Not to be outdone by Apple and its iPhone 16 fattening plans, Samsung may be preparing to grow the size of its Galaxy S25 display as well. Rather unsurprisingly, the display diagonal that is now bandied about for the S25, is close to the one rumored for the iPhone 16.
Apple and Samsung have had a stranglehold on the US phone market for more than a decade, especially in carrier rosters. When a new Galaxy S series launches, the Apple's commanding market share often dips back below the 50% mark, and that trend reverses in the fall when the new iPhones are released.
Wherever one goes, the other usually follows in a year or two, and the examples of this mutual prodding to catch up with each other are numerous. Samsung has been making a name for itself with a long-distance periscope zoom camera, and Apple followed with its own cute little Tetraprism twist. Apple made a lighter, tougher phone frame out of premium titanium last year and, lo and behold, this year's Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with... titanium!
Apple is said to enlarge the screen size of its iPhones this year and... well, you catch the drift, but don't expect the Galaxy S25 Ultra to get any larger as Samsung's flagships are already bordering on the 7-inch mark.
Have flagship phone sizes been growing by a fifth of an inch each year?
Where does it stop?
If we only looked at a graph of the ever-growing screen diagonals, we'd be misled about actual phone size growth. After all, moving from the OG 3.5-inch iPhones to Apple's current 6.7-inch juggernaut sounds like a gigantic leap in overall dimensions.
Ditto for Samsung's Galaxy S line progression that started from a mere 4-inch display on the original S, to the 6.8-inch of the S24 Ultra, not to mention the giant 7.6-incher of the Z Fold 5. Those roughly 0.2 inches added to the flagship iPhone and Galaxy displays every year since their inception, however, did not translate to a corresponding phone size increase.
Yes, the iPhone size difference since 2007 is significant, but not breathtaking and certainly not a growth of a fifth of an inch every year, and the same goes for the Galaxy S line. How come?
Bezel-eating hits its limits
Choices or no choices
The sole reason that today's flagship phones are still somewhat manageable to handle, despite the giant leap in screen sizes since the OG iPhone, is that manufacturers managed to shave off their bezels significantly. Ever since the first hole-in-display front cameras, or the iPhone notch, displays have been encroaching into the former bezel area with gusto, leading to today's "all-screen" phones.
The iPhone mini is no more, but even the iPhone SE is expected to grow
This has allowed us to enjoy both big displays to browse or watch TikTok videos on, and kept phone sizes in relative check. The Galaxy S line, however, already comes with minimum bezels all around. Even Apple is preparing to shave off the iPhone 16 bezels to the maximum in order to fit larger displays without growing the phone's dimensions too much.
Long story short, Samsung's phones already have negligible bezels, and any screen diagonal bump would inevitably lead to a larger phone.
Would Samsung Galaxy S25 end small flagship phones for good?
Demise of the mini
The Galaxy S24 is on our list of the best small and compact phones already. The potential display diagonal growth with the now proverbial 0.2 inches could very well get the Galaxy S25 out of that ranking.
Recently, we made a survey about the screen sizes that people prefer, and, somewhat surprisingly, the top answer wasn't in the category of today's giant flagships that are becoming rather unwieldy to handle.
What's your preferred screen size for a smartphone?
Compact (5.9" and below)
27.22%
Mid-sized (6.1 to 6.4 inches)
36.01%
Large (up to 6.7")
17.73%
Huge (everything bigger than 6.8")
18.03%
Other (leave a comment)
1%
Rather, the most popular phone screen diagonal proved to be in the 6.1-6.4 inch range. That's exactly where the Galaxy S25 will still fit, but would we still be able to list it in a roundup of the best compact phones of 2025? It remains to be seen, based on the overall dimensions that Samsung will manage to pull off.
One thing seems certain, though, the last bastions of small flagship phones are crumbling before our eyes, and we may soon witness not only the demise of the mini, but also the end of small but powerful phones that many are still quite fond of.
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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