Pinky torture: Why the iPhone SE is a one-handed wonder, and the iPhone 6s is not

I can't really say I've ever been hyper aware of the pinky on my right hand. That is, until Apple decided to start making larger phones, and the smallest digit on the end of my hand began to suffer.

The iPhone 6s is a great phone for a lot of things. The curved edges feel fantastic. The display is gorgeous. It's fast and it shoots great photos. It's a wonderful two-handed phone.

But its luxuriously large 4.7-inch display comes at a cost: It's a terrible phone to use with one hand. Even Apple knows this, which is why it ships with a feature called "Reachability," allowing the top of the screen to be reached by tapping (but not pressing) your thumb against the home button twice.

My hands are decidedly average — it's not like I have Donald Trump-like digits. And I have used Apple's larger flagship handsets — the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s — for about a year and a half, but I found Reachability to be more frustrating than useful. And so I disabled it.

Instead, I developed my own, carpal-tunnel-inducing method of using the 4.7-inch display: My pinky would naturally rest under the phone to help hold it in place.

My hand just isn't big enough to securely squeeze the iPhone 6s and also reach all four corners of it with my thumb. The only way I could possibly reach the upper left corner with my right hand and still securely hold the phone was to have my pinky act as the safety net, ensuring my iPhone remained securely in my grasp.

Though millions of years of human evolution have generally served me pretty well, my pinky was most definitely not designed to do this specific task.

I didn't notice it at first, but over time this habit took its toll on my right pinky. While I never really formed a full-fledged callus on my finger, the weight of the iPhone 6s and the friction of using it (especially with the sharp edges of the speaker grille and Lightning port) took their toll. Pinky fatigue became a real thing.

Though it has its shortcomings, the iPhone SE is much better for one-handed use.

It wasn't an easy decision, but last week I decided I'd had enough. The launch of the iPhone SE, and the ability to grip and use the phone one-handed — without my pinky prop method — proved to be too enticing.

To be clear, sacrifices were made. I had to go through a time consuming purge process to clear up enough space to downgrade from a 128-gigabyte iPhone 6s to an 64-gigabyte iPhone SE. And typing on the 4-inch iPhone SE is far more cramped than it is on the 4.7-inch display.

I'm a bleeding edge kind of guy who writes about technology for a living, and so I'll probably need to upgrade to a 4.7-inch "iPhone 7" come September, and once again live with a larger screen. But at least for the next few months, thanks to the iPhone SE, hopefully my poor pinky will have some time to heal.

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56 Comments

paxman 4729 comments · 17 Years

About 8 years ago

I have a 5s and my pinkies function as 'phone shelves' even for this 'one handed' phone. I think they probably did back in the 4 days as well. I don't have particularly small hands but one handed use for me is an error strewn affair. Pretty much the only thing I do one handed with a high degree of success is answer calls.

razormaid 299 comments · 14 Years

sog35 said:

Your holding it wrong.
Buy bigger hands.

oh well. I don't mind using 2 hands. I mean what's the big deal with using two hands anyway?

What the hell are people using their other hand for?
Driving?
Eating?
Picking their nose?
Carrying a baby?
jacking?

I don't get this obession with 1 handed use (my apologies to people with only 1 hand)

The real question is can Apple make a 4.7 inch phone with bezel's small enough that 1 handed use it possible?

Agreed. That is a bizarre way to hold it. Maybe he thinks it's going to slip out of his grip?? Hold is like a man and grip that puppy! <LOL>.

Actually I would think the pinky would been "more off the phone" for everyone except for people with "Burger King" hands (remember those ads? They were hysterical) because the 4" is so tiny and it hangs below with less real estate, but to each it's own. Still I did try to hold it the bizarre way he was for about 4 minutes. Sorry. My hands aren't big but I t's still just bizarre to hold it that way.

My only complaint with the 6 Plus and 6s Plus was the start button on the right instead of the top. Because now that I'm so used to it... I keep clicking there on ALL my devices only to turn up the volume instead. <Lol>. Who knew I'd grow to like that if all things?

PS: speaking of Burger King... Anyone try those new hot dogs yet?? Grill hot dogs! They are soooooo Good! Even with small hands

paxman said:

I have a 5s and my pinkies function as 'phone shelves' even for this 'one handed' phone. I think they probably did back in the 4 days as well. I don't have particularly small hands but one handed use for me is an error strewn affair. Pretty much the only thing I do one handed with a high degree of success is answer calls.

<LOL> "Pretty much the only thing I do one handed with a high degree of success is answer calls"

yikes realky?? I can think of one other thing off hand that you could do one handed but maybe your pinkie is wrong on that too? <LOL>

rauls4 1 comment · 8 Years

Trump sized hand problems. 6S+ Works like a charm for me.

dysamoria 3430 comments · 12 Years

I might've purchased the SE if it had been out when I bought this iPhone 6s... So, yeah.

But don't expect this article to get much support from the gadget people. Ergonomics and usability research is dismissed by most of these people as elitist BS.