In the second half of 2012, the preferred size for a smartphone display was between 4.2–4.7”, with 4.5” proving to be the optimal size.

Thats according to research by Strategy Analytics, which carried out a similar study a year earlier. Over that period, there was a slight increase in the preferred screen size, up from 4.3”.

This reflects the way the market has been going over the past year, with manufacturers unveiling increasingly large devices and the emergence of phablets, all of which reached a zenith last month with the unveiling of Samsungs 6.3” Galaxy Mega.

Its interesting to note, however, that both Apple and Samsungs current flagship devices actually fall outside of this preferred spectrum – the Galaxy S4, at 5.0”, and the iPhone 5, at 4.0”.

“As consumer acceptance of smartphone sizes increases, many smartphone manufacturers are making larger and larger products,” said Strategy Analytics UEP director Paul Brown.  “The intention of many manufacturers to drive screen size up has been very clear over recent months, and there is the potential for phablets at the lower end of the size scale to become more mainstream – especially as manufacturers work to maximize the ratio of screen to overall size, therefore providing a larger screen on a smaller form factor.”

Its worth noting that these preferences come specifically from exiting smartphone owners – with nearly all respondents saying theyd prefer their next phone to have a larger screen than their current handset. Those who were intending to buy their first smartphone, meanwhile, showed a prefernece for slightly smaller devices.

Size matters less to ladies, too, with males preferring their screens larger than than females.