Samsung Galaxy S5's big screen is one proof that phone makers are going big with their smartphones. Prior to Galaxy S5, the big screens of Samsung phones have made good sales in Asian markets. More companies follow suit and with this trend, they are truly going against the long-held rule that is typical of portable electronics - "the smaller, the better".

Samsung Galaxy S line

The South Korean flagship smartphone has gone quite a long way on the display screen journey. Since the debut of Samsung Galaxy S in 2010 with its 4-inch display screen to the recently unveiled 5.1-inch of S5, the size never went down. Galaxy S2 came with 4.3 inches, S3 with 4.8 and S4 with 5 inches. Paired with the screen is a resolution that keeps getting better, making the viewing experience more vivid, more beautiful and more exciting.

The "Big" trend at MWC 2014

As years passed, storage devices, music players and computers shed weight and size. For decades, such happened to cell phones as well. However for now, cellphones, particularly smartphones, are going the television way. They keep getting bigger; and consumers keep having them.

The trend towards bigger items becomes more apparent in the world's biggest mobile event in Barcelona this week. Handset manufacturers introduced several smartphones mostly with big screens - usually from five inches to seven inches in diagonal. Among others, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, ZTE, Sony and Huawei are betting that customers find videos and images more engaging and clearer on bigger screens. With bigger screens in smartphones like that on Galaxy S5, Xperia Z2, LG G2 Mini and Ascend G6, consumers may agree to carry them instead of two items of a smartphone and a tablet.

When bigger is better

Turning to bigger screens in smartphones is game over for the dominant strategy of phone manufacturers a few years back, when critics would mock devices with big screens, jesting that they will not click as they won't fit in pockets of tight jeans; or because people were reluctant to be seen carrying big gadgets. Not anymore now, because with regards to smartphones, bigger is better.

Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 phone maker pushed on bigger screens, big time. Such effort paid off with millions of sales of its products, especially in Asia where people want to write characters with a pen, instead of typing. They want a big device where they can handwrite, share notes and draw.