You told us: Here’s what you think of phone thickness

The smartphone thinness war has been over for years now for the most part. This period of mobile development saw various companies tout ultra-thin designs, although this often came with compromises (mainly smaller batteries).

Nevertheless, we wanted to know whether Android Authority users still cared about smartphone thickness, and here’s what you told us in the subsequent poll.

Do you care about smartphone thickness?

Results

Over 4,800 votes were cast in this poll at the time of writing, giving us a good sample size to work with. The most popular pick? Well, 41.7% of respondents said they simply didn’t care about a phone’s thickness.

This is a pretty interesting stance, as a thick phone can obviously be a little cumbersome for some. But many thick phones on the market (like the S22 Ultra and Pixel 6 Pro) also bring additional benefits like superior camera systems and bigger batteries. Plus, there are definitely some users who like a heftier, more substantial design.

In second place was “A thin phone is nice to have but not a must” (36.23%). Other considerations clearly come first for these users, but they wouldn’t complain at all if their wishlist was wrapped up in a thin package.

Rounding out the podium was “Yes, it’s one of several considerations,” accounting for 17.83% of the vote. Finally, just 4.25% of surveyed readers said a thin phone was their “main consideration.”

When we looked at the poll from a different angle, we can see that almost 80% of respondents say they don’t care about a thin phone or think it’s merely nice to have.

Comments

• Beardednomad: No but it depends. It’s more about hand feel than thickness.
• Gregory Tschirhart: I’ve had smartphones since they first started making them. I want a phone that is sturdy and able to withstand a little bit of abuse. Then again, I do not want a brick in my pocket neither. The phone needs to be fairly flexible, so as to be in my pocket without snapping in half.
• jimx2: Wish they’d stop making camera bumps and just make the entire phone as thick as it needs to be with a larger battery
• NESter: Am I the only one who hates how thin phones are? They’re hard to hold. I put a big thick heavy duty case on mine on day one, not just to protect it. Also I’d take a week of battery life in a thick phone that’s rugged any day. These dainty little wafers we have today are unappealing to me.
• Milan Svitek: I honestly would prefer it if manufacturers stuck closer to the 10mm range instead of trying to go down to 9…8…7mm … Hell, didn’t Vivo make a phone less than 5mm thick!? At that point it’s downright uncomfortable to hold! Give me a bigger battery to drive a brighter screen and take your paper-thin piece of glass back. I don’t want it. I’m happy that Google kept my Pixel a bit chunkier last gen. It’s way more comfortable to hold
• Vulpes: Anything under about 8mm seems unnecessary. Over 9mm though and I do think I notice in a bad way. Don’t use cases since I care about the ergonomics of using a phone first and foremost. So yes I definitely care, but other factors are more important – even related to the physical dimensions, such as width and weight or even edge shape.
• mckillio: I certainly care and would like my phone to be about 8mm. Thicker phones also mean heavier phones and phones are just too heavy these days given their enormous sizes. Hopefully we’ll get solid state batteries in the coming years and we won’t have to compromise.
• needa: I care a lot about it. I can’t stand the heft and thickness of my op9 . But what can you do? Nothing.
• JL: Don’t care about thickness. Never did. I just want the phone to do cool stuff. I always put a beefy battery case on my phones anyway. I care mostly about function over form.
• Richard Quist: It’s one of several considerations. I want the phone to feel solid, but be something I can comfortably hold and place in a pocket without feeling like I am carrying brick around.