Phone, Pbablet, Tablet?

#1

(I not seen this raised so hope this is new)

So I see lots of threads about best phones and best Anker products, but for me this is the side story. The main story is about how big and how much functionality do you want in your phone?

If you look at a phone which can do it all you often end up lugging a large 5.5" (or worse 5.7" or larger) phone with you all the time, with pressure on battery life and so QC ( / Turbo charge / Dash charge) and Anker Powercore and Powerport.

Or you can go with the two or more devices option with a phone focused on a bit more minimalist, 5" max and carry a tablet which complements the phone. You add a device with a much bigger screen (7" minimum) adding its battery capacity and you can do 2 things at once easier. The downside is carrying 2 devices.

I tend to be most often with a bag so the tablet is in the bag, the phone in pocket/hand, and the times I am no-bag I welcome a good battery life smaller screen phone.

I keep coming back full circle to 2013 being the right approach a Nexus 4 and Nexus 7.

I see the “I would never have a phone that big” end up the norm, and it keeps going. Norm now is 5.5" and yet when they came out most said too large. I saw same before that with 5".

Now you struggle with some brands to get smaller phones.

Are you prefering to lug a big phone and it be your only device, or a phone+tablet and if so a smaller phone + tablet or a larger phone + tablet?

I have had enough with lugging my OnePlus2 5.5" around for a year and moving back to a 5" which lasts a lot longer on battery, I have a tablet with me. My fave is Pixel C which is basically laptop and my Nexus 7 (trusty ole 3 year tech)

#2

I’ve been 100% satisfied with the 5.1" screen size of my Galaxy S6. Before that, I had an iPhone 4s. The 3.5" display drove me absolutely nuts. I have an iPad Mini that my friend gave me, but to be honest, I don’t use it too much. I’m perfectly happy using my Galaxy S6 for media consumption. 5.1" is a very comfortable size for watching videos on for me. Not to mention, it’s gorgeous 1440p display. Since the iPad Mini doesn’t even have a retina display, that’s just another reason why I prefer using my phone and only my phone instead of a phone and tablet.

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#3

Do you use a PC also or is the only screen you look at 5.1" ?

#4

I use a PC primarily actually. Any time I’m home, I use my 15.6" laptop with 1080p display. When I go out, I use my phone.

#5

Cool I love my 13.3" Chromebook, good display and battery life but it needs me to be sitting down and I found with the 10"
tablet I can move around a lot (flights, long trips) just with the tablet. So the phone has the “in the hand and pocket” role. Combine with the USB common standard so one charger do everything, helps compact everything down.

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#6

Lately,

I’ve been seeing less and less iPads, and I honestly think the iPad was a huge fad. I’ll let you be the judge. Do you think tablets are going out of style? Do you use a tablet? If so, why?

I have an iPad Mini that my friend gave me, and I use an iPad keyboard on road trips for typing on the go, but honestly, that’s about all I do with it. Everything else I do on my phone or laptop. I definitely wouldn’t spend money on a tablet.

#7

“It depends”

Tablets are squeezed by phones from below and PCs from above so depending how is your phone and how is your PC then you might no need for tablets.

Tablet innovation is necessarily slow as they do less things, just like PC innovation slowed and they do just one thing well which is raw compute power bound the need for lots of mains power.

Then it ties to apps. So for example Webex app is now getting to the point it if anything is behaving better on tablet than PC.

If you move from a PC with its 12V-19V custom mains charger to a USB type power demand you can merge your power supply needs so hence a high-end tablet which makes not needing a PC really compresses down the tech physically.

The Pixel C tablet with its keyboard is very good, that it plus a phone is good system, add say a Powercore 26800 or a Powercore 10000 for multi-day or long-day respectively with say a Powerport2 for long day and a Powerport5 for multi-day is then a complete system which is physically quite a bit smaller.

#8

My primary device is my phone, which is a OnePlus One. It has a 5.5 inch screen and is pretty much the perfect size for me. I would go sightly bigger, but I won’t go any smaller. This is why the Pixel is such a disappointment to me. The screen is stupidly narrow, and even the Pixel XL has a sightly smaller screen than my OnePlus.

In terms of functionality, Chrome on Android is very capable. On the fairly rare occasion that i find something I can’t do on it, I’ll fire up my cheap and cheerful Chromebook.

Tablets are a dead format imho.

#9

Right now, I use my 4.7-inch iPhone 6. I used to think the screen was humongous before getting used to it, and it’s crazy that bigger and bigger phones are coming out. I don’t have any tablets, but just carry around my MacBook Pro. I always watch movies, Netflix, and go on social media on my phone, unlike other people. I don’t use my MacBook that much. I don’t want a big phone to carry around because it would be uncomfortable to keep in my pocket or on my belt if I got a belt clip. I usually carry around my PowerCore 5000 with my phone to recharge it, but I am not bothered by the smaller screen. The main issue that arises on my phone is when some internet sites aren’t mobile-compatible and it is harder to do work or take a note down if I need to do something quickly. Do you also carry around a computer with you separate from the Pixel C?

#10

Question to me?

What I carry depends on the duration and requirements of the trip. Let’s draw this one out in scenarios, these are real ones I actually do.

“Walk the dog” - the phone.

“Commute on the train to work” - the phone, laptop, Powerport2, Powercore Slim 5000, USB cables

“Go for an overnight work trip where I am presenting” - phone, laptop, Nexus 7, Powerport 5, Powercore Slim 5000, Powercore 10000.

“Go for 5 day work trip where I am NOT presenting” - phone, spare phone, Pixel C, Powerport 5, Powercore Slim 5000, Powercore 10000, Aukey 12W (spare charger).

“Go for a 3 week world tour across multiple countries” - phone, spare phone, Nexus 7, Pixel C, Powerport 5, Powerport 2, Powercore Slim… (thinking…) not sure if I move to the Powercore 26800 or stick with the Powercore 10000.

This is more about luggage size and being minimalist small with diversity of tools to not be let down by tech. Tablets are harder to break than laptop. I have owned a laptop since 1995 so I speak from experience.

#11

Yes the question was for you! Great answer by the way! It’s interesting to see how many people utilize their different gadgets for different types of trips.

#12

I’m planning now my phone being the Moto G4 Play as smaller phones are better for hand+pocket and spare phone being OnePlus3 as larger phone is just awkward. A spare phone which is larger makes the likes of a Nexus 7 smaller not really helping anything.

The size of luggage space matters the more often you fly, each flight is an opportunity for something to fail and you end up being squished into no-luggage situations. Smaller luggage survives more complex scenarios better. I’ve had the steward accidentally pour a pint of milk over me and everything I had out, so a spare something in a waterproof bag arose from that experience.

My clothing, backpack, shoes are also equally evolved details.

#13

Yup! Definitely! I prefer the smaller phones too!

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#14

I agree that the Nexus 4 was an ideal size of phone. I loved mine. However comparing the screen to a Nexus 5, the 5 was so much better and nicer to use. So I quickly got used to the increase in physical size.
The Pixel is slightly bigger again, but it is very thin so helps it not notice the size increase.

I’ve never owned a tablet. I really don’t see a use for them in my life. I use my phone when I am out and about and my PC when I’m home.

#15

Like Drumrocker said, I’m perfectly satisfied with my Samsung Galaxy S6 & the 5.1" screen. It was big to me at first since I had smaller screens before on my phones & took a while to get used to handling, but I love it & couldn’t imagine having a phone with a smaller screen now.

Its the perfect size for me since I tend to watch a lot of Youtube & videos on my phone. The screen size is just right to watch things on along with the display being so high quality & crisp.