For 2.5 years now I have detested many things about my Samsung Galaxy S4. Not that it hasn't been a good phone…it has actually been a great phone with wonderful voice quality, always reliable navigation, endless apps, etc.
At the same time, it has been extremely annoying and infuriating in little ways that I haven't been able to get used to. The number one most annoying thing has been just this: the location of the power button on the side.
What seems to happen is that nearly every time I pull the phone out of my pocket I press the power button. This has often seemed to mess up incoming phone calls and do other weird things. The shape and resistance of the side power button are also implicated. It seems that often the power button gets pressed simply by my keys and phone jostling in my pocket. This never ever happened with my iPhone 3G, which you might think worse--having power button at the top which is therefore resting on the bottom of my pocket. But THAT was never a problem for some reason. It's the buttons on the side which get accidentally pressed because of rubbing up against harder things than the cloth at the bottom of my pocket. I've often had my phone shut down and/or restart all by itself rattling around in my pocket.
Now I can show you, and I've been meaning to take a video, of how when I reach for the Galaxy phone in my pocket it's almost inevitable than while gripping it I will press the power button. It doesn't even matter which way the phone is turned or how I try to avoid it. I can't seem to pick up the phone without pressing that button.
Prior to the 6 series, Apple iPhones had power buttons at the top. This had always worked fine for me. I would even go against conventional wisdom and put the power button for a large phablet right at the top too. A power button should NOT be right under your finger. You should have to reach to press it. That's because you do not have to press it often, and you do not want to press it unless you really want to.
So when I started thinking about replacement phones, this was at the top of my list of features I would look for. Since I had been planning to return to iPhone for other reasons (to get away from the horrid overcomplicated trojan horse otherwise known as the Samsung Galaxy Android user interface) I looked at the newest iPhones for the first time in years and was shocked to learn that the latest two generations had the same huge problem. Contrary to my wishes, Apple has moved the power buttons on their phones to the side also.
I was just about to order an iPhone 5S which seemed to be the last of the mohicans, an iPhone with the power button correctly at the top. But I just couldn't get used to the sharp feeling beveling on the side in my hand. I've grown used to smooth sided phones, sharp or square just doesn't work.
So I tried the iPhone 6S Plus. I put it in my pocket and pulled it out. And I did not press the power button. The extra length from the "bottom" of the phone (which is pointing up when in my pocket) to the power button is just right. I do not press it by accident when reaching for the phone.
You can see how this might be. Put a smart phone in your hand so that the bottom of the phone fits in the groove of your hand. Now see where your thumb contacts the side of the phone. With the Galaxy S4, the power button is right underneath my thumb. With the iPhone 6S Plus, the button is about a half inch beyond my thumb. When I reach in my pocket, where the phone is upside down usually, the bottom of the phone hits the groove of my hand and then I close my hand. This is the natural way to use my hand. It shouldn't cause the power button to be pressed.
At least in some quick in-store tests, that half inch makes all the difference between a continuous annoyance and a phone which seems to have good ergonomics for me. So that is why I have now ordered an iPhone 6S Plus.
And yet…I have relatively small hands for a man. I'm now worried how well this will work for me in other ways, but after handling the Galaxy phone, which is very close in width (the important factor in holding the phone).
People talk about one-handed use, and claim that the 6S Plus is too big for that. I don't get it. Even with my iPhone 3G, a one-handed phone if there ever was one, I didn't find I could reliably text with one hand. My fingers can't easily bend that much. To do texting reliably, which is important, I hold phone with one hand and press virtual keys with the other hand. That's what I did with my 3G and what I continued to do with my Galaxy.
Now for holding the phone up to ear with one hand, that is absolutely crucial. It didn't seem to be a problem in the store with the 6S Plus whatsoever. I could hardly tell the difference in width between the 6S Plus and my Galaxy S4. Are some people's hands actually so small it is a problem to hold phone to ear with one hand?
Apple also seems to have done some other things with having the power button slightly inside the edge of the phone. It doesn't "stick out" like the power button on the Galaxy S4.
These little details can make a huge difference.
At the same time, it has been extremely annoying and infuriating in little ways that I haven't been able to get used to. The number one most annoying thing has been just this: the location of the power button on the side.
What seems to happen is that nearly every time I pull the phone out of my pocket I press the power button. This has often seemed to mess up incoming phone calls and do other weird things. The shape and resistance of the side power button are also implicated. It seems that often the power button gets pressed simply by my keys and phone jostling in my pocket. This never ever happened with my iPhone 3G, which you might think worse--having power button at the top which is therefore resting on the bottom of my pocket. But THAT was never a problem for some reason. It's the buttons on the side which get accidentally pressed because of rubbing up against harder things than the cloth at the bottom of my pocket. I've often had my phone shut down and/or restart all by itself rattling around in my pocket.
Now I can show you, and I've been meaning to take a video, of how when I reach for the Galaxy phone in my pocket it's almost inevitable than while gripping it I will press the power button. It doesn't even matter which way the phone is turned or how I try to avoid it. I can't seem to pick up the phone without pressing that button.
Prior to the 6 series, Apple iPhones had power buttons at the top. This had always worked fine for me. I would even go against conventional wisdom and put the power button for a large phablet right at the top too. A power button should NOT be right under your finger. You should have to reach to press it. That's because you do not have to press it often, and you do not want to press it unless you really want to.
So when I started thinking about replacement phones, this was at the top of my list of features I would look for. Since I had been planning to return to iPhone for other reasons (to get away from the horrid overcomplicated trojan horse otherwise known as the Samsung Galaxy Android user interface) I looked at the newest iPhones for the first time in years and was shocked to learn that the latest two generations had the same huge problem. Contrary to my wishes, Apple has moved the power buttons on their phones to the side also.
I was just about to order an iPhone 5S which seemed to be the last of the mohicans, an iPhone with the power button correctly at the top. But I just couldn't get used to the sharp feeling beveling on the side in my hand. I've grown used to smooth sided phones, sharp or square just doesn't work.
So I tried the iPhone 6S Plus. I put it in my pocket and pulled it out. And I did not press the power button. The extra length from the "bottom" of the phone (which is pointing up when in my pocket) to the power button is just right. I do not press it by accident when reaching for the phone.
You can see how this might be. Put a smart phone in your hand so that the bottom of the phone fits in the groove of your hand. Now see where your thumb contacts the side of the phone. With the Galaxy S4, the power button is right underneath my thumb. With the iPhone 6S Plus, the button is about a half inch beyond my thumb. When I reach in my pocket, where the phone is upside down usually, the bottom of the phone hits the groove of my hand and then I close my hand. This is the natural way to use my hand. It shouldn't cause the power button to be pressed.
At least in some quick in-store tests, that half inch makes all the difference between a continuous annoyance and a phone which seems to have good ergonomics for me. So that is why I have now ordered an iPhone 6S Plus.
And yet…I have relatively small hands for a man. I'm now worried how well this will work for me in other ways, but after handling the Galaxy phone, which is very close in width (the important factor in holding the phone).
People talk about one-handed use, and claim that the 6S Plus is too big for that. I don't get it. Even with my iPhone 3G, a one-handed phone if there ever was one, I didn't find I could reliably text with one hand. My fingers can't easily bend that much. To do texting reliably, which is important, I hold phone with one hand and press virtual keys with the other hand. That's what I did with my 3G and what I continued to do with my Galaxy.
Now for holding the phone up to ear with one hand, that is absolutely crucial. It didn't seem to be a problem in the store with the 6S Plus whatsoever. I could hardly tell the difference in width between the 6S Plus and my Galaxy S4. Are some people's hands actually so small it is a problem to hold phone to ear with one hand?
Apple also seems to have done some other things with having the power button slightly inside the edge of the phone. It doesn't "stick out" like the power button on the Galaxy S4.
These little details can make a huge difference.
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