Battle of the Big Screens: iPhone 5 Versus 4.5″ Screen for Motorola Droid Bionic in September

A mock-up of Motorola's Droid Bionic, complete with 4.5" screen.

The iPhone 5 isn’t the only smartphone slated for a September release that is due for a screen upgrade. New rumors suggest that Motorola’s Droid Bionic will be released in September as well, and sport a whopping 4.5″ screen. Will Apple answer with a big, new screen of its own for the iPhone 5?
iPhone users who have been handicapping the features of the iPhone 5 over the past year or so have consistently called for a larger, edge-to-edge style screen, to the extent that if Apple keeps its standard screen dimensions for the next iPhone, it very well may be a deal-breaker for many. Simply put, the screen has become the centerpiece of the smartphone experience, and many iPhone users are ready to have more room to work with when surfing the web, perusing apps, gaming, or viewing media.




While conflicting reports on whether the next iPhone will be a redesigned iPhone 5 or refreshed iPhone 4s keep the screen size question in flux, new reports have surfaced that a rival smartphone due for a September release — the Motorola Droid Bionic — may in fact be getting the bid screen that the average iPhone user is jonesing for. According to HeadlineNews, “The new set of leaks, now surprisingly appearing rather blurred and inconclusive, show what seems to be a Motorola Droid Bionic sporting a bigger than expected screen size – one that measures in more around the 4.5 inch mark rather than the expected 4.3 inches.”
While iPhone users are hoping for a screen on the iPhone that would pierce the 4-inch range, the Droid Bionic is going for a radically larger design that could very well attract iPhone users, should the next iPhone fail deliver on a bigger screen.
The Motorla Droid Bionic also has another purported feature up its sleeve that is related to its screen: “Also apparent in the images is that the Bionic has been cased in a soft-touch coating, which is highly favored by many users as it is much less prone to fingerprints and smudges.” It would seem that Motorola is keying in on one of the most critical design elements of the smartphone: its touch surface and gesture control. Design rumors like this on Android smartphones most certainly raise the bar of expectations for the iPhone 5, which continues to remain shrouded in mystery, even as the device comes into the home stretch before release in September.
By Michael Nace