high-end Galaxy S series. So a Galaxy Note 10 with a massive display and an equally massive price is not that far-fetched.
