How big could a cell phone be before you refused to carry it?

I mean, when Lethal Weapon came out this was a real state of the art cell phone people were thrilled to have

Anything bigger than the current trend of phones is too big and there's plenty of comedy skits like these demonstrating the ridiculousness of it all.

Happy TV from 2000:

https://youtu.be/k07Wi6NfQT8

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2yktod

Edit: Adding that I would pay a premium to have a 4" iphone 1 sized phone back today more than I would to pay for a ridiculous fold model.

This was the shit in the 80s....

Tiny is the new big.

Considering how hard it was for me to find one small enough last time, we've already gone past it years ago

I still have a laptop on me most of the time. So... at that point there is no reason for a phone being bigger than may laptop.

About the size of my current iphone 15.

But it’s less size in pocket vs fit in hand. I also have a pixel 9a which is a bit bigger. I’ll typically carry both when I’m out and about (particularly to work)

Do you know The big phone guy? About that size.

Adding a single layer of 18680 cells to my phone would increase battery capacity six times at cost of extra 300g in weight and +18mm in thickness, perhaps less if we're removing regular battery and reorganizing internals. This would allow it to be charged every 10-15 days, perhaps more, and it's still reasonably sized

Literal brick sized phone would increase battery capacity 30-50x which would be good for charging once per two to three months, that's probably more than enough, and taking it abroad plane would be prohibited

Shoebox sized battery pack (33x21x13 cm) would fit 378 18680 cells, which at 18.9kg and 1200€ would be 1320Ah, which should be good for two years or more on a single charge, and it stores more electrical energy than 4kg of TNT releases when exploded

I already hit my limit. I specifically have to look for non-flagship phones to keep it manageable for me. I'm really liking the one Samsung foldable coming that's the half size, but I can't bring myself to pay that much. Also Samsung

would you carry an iPhone the size of a shoebox if the rest of the space was a battery?

"Yeah so our power is out, I had to plug my fridge into the ol' iPhone to keep it running. That's why I can't leave yet."

I'm carrying an S26 Ultra and wouldn't mind if it was 3 times thicker. I regularly carry a Tab S8+ around when I am going to the store so I can look things up or take down ideas.

I also had one of the Motorola bag phones in the mid 90's as my emergency car phone.

Would I carry around a bag phone today... probably not. I haven't really spoken on the phone since April and it's been about 2 years since anyone other than my other half has called me but I was tired of the junk calls so I turned off receiving calls from any number not in my contacts list.

I used a 7 inch tablet with sim slot as a phone for about a week and it was miserable. I was too broke to buy a new phone after the one I was using got run over and I had the tablet already.

As long as it has backpack straps, I'm good.

I think 7" phones are already pushing it, large phones are inconvenient for one-handed use. A shoebox-sized iPhone is just an iPad ...

I don't mind a large phone as long as it fits in my pocket. My first phone was the original Galaxy Note, which people thought was extreme at the time but now looks normal. My current phone is the Pixel Fold, which has smaller dimensions than most of my other phones but is twice as thick due to the folding aspect. Unfolded it's a small tablet bigger than any phone I've had, but folded it's actually pretty compact if you get over the thickness.

Has to fit in the faraday bag

It depends on the capabilities. I was the weird kid who carried a workstation laptop in a briefcase from 6th to 11th grade, when the hinges seized from use; then I used a netbook for the remaining semester, which was paaaaain.

But being able to game in class, work on papers, give way more immersive presentations, run a Minecraft server for my A+ hardware peers, and stay under the radar with quick reflexes and an unassuming machine, was fucking kickass.

I also similarly, for a couple of those same years, used a Nexus 7 with Google Voice as my phone. Walking around with a tablet near the size of my head, texting and making calls while people were like 'wtf'. But I saved a ton of money vs a true cell phone plan.

If it's a phone with the capabilities of a laptop in a size reasonably close, hell yeah. This is my jam.

I prefer the Pixel to the Pixel Pro, so, somewhere between those two sizes.

I remember the before times when they were known as car phones. Huge black boxes, made them portable. No internet, no google, hey google fuck off eh?

I'm old(-ish). I got a Pixel 9 when they were new. I like the size but when typing I really wish I got the pro instead. The on-screen keyboard keys are just a tad too small for me. The older I get, the larger keyboard I need. I keep fat-fingering keys and either need to correct or rely on unpredictable auto-complete. The biggest pain is trying to accurately place the cursor where I want to make an edit . Fuck that shit. I always need to remove and retype half a word just to fix a single letter because I can't get the fucking cursor where I want it.

I don't like little flimsy phones. However, my current phone is at the upper limits of what I consider reasonable.

It's a ulefone 27T pro
Height: 182.8 mm
Width: 86.8 mm
Depth: 18.5 mm
Weight: 441 grams

I would say 500g is likely my hard limit, outside of special circumstances. As it stands, it doubles as a self defence weapon.

Really it's about constraints yeah?

• Needs to fit in pocket
• Needs to be convenient to hold up to your face for phone calls
• Needs to be small enough to be holdable in one hand (highly individual)
• Needs to be big enough that you can use the touchscreen effectively (highly individual)

So really you can just use the size of an average pocket and hand as a guide and go from there. Once it stops fitting in pockets and hands, it has to go in the bag, and typing becomes very difficult as you have to prop up the device, which means people won't use it as much and get annoyed with it.

If it's just battery life, you can get bags and such nowadays with convenient rechargable battery packs in them. You don't need to change the device at all. If you want more screen size as a bigger person, there's XL versions of phones. Other than that there's no reason to get a bigger phone

if it doesn’t fit in my pocket, i won’t carry it. i do not accessorize.

I mean, we're kind of limited by what they produce. If they only produced phones the size of a shoebox, that's what we have to use. My current phone is too big for my preferences, but it's the size apple chose as the default. /shrug

My pocket.

I have a Pixel 10a (2 5/8in x 6in) and wouldn't mind it being a little larger. I can go 1.5 inches wider and still have it fit in my cargo shorts or pants, which is what I always wear.

It would have to be bigger than the radios carried on backpacks in WW2. Like too big to carry around.

I just want a smallish 5-6 inch screen with a 4:3 ratio and a decent camera.

has to fit in the old prison wallet.

We're getting close. This is an oldy lol.

Well I got a Zenfone 9 because, at the time, it was the smallest phone with a headphone jack. Two phones had headphone jacks then. This, or some Sony that cost 33% more. And so here we are. So I already don't like how big phones are.

about the size of the one in this music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3_drgbsLRE

I have a large external battery that I carry at camp at times. Mostly it sits at my tent getting charged on solar, but I have carried it for an short time to charge my battery while doing something else. The youth at the camp don't carry a phone, but I often get asked to look something up for them so it is useful. Not to mention when there are no adult activities to keep me i entertained.

Idk, but I would like something smaller than all the current options. The homogenisation of the phone market over the last 10 years is horrible.

if it becomes to heavy for 1 hand.

I used to carry a fat fucking Nextel and I loved it.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XNBP18nrRdw

i'd totally carry large phones if they are useful