Google: Give consumers a phablet for a week and 50% would like it

Smartphones measuring up at 5-inches or under have become a rare breed, with supersize phablets now at the handset helm.

Despite the popularity of large-screen devices, there still exists a stalwart sect of consumers reluctant to welcome 6-inch displays.

Google’s VP of Engineering for Android, David Burke, reckons about half of them just don’t know that they want a phablet.

“If you gave them a phablet for a week, 50 per cent of those would say they like it and not go back,” Burke told Cnet.

While 50 per cent doesn’t sound like a huge cut out of resistant consumers, it would be a healthy boon to an already massive consumer base that enjoys behemoth blowers.

Google’s already laid out its phablet cards with its most recent smartphone launch, the Nexus 6. The new handset touts a gargantuan 5.9-inch display.

It’s a welcome move for many, as its previous flagship, the Nexus 5, had a smaller 5-inch screen – hardly phablet territory.

Apple also famously entered the big-screen handset space this year, going back on previous vows to stick with a more palm-friendly design approach.

The fruity firm launched the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and, more importantly, its beefier brother – the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus.

If we’re talking seriously sized-up handsets, Sony showed off its Xperia Z Ultra in June last year, boasting a display measuring 6.4-inches corner to corner.

This growing raft of phablet-sized devices is a clear indicator that consumers are keen to play with more smartphone screen real estate.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S6 release date