Crowd-funded Smartphone PC: Symetium

5.2" actually. Same size screen as the LG G2 but substantially taller, a little wider and heavier (though a bit thinner).

I reckon it would be easily possible to design a phone with a 5" screen which was in the region of 135mm tall. Obviously not what the manufacturers are looking to produce at the moment. I think this is led by the Chinese love of phones with screens of 5.5"+!

Note, this isn't a specific criticism of the Z5 which I expect will be a very good phone, but I use a Huawei P8 at the moment and this is a little smaller in every dimension than the Z5 with a similar 5.2" screen and OIS support on the camera. I'd still say that this phone is a bit too tall - difficult to get out of your pocket sometimes, though not overly unwieldy. I think that, to some degree, thickness and weight as probably as important as the outright dimensions of phones these days. A thinnish phone around 150g can easily be carried in a trouser pocket and I sometimes have to check to see if I remembered to take it with me when I head out the house!

 

So what you actually want is something with the body of the Honor 6 with stereo speakers and a Snapdragon 808?

 

Well, I don't want anything as I've got the P8! Decent phone (though EMUI is a bit hit and miss as an interface).

I'm just noting that none of the major manufacturers have tried to produce an extremely compact 5" phone, other than the Sharp Aquos phones in Japan, of course. A little thick for a modern day phone, perhaps, but to cram in a 5" screen into those dimensions is remarkable:

http://www.gsmarena.com/sharp_aquos_crystal-6590.php

The newest high-end phone is even more remarkable:

http://www.gsmarena.com/sharp_aquos_xx-7252.php

A 5.7" screen in a device with the same height as the Z5! Wider, obviously, of course.

 

Honest question did those really have as large batteries? There are in fact =/>5" smartphones available from chinese manufacturers with 4000mAH batteries but they usually carry mainstream to low end SoCs at less than half the price of the Lenovo Vibe. I just gave you an example of a high quality alternative; the S801 might not be the newest kid in town as a SoC but it doesn't throttle either.

They call em phablets for a reason. After surfing 5 minutes with one, a 5 incher in direct comparison seemed like a dwarf

 

We just need to wait until (seamless) foldable screens are available. Folded down, use as a phone, open one fold, it's a phablet, open two folds and it's a tablet etc etc.

Science fiction rather than fact, but I'm hoping some boffins somewhere are thinking the same way.

 

As for compact phones, more new ones from Sharp (Japan only, of course):

http://www.gsmarena.com/docomos_sharp_aquos_compact_aquos_zeta_have_razorsharp_bezels-news-14257.php

Just a pity they don't seem to sell them outside of Japan!

 

Keep an eye on the chinese branded stuff over time; there are alternatives and yes you might not find all aspects you want at once, but at least most of them. Another interesting puppy I saw the other day is this one: http://www.tinydeal.com/lenovo-vibe...5-octa-core-android-51-4g-phone-p-156373.html

 

Btw, I like my phone with bezel. Even my current phone, if it weren't for the TPU case, I would accidently press the screen when my thumb tried to reach the opposite side on one handed operation. Also I prefer no capacitive button if you want to make the top and bottom as small as possible. The reasoning is the same, to prevent accidental touch.

I need my bezel.

 

Not if you have smart bezel mode.
If you're using it as a phone limit the screen by X amount of pixels, but when used in tablet mode you can usethe full screen for touch controls.

You might see more of this on October 6th at the MS Win10 event.

 

But then you can put something that is touchable at the edge. What I'm thinking is you use some sensor on the edge of the phone where the phone can detect whether the touch is just a continuation from the edge (thus your palm not your finger). The sensor need to detect the touch off the screen so the whole screen itself can be usable.

 

The Nubia Z9 (Nubia is ZTE's high-end brand) is a bezel-less phone which has 'edge gestures'. You can set swipes along the edges of the screen to perform different functions.

An interesting idea though I'm not sure exactly how much use these gestures will be:

http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_nubia_z9-review-1284.php

 

Yes, I know about it, but I'm thinking more about using it for some kind of palm rejection. I don't know how big the detection zone on Z9, but for palm rejection it needs to work at the full screen length.
Edit: for example, if you want to use one handed and you want to press p using your right hand then your palm would move away from the edge thus you can register the touch at the edge of the screen. When you need to reach q, your palm will probably touch the edge and some part of the screen. Because you already touch the edge near the screen, the area of the screen where your palm is pressed to the edge will automatically be ignored of touches.

 

the only real compact smartphone with 5" display I'm aware of is the rather old Sony Xperia ZL. It is only 131,6 mm high.

http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_zl-5203.php

now if Sony would combine the interior of the M5 with the size of the ZL but with smaller bezels. That would be nearly ideal.

 

maybe this phone is small enough for you, if it ever comes to market:

Saygus V2 http://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/0ff631de