As bigger laptop screens become the new normal, portability takes a back seat

It wasn’t long ago when mobile phones featured 3″ – 3.5” displays. This was across manufacturers, be it Apple, Samsung, or Motorola. Then came the 6″ display, which quickly became our go-to option. Similarly, laptop screens have gotten bigger over the years!

HP, Lenovo, ASUS, and Dell are all coming up with creative ways to increase the laptop’s display without affecting its portability. Dual displays and foldable screens, which were first featured on mobile phones, are slowly coming to laptops.

The trend picked up as employers adopted hybrid and remote work models and children had their classes online during the pandemic. Pairing a monitor with the setup isn’t the first choice of many, and as soon as manufacturers introduced 16″-18″ laptops, many jumped ship.

With bigger displays, multitasking and gaming feel like a breeze

At work, you often have to work simultaneously across multiple programs, and on a smaller display, it looks too cluttered. With the new 17″-18″ displays, you can have 2-4 apps occupying different parts of the screen, and everything remains legible.

Another market that this segment cashed upon is gaming. Gamers prefer a bigger display, and the conventional options from a few years ago usually sported a 13″-15″ screen. The moment bigger displays hit the shelves, gamers were quick to upgrade.

That’s what fuelled the popularity of big screen laptops!

Subsequently, models like the HP Spectre Foldable 17 and ASUS Zenbook Duo quickly became popular.

Users are giving up portability for bigger screens and improved performance

Although people are still divided between bigger screens and portability, an increasing number is picking up the former over the latter. A major reason behind this is that you don’t have to carry around the laptop as frequently anymore.

For those working at home, there’s usually a dedicated setup. It’s the same for gamers. And even when you have to move it around, it’s usually around the house.

Personal preference, mostly, provided that they are both the same resolution.
That said, I have a 17″ laptop and I wouldn’t trade it for anything; just get a bigger backpack. It’s worth it.

Do you value size ovet mobility? It depends really. in my opinion though if you arent going for pure mobility might as well get the more powerful or bigger machine anyway.

Years ago when laptops had big bezels, I would have said 14-15″. But I’ve been using a slim bezel 15.6″ for over three years, and now I definitely want to go bigger. Either those 16″ 16:10 laptops or a 17.3″.

I have 15.6 inch laptop and I hate it because the screen is too small. If I buy a laptop in the future it will be 17.3 inch for sure and the extra weight for carrying it around doesn’t matter that much.

I have a Razor 18 4080 and the screen is amazing. It is overall smaller then the M18, so I can’t speak to how that fits in a bag, but the Razer 18 fits in the same bags a 16″ would fit. And it’s 2″ bigger diagonally, which is a huge difference. I’ve compared other 16″, even with mini-led and I’d take the 18″ any day.

The argument, The bigger, the Better, fits perfectly well in the context of laptop screens. But we can’t ignore the fact that a big set of users still value portability over display size and prefer models featuring a 13″-15″ display.

If that’s you, perhaps consider getting a bezel-less monitor. 27″-32″ options are common these days!

Where do you stand on the whole big laptop screen vs portability debate? Share with our readers in the comments section.