How Phones Got so Big - Android Police

Pixel 5 is the best phone ever made. It was small and light yet durable, and had a flawless rear fingerprint reader and a headphone jack.
- Pixel 5 definitely doesn't have a headphone jack. It's also the biggest phone I've ever used! It is quite a nice device though.
  
  5a has headphone jack. My 5a broke recently so I "upgraded" to an 8a and it's been exclusively worse. No headphone jack, fingerprint scanner barely works, effective battery life is less...
  
  Pixel 5 definitely doesn't have a headphone jack.
  I guess I was thinking of the 4a. This is too long ago haha
  It's also the biggest phone I've ever used!
  Either you're confused or you've only ever used absolutely tiny phones. This is a 6" device.
- Recently switched from a 4a (literally what you just described -- it even actually has an aux port) to an iPhone 13 Mini.
  The Mini is a better size. Better build. Better standby battery life. Better performance from the A15. No fingerprint unlock is a loss, but FaceID is... fine.
  I would kill for another Mini.
  
  I'm right here with you. My 4a is still barely clinging on to life and there isn't a single phone I can move to that isn't huge and has a headphone jack. I do not watch videos on my phone, a larger screen gives me nothing positive.
  
  I mean we're getting into Apple vs. Android there and I will vehemently disagree with you on all accounts if you want to go there.
  The thing is made of glass, which is as fragile as can be, not to mention way too heavy.
  And FaceID is absolutely atrocious if you wear anything on your face, which I often do, like sunglasses and helmets, or if you're laid on your face.
  
  With FaceID you can wear gloves, which is very importantes to me. So it depends on the usecase

Companies started making bigger phones
People bought the bigger phones
Companies stopped making smaller phones
- why did 3 happen because I never stopped buying them. I had a Pixel 4a that I used until it almost exploded. I'm on a 6a now and this thing is uncomfortable. I miss typing with one hand.
  
  You're not "most people". "Most people" want to watch movies and TV and other sorts of media consumption on their phones, and having a larger screen allows one to do that with ease.

my theory is that (most) people want their money's worth. if you have two phones, one bigger than the other, but you don't know the prices of each, the perceived value of the bigger one is higher, even in they're both the same price you wouldn't assume right away that the bigger one had to cut things out to offset the bigger display.
phones are also a big gift item, and people are not concerned with niche likes in those cases.
I'd say that the increased popularity of foldable phones currently speak of our desire of smaller phones (my partner at least says it's the reason she loves hers) with a higher perceived value. I hope marketing departments are taking the right notes from these and not that foldable is better.

Watching porn it’s better on a bigger screen. Duh.