It may look silly when you see students holding a phone that resembles an iPad up to their ear. However, many students are investing in these large phones now more than ever.

With work, school and other responsibilities, students are extremely busy. Bigger phones allow them to manage everything on one device, making their lives easier.

“Smartphones are increasing in size because people do so much on them,” sophomore Grace Turner said. “As they become more like tiny computers, people need to be able to see what they’re doing better.”

The days are gone when everyone had to get his or her hands on a phone that fit perfectly in their pocket or purse, such as the Motorola Razr V3 with a 2-inch screen, which was the most popular phone just 10 years ago.

Now manufactures are leaving small and elegant phones behind as they focus more on practicality, and college students, comprising the largest group of cellphone ownership, are the ones buying these big and practical phones.

Most people who own cell phones fall into the age group of 18 to 24, according to Pew Research Center. This is one of the reasons so many students are seen with the newest smartphone technology.

Today, smartphones are going in the same direction as televisions, according to New York Times. The trend became even more obvious this year as a ton of big-screen smartphones, ranging from 5 to 7 inches, were introduced at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain.

As these phones keep growing in size, students continue to buy them.

College students spend more than half of their day on their phones, according to research from Baylor University, and they are using them for just about everything.

They pay their bills, play games, check-in for their flights, shop and even watch TV on them. A bigger screen is more convenient when doing all of these things.

“The bigger the screen, the better,” senior Bernie Mighion said. “I use my smartphone for everything now. I look back and can’t even believe I had an iPhone 4 with such a small screen.”

Android and Apple are dominating the smartphone market with their large phone screens. Now, phone stores are filled with bigger options making it rare for people to buy the older and smaller phones.

At the start of 2012, about 70 percent of devices had a screen size of 3.5 inches or smaller, and last year that portion reduced to 20 percent, according to zdnet.

The bigger, the better

Screens on the new iPhone 6+, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 are larger than any previous phone and are among the most popular choices.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has a 5.7-inch display and Apple’s new iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch screen. Also, the iPhone 6+ has a 5.5-inch screen. Older phones such as the iPhone 5 had only a 4-inch screen, according to QZ.

Growing demands

Many people want bigger screens on their phones, and the demand is growing. Out of 4,000 people, 35 percent who decided against buying an iPhone said they would do so if the new iPhone 6 increased its screen size to make it larger than the current iPhone 5S, according to a survey by RBC Capital Markets. The survey also confirmed that many people were willing to pay more money for something larger.

“I have the iPhone 5 and I want the iPhone 6+ because of the bigger screen,” OU student Aspen Grezeszak said. “I feel like the screen is better for all purposes, especially for viewing all my pictures.”

Although these phones are in high demand, screen size isn’t the only reason they are flying off the shelves. With a higher resolution display, these phones can deliver better color and detail. Also, with a larger screen on the phone, it is able to have better hardware support, according to cnet.

“I like my bigger screen on my iPhone 6+ because it allows me to work on a bigger canvas as well as take advantage of the apps that are made for it,” student Branden Kaline said. “This makes the application easier to use and the photos are absolutely amazing on this device.”

With so many people buying these larger phones, it seems the trend will continue. Last year, 20 percent of smartphones shipped were 5 inches or bigger. Due to this, it’s predicted that the number will grow to 50 percent by 2017, according to The New York Times.